Dennis Anderson: How the Lindner brothers developed the Lindy Rig, changing walleye fishing forever

MINNEAPOLIS - The most famous Minnesota invention was not water skis (1922). Nor was it packaged cake mix (1947), crisp crust frozen pizza (1979) or even Post-it notes (1980). It was the Lindy Rig, which doubtless has brought more thrills to more people in more places than any of the state's many other innovations, including the pop-up toaster (1919).

For proof, check out the hundreds of thousands of Lindy Rigs anglers will tote with them beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, when Minnesota's 2026 inland fishing season begins.

Originally from Chicago, fishing gurus Al and Ron Lindner developed the Lindy Rig shortly after moving to Brainerd in 1968, fueling a walleye-fishing revolution that continues today.

"It started when Ron and I were kids," Al said. "We'd put an egg sinker on a line and a little split shot below it so the sinker wouldn't slide too far down. Then we'd tie a hook on the end of the line, bait it and cast it. We'd catch all kinds of fish."

The Lindner brothers - Ron died in 2020 at age 86 - moved to Brainerd after Al returned from Vietnam, serving there in the U.S. Army. To support themselves, they guided anglers on Gull, Upper Whitefish, Pelican, Mille Lacs, North Long, Round and other central Minnesota lakes.

To attract clients, they'd post photos of themselves holding heavy stringers of walleyes on the bulletin board of Koep's Bait and Tackle in Nisswa, Minn. Along with Gary Roach, Harry Van Doren, Marv Koep and others, the Lindners formed the original Nisswa Guides League.

When walleyes were more plentiful in Minnesota, and stringers of fish were often bragged about, Al and Ron Lindner tempted anglers to buy their Lindy Rigs with advertisements like this.

"Obviously, we've since learned that the ‘old way' of keeping all the fish we caught was wrong, and now, like most other anglers, we practice catch and release," Al said. "But at the time, that's the way it was done."

To help clients catch walleyes, Al and Ron reached into their childhood bag of fishing tricks. Using those egg sinkers and split shots for weights, they affixed #4 or #6 hooks to the ends of their lines, baited the hooks with minnows or night crawlers (leeches weren't a discovered bait yet), and dragged the rigs along lake bottoms.

"But we were snagging the egg sinkers too often," Al said. "So we developed what would become known as a ‘walking' sinker, which dragged along the bottom more freely. Rigged that way, we didn't snag very often. And provided the angler kept his reel's bail open, the sinker allowed the hook, line and bait to be pulled through it when a fish bit."

Believing they had a product anglers would buy, Ron designed a package for the first Lindy Rigs, which in addition to a walking sinker contained a barrel swivel and a hook tied to a 3-foot length of 8-pound-test monofilament.

But they didn't have any money to start a business.

That problem was solved at the Starlight Club in Brainerd, where the brothers played poker on Wednesday nights. There they met fellow angler Nick Adams, who managed the club for his ailing brother.

Adams liked the Lindy Rig and thought it would sell. But he didn't have any money, either. In the end, he agreed to borrow $50,000 from his family to start the business, provided Ron and Al booked $250,000 worth of sales in advance, which they did.

"When Nick bought into our business, everything took off," Al said. "At first, we made Lindy Rigs in Brainerd, and also Lindy Worm Blowers, which Ron also invented. But when the company got too big, we shifted our manufacturing overseas."

About that time, Bud Gorham, a TV sportscaster from Alexandria, Minn., heard about Lindy Rigs and the stringers of fish Al and Ron were catching. He did a short video report on the brothers during his evening broadcast.

With his big smile, highly caffeinated demeanor and fishing expertise, Al was a natural on TV and immediately sensed its marketing potential.

"Virgil Ward's fishing program was big at the time on national television," Al said. "One day he was in Brainerd and called Ron and me. He said he had been in our area for three days and couldn't get a show shot because he couldn't catch any fish. I took him to South Long Lake, and we got the show done in four hours flat, with limits all around.

"After that, Ron looked at me and said, ‘We've got to get into TV.' "

In 1973, Al, Ron and Adams sold Lindy Tackle Co. to Ray-O-Vac. By then, Al and Ron had their own TV show and were on the cusp of founding what would become In-Fisherman magazine and the In-Fisherman media empire.

"Our first issue of In-Fisherman magazine was delivered in August 1975," Al said. "We ran it until 1998, when we sold In-Fisherman Magazine and Communication Network to Primedia. But it all started with the Lindy Rig."

Now 83 and enshrined in five fishing halls of fame, Al, along with Ron's sons Daniel, James and Bill, remains active in various fishing-related media productions in Brainerd. Al's son, Troy, also works in the industry. And with Ron's daughter, Dawn, and Jay Kumar, Al co-owns Target Walleye, a digital news and social media information service started about 10 years ago that reaches more than a half-million walleye anglers every week.

Target Walleye, Al said, seemed like a product anglers could use to catch more fish.

"Turning it into a business was a lot like turning the Lindy Rig into a business," he said. "One door opens, then another door opens, and pretty soon it's viable."

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:44 AM.