getting into the lure manufacuring market...

[antoni]

dear big bend community i would like to get your

I decided after much thought to launch a small line of artificial lures on a very small scale. or at least give it an honest effort I've had some interesting concepts in the back of my head for a while. my initial launch lineup of lures called "blood demon" series soft plastics will be species specific with color patterns/sizes that work well with shallow water predatory fish of your choice such as snook, tarpon, gator trout, reds and even barracuda. i plan to offer them on ebay and also in local mom&pops shops along the big bend coast.

I would like to hear from the community. what is your favorite color for reds, trout, flounder? floating or sinking? what would you like to see in a soft plastic bait in the future?
for now i'm still in concept stage but i plan to have a prototype stage baits ready before christmas. I'll show something soon! I'd like to hand out free prototypes to the local big bend redfish clubs for you all to test and critique and offer up feedback on how to improve the design.

what do you guys think? is there room for another soft plastic? please share your opinions.
thanks, anthony

[CairoTrout]

I believe you could do well if it looks good and is reasonable. The first mistake you would be making is putting them on Ebay. The mom and pop stores would not like that,but if they wanted to put them on there that would be ok. Make sure they have great packaging right off the bat.

[Jumptrout51]

Come to the next NFGFC meeting November 4 and get some good suggestions.
We have a full program planned for that evening,but I think we could give you 15 minutes to speak.

[Reel Cowboy]

I'd like to hand out free prototypes to the local big bend redfish clubs for you all to test and critique and offer up feedback on how to improve the design.

We like free

[antoni]

thanks for all the feedback guys. i'm getting a really good feeling about this. It would be a dream to run a small lure co. out of my garage. I'll take your advice about ebay. I'll instead sell directly through website and through mom&pops shops. my packaging will make the japanese tremble! watch out megabass and sebile! my packaging will have a hand painted designs of the fish it's intended for and will be very reflective. lots of package bling! i can tell you the packaging will look quite sexy.

can't make it to the november 4th meeting. i'll be grouper fishing in pc.

[reelcatch]

Try getting to some of the local small distributors like Mathews wholesale in Blountstown. He services a great deal of the small shop and would be able to get your product out to many shops without your having to do the leg work.

If you want their number PM me and I will get it to you.

Good luck

[Juan]

Great idea... and good luck... I wish I had the know-how to make soft plastics... I tried once..made a few shrimp molds and poured a "special blend", but the lures ended up looking more spiders than shrimp... They caught a few fish, but were really ugly.

What I'd like to see in a soft plastic:

Good price
shrimp or scent impregnated
shrimp or goby design
life like design
metalflake is good
both sinking and floating designs
tough enough to stay on the hook and withstand baitfish hits
colors: glow, white, silver, chartreuse, orange, light green, light blue, gray (and any combination).

I'll buy anything that is designed to look like the normal diet of the fish targeted.

[SS-342]

I second Juan's ideas.

[antoni]

@reelcatch, that sounds great. i will look into them. i'm still in the early stage of development atm. but when i begin production i will give them a call. I still need to find the right molds. been sorting though various soft plastic mold layouts. i also need to find good resealable bag manufacturer that can mass print graphic designs on them at wholesale cost. I need to get my logo, name and website established so i can start the printing the lure retail package process.

@ juan great suggestions. unfortunately I don't have plans to do a shrimp design atm but if my baitfish designs do well i will do a shrimp design in the future. doing a accurate presentation of baitfish is my main focus right now. I will be implementing all of your suggestions. i plan to do a color combo in all the colors you mentioned.

-My Soft plastic blood Demon baitfish Concept- a weightless to weighted long slender swim bait with a very erratic horizontal , gliding, twitchy swimming rhythm(think small ribbon fish profile; flat and long) the small baits will be slotted for a offset worm hook weedless style. will include small eco friendly weights that slide on the hook shank or puddy weights to give it a horizontal upright presentation at all depths or i may bake in weight? speed rip it or fish it slow and weightless. swim it, twitch it, slash it. your choice. color patterns include silver, white, green, red, chartreuse, blue etc. sizes will be 3" to 8" I also plan to do a few freshwater patterns for bass/northern pike anglers.

[Juan]

PM sent

[antoni]

got your pm. thanks. I've been doing lots of research and I'm definitely stoked at this point! I've been talking to fresh and salt water angers and getting some great feedback. I have been thinking about entering the hard bait market too. i even thought about launching with a hard bait. i think hard baits are the bread and butter of lure making. i could really get into that. it's like building a hand painted scale model of a fish. i may do a very limited number of hard baits once i get things going a bit. what do you guys think? should i launch with soft plastic or hard bait? If i want to make a big splash in the lure market i feel like i need to make a premium hard bait.

[Juan]

Just me, but I'd start with the soft baits since I believe theres a larger market for those and hard baits are more expensive and harder to make with the right action...No one wants a lure that doesn't swim the way it should.

btw: The guy I told you about has designed and printed some awesome lure packages.

[FarhFrumWurk]

my personal favorite is a electric chicken colored paddle tail, my family and i catch everything on them reds, flounder, trout, cobia. and the occasional snook in crystal river.

[Salt Life]

Make it appealing to the fisherman not the fish. the fish dont buy a thing. Nuff said.

[antoni]

juan i feel you man. i agree with you. i think softies do have a pretty large market. but there is a pretty good hard bait market too. i went to bainbridge walmart to see whats selling in the fishing dept. last night. i discovered that wacky/senko style worms are selling like hot cakes! this is good news because I have plans to do my own variant of the wacky worm though my focus will be saltwater:) they have less stock in wacky worms than any other soft bait. i gotta try this wacky worm thing. looks fun.

The market was very receptive to small companies like wave worm and hogy lures. they do nothing but simple soft plastics and they seem to be doing quite well. I think they have a good sound business model.........keep it simple!