Does anyone know of any little lure/bait companies. Small business types, I have always liked buying the unheard of brands of equipment in a lot of things i do (guitar, skateboarding, fishing). but i just cant find any 'if someone could name a few that would be great. Always support the little man. 

Siebert Outdoors, Rage Tail Baits, Deleware Valley Tackle, and Catch & Release are all

privately owned and operated. Their baits, lures and services are designed by the owners who are all "hands-on" daily operations.

well maybe i should have opened my eyes a little more and looked and the right of the screen

I use a few little known brands out here in NJ and Pa: B&L Baits in NJ, Wacky Worm in Pa, RC Tackle, Brovarney Baits both in Wisconsin. I also tie my own jigs for that "100% custom" feel.

You can also find small companies on bait making sites like Tackle Undergound.

Because rage tail is part of SUCH a small business.

G&G Bait Company out of Indiana makes great spinnerbaits in pretty much any configuration that you can think of.

Just google bass lure companies. You will be amazed and you won't have to read the rest of the comments on what qualifies as a SMALL mom and pop company.

Before this gets shut down from the above response I like bruisers and bitters both are extremely cheap and effective don't forget gambler either

I have a crankbait from a company called brad's lures. I think the stuff they make is geared towards salmon, but the crankbait looks very largemouthbass type lure. Oh, it sounds like it got a ton of rattles too. I got it in Alaska and have not seen it anywhere else.

Doc Irving makes some great stuff. 10" senkos are great and I have 1 gallon bags of custom fat ikas. Red dirt baits is another.

i got some 7" floating shakey worms in bubble gum color for christmas one year from a company called Haw River Tackle. i love fishing them t-rigged weightless, they just float through the water real nice and elevated off the bottom. i just give it a jerk and it has tons of action, pause, then give it another jerk, it especially drives pond bass nuts. i really should try and get some more colors of them

Quite a few custom bait builders participate in tackleunderground.com.  Many of them have reputations for making exceptional baits.  Just look through the pictures to see some eye-popping stuff!  What I like to do is visit a local Mom & Pop tackle shop when I want to see what the locals are going ga-ga over.  Such shops often carry unique custom lures from nearby makers who have a loyal following among local fishermen.  When I want to buy a special crankbait, some of my favorites are D-bait, Flatshad, Tennessee Tuffy, and Zoom.  There are plenty of others, these are just some I've tried and liked.      

If you're in Florida there is a good chance you are familiar with D.O.A., don't know the size but started out as a small 1 man operation.  There baits are designed for saltwater but they tear bass up too (terror eyes).  The owner quite often is the guest speaker at the West Palm Beach fishing club.

thanks all y'all for the suggestions

Slongs fishing lures based out of Hanson, KY. They make great jigs and spinnerbaits. Shawn is a great guy check them out!

River Rock Baits, I'm sold on that company's offerings!! It is all high quality plastic and the stuff just works and while they make a lot of different baits they're known for the high quility hand dipped tubes they make and with all the tubes I tried over 30 years of bass fishing I can honestly say without a doubt that they are the best tubes I ever used. BTW I have zero affiliation with them, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

Brads is out of Washington and does gear mostly to salmon and steelhead.

Bitters for me as well...I had a chance to go to their store today.  Fantastic shop, and they make great baits.

Slam dunk lures out of Baton Rouge Louisiana... He was the originator of the humdinger spinnerbait but he sold it to another company many years ago..no his bass trap spinnerbaits are great... The sacalait color (what people not from the south call crappie) is killer here in southern louisiana

A few well known brands are mom & pop type tackle companies;

Huddleston Delux swimbaits, 3:16 swimbaits, MS Slammer, Rago swimbaits, Basstrix, Roboworm are good examples. Don Iovino products and Uptom's Customes both one man operations.

Supporting your small local bass tackle shop also supports your small local tackle makers who are the innovators of basing tackle.

Tom

Case Plastics: senkos (aka magic stix); flukes (aka salty shad); Jack's worm.

 

Don Iovino: reapers and straight tail worm.

There are several links out there that list all of the lure companies. I have checked some out and some of them do have some cool stuff. The lists do need updated as some of the links do not work. 

On 5/16/2013 at 9:19 PM, webertime said:

Doc Irving makes some great stuff. 10" senkos are great and I have 1 gallon bags of custom fat ikas. Red dirt baits is another.

If you mean this guy:

http://docirvcustombaits.com/baitbox/

then yes, his stuff is great and he has a million options so any bad idea I come up with can become a lure!  His 3.5" tubes can be made solid and are looking like they will be an amazing river bait once I find the perfect hook.  

I have two, I really like the swing oil J Tubes and also the Anglers Choice Killshot. I use the 4" killshot on a slider jig and it swims like a leech. Killshot also is a nice DS bait