A friend of mine sent me the basic stuff to start pouring my own soft plastics, and I found that I really do enjoy doing this.  However, the molds that I have are not the best, and the lures are not as detailed as I would like.

So, I have been thinking it over, and I am thinking about getting all the stuff that I would need from Del-Mart, and starting my own soft plastics business.  

I would start off with 5" Stik Worm, 4" N-Bug, 6" Finesse Worm, 5" Flukes, 5" Slugs, and the Super Chunks.

I decided to get all the colors of dye that they have, and all the glitters.

Do you all believe that there is a market for those lures, and that I would be able to turn a profit, after pluncking down the $700 for the stuff that I want?

Thanks,

~ John

A few years ago I had my own bait co.  Yes you can make a profit if you are willing to work hard at it.  If you are lucky enough to come up with a bait that nobody else has and it will be a killer when it comes to catching bass you can get rich.  It will require lots of work also being on the road a lot selling untill it gets off the ground.  You need to start selling at the 'Mom & Pop' bait shops and work up from there.  If you can get your baits in Bass Pro, Cabelas, and Gander Mountain it will keep you and several others so busy that you won't have time to fish.  I was lucky enough to be friends with the late great Billy Westmoreland and he endorsed my baits.  Having his name on my baits really made them sell well in the Tenn. valey area.  One of my baits made Bassmaster Mag in Feb. 2000 (Marabou Spinn) and sells really went up for a while.  If you can get endorsements and National publicity you can make it fly.  I sold my co and the guy that bought it was not willing to do the leg work it as hard as I did so it went under.  I still copies have all the molds and make them for myself and friends but am not going to get it into it big time again.  I am enjoing my retirement too much.

There is a market for handpoured baits,  but you do have to really work at it.  If you plan on getting some store accounts of any size, then you are looking at a lot more money out of pocket for molds.  Molds are the key to pouring a high quantity of baits in a reasonable time.  This, in my opinion is very important.  If you take forever to deliver a large order to a store, then you probably will not be doing business with them for long.  Advertising is another out of pocket expense, that can really add up. If and when you do get the large orders, you can kiss your fishing time good bye as the previous post said.  It does have it's down side, but it is also very gratifying to see your product on the shelves in a store or to hear people talking about your baits.  Good luck.  

Acually I currently co-own a bait company and if you have the time and the money you can deffinetly turn good profits. For example I know a guy that does an outdoor show he haid my jigs on thanks to him I sold 12 jigs to one of his friends, so it also helps you to know people that can get the word around.