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Smallmouth, by reading the first post of this thread I don't see any indication that this young man is not considering his education and I think its absolutley great to consider a small part-time bait business. I dont think a 15 year old really needs to worry about supporting a family. I'm sure with the way that the emphasis is put on education in the school systems today that he understands the importance of a good education. I think a part time bait business would be a great educational expirience, especially if this young man has a love for fishing. Its a very competitive market, you must develop accounting skills, you must learn to fill out quarterly taxes, communication is a must, you must have marketing skills. All of these are valuable things for a person to be educated in no matter what the career move. I see no where in the young man's post that would lead me to believe that this is a career move, if he has alot of friends that fish or he lives in a community that has alot of fishing around it, why not a small bait business to earn a little extra money and develop his skills? I imagine his parents are still his main source of suitible income, we are talking about a kid here, not an adult trying to make alot of money, a kid that probably enjoys fishing and thinks it would be neat to make some baits and sell them. Why are so many people being so discouraging to him? This is another one of those threads that are going south fast. The kid is asking for help. I have noticed that you or anyone else will not right out admit to this young man that you started out by giving baits away, whether it was profitable for anyone or not, it is the way that everyone starts out. After all, how many people on here actually do nothing else for a living but make baits besides me? We need to encourage our young folks in more hobbies like bait making and fishing, lets keep them on the water and off of the streets. If mom and dad are helping to foot the bill then most likley they will help keep an eye on the money too. There is nothing wrong with having fun doing something you enjoy and there is nothing wrong with being young, making a few mistakes, and learning in the process. So texasfisherman, don't let anyone discourage you, be careful with your money, enjoy what you do, your teenage years are a great time for learning and making mistakes. You will always be learning for the rest of your life but you can always avoid the mistakes you made when you were young after you are grown.

LOL and then nedyarb walked into a wall and forgot his name for an hour....

I gave out plenty of free samples for almost 2 years.The gimme,gimme crowd is 95% cheap and 5% reaspectful that will eventually buy your baits.i gave out plenty of baits when I fished tournaments from '89-'91- including the Red Man circut. A stone cold,waste of time,effort and money i get e-mails all the time from tournament teenagers to Pro-wanabees wanting me to sponsor them. One line that stands out from the rest is and appears in all of the e-mails is-"I love your baits" My reply,"if you love them so much then why isn't your name on my customer data base?" I only give limited soft-bait samples w/ orders- it has paid huge dividends w/ loyal customers who truly appreciate the samples.

well as most know I have just got into pouring. Have several molds me and the wife have made and several injection molds we have bought. Here is some craws I did for my friend today. The twinjector is awesome btw!!! He wanted black sapphire, green pumpkin, watermelon/green pumpkin, and Okeechobee Craw. The Okeechobee Craw for some reason the blue showed up on both sides I guess it's more dominant? Anyways I though it did pretty good for my first attempt and just winging it. Anyways sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks been busy, but I enjoy this site and want to say thanks for all the help. You guys are awesome!!!

Texasfisherman, first let me apologize I got caught up in reading all the other posts and forgot one thing that your are a 15 year old enthusiastic young person who apparently loves to fish. I think some of the others forgot this too. So right now let me advise you, to make baits purely for the pleasure of catching fish with something you made. As I advise in another thread share with your freinds and if there is a demand then think about starting your business and if people start advising you not to give things away don't pay them any attention because I don't think there is anyone here who did not start out by giving a few baits away and even today as product promotions several companies give free samples. Just be sure and know what you can afford to do and like baitjunky said do your own thing and I mean your own thing. Take your time don't ride the backs of others and learn to love bait making first if you don't have a love for it then its definatly not the business for you. take it from someone who makes baits for a living. Remember good customer service is a must and you have plenty of time to do your homework word of mouth will take you far but don't let something that you enjoy turn into the type of job that takes that enjoyment away from you in other words don't sweat the legal stuff right now have fun especially while you are young and if I can ever help you in anyway don't hesitate to ask. your freind mike

Dont forget. There is always someone around the corner trying to degrade you or promote someone else. Just get use to that and go about your own thing. Cream always rises to the top