There are some anglers who like to tinker with lures; pouring
and painting their own jig heads or making spinnerbait skirts. On
the other hand, there are anglers who push the envelope... they
are infatuated with making the perfect crankbait or topwater lure. In
addition to giving every one of their baits a custom paint finish before
using it. Mike Vann, owner of Vanndalizer Custom Tackle, has been infatuated
with lure design, building, and doing custom paint finishes for over
20 years. His degree in mechanical design has only enhanced his
ability to produce works of art that anglers can fish with.
For Elite anglers or weekend anglers it's all about catching
fish, having that edge to putting fish in the boat. It's
a certain color pattern or bait no one else has or can get. So,
the demand was there for quality custom lures and the "supply" is
turning out to be Vann' Vanndalizer Custom Tackle. (See www.vanndalizer.com for
more information on lures and lure components available).
Vann's extensive line of hard plastic lures include:
lipless, small, finesse, shallow, medium, and sunfish shaped crankbaits,
topwater poppers, topwater walk-the-dog style bait (Agitator), minnow
shaped, spoonbill minnow, and jerkbait style. All of these baits
are available in a custom painted finish or can be customized to a
color patter an angler requests. Most anglers wanting
a particular color pattern will send a sample or photo of the exacted
pattern they want, he continued, "I then paint one and
get the "ok before making a batch for them." "As
for right now," Vann pointed out, "I do not have a color
chart on the website, but that will be added soon." One
more thing anglers can also look forward to is a foil finish that Vann
is working on.
In addition to plastic lures, Vann also makes custom balsa
crankbaits. For right now he has 3 different sizes of the Trapper
balsa wood crankbait. The Trapper series consist of: Trapper
deep diver has a coffin computer chip board lip and dives down to 12-feet,
Trapper medium diver has a coffin computer chip board lip and runs
6 to 8-feet, and the Trapper 3-inch shallow diver with a computer chip
board lip and runs 3 to 5-feet deep.
Besides selling finished baits, Vanndalizer Custom Tackle offers
anglers a select number of components needed to build their own lures
or balsa crankbait. They can also purchase a number of different
plastic bodies that are not painted to custom paint if they want. "The
website is a source for anglers to purchase all the supplies they need
to get in to custom lure making," Vann said.
Although Vann enjoys making custom lures, he also likes to
test his lures by fishing in bass tournaments. He has been a
member of American Bass Anglers since 1986 and fishes in their bass
tournaments. Vanndalizer Custom Tackle is also a sponsor of the
American Bass Anglers Couples Series Tournament. (See www.americanbassangler.com for
more information on the ABA Couples Series or other sanctioned ABA
tournaments). Vann is one angler, whose infatuation with making
custom lures means less time fishing for him and more time working.
Brad
Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and
Lake SWEPCO in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth,
Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance
writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears
weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing
seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such
as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He
also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He
is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs
of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related
companies. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or
visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for
more information.
