Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2023 - 35

our friends. They said we should be selling our unique baits, so we
would go to a flea market in New Jersey, and pretty soon, we were
asked to make more, and we made more new designs and more
molds, and we had to move from Kevin's kitchen to my garage and
finally into my basement. "
" For about a year, we were making plastic baits from the molds we
designed and sold. Then, other bait makers found us and asked us to
make molds for them, so we started selling more molds. It took 2 or
3 years, but it was a quick transition from baits to only making the
aluminum molds, " said Mahan.
" We didn't realize how big the bait making community was in
Pennsylvania. We never thought we would be here talking about
owning this company, " said Miller. Mahan worked in Information
Technology, and both quit their full-time jobs 2 years ago.
Besides their designs, Fat Guys Fishing makes a lot of custom
molds. Miller takes the designer's original concept and works it
up on his computer with CAD (computer-aided design) software.
Their business thrives on the 600 molds listed on their website for
sale. Fat Guys Fishing also makes 100 or so different molds for
pouring lead jig heads, and soon they will add lead sinker molds to
the lineup. They run five CNC (computer numerical control) mills
to meet the demand.
While they have made commercial production molds as large as
20 x 30 inches, some with as many as 208 cavities, Miller said, " The
majority of our business is the person who wants to do this as a
hobby with one to 12 cavities depending on the size of the bait. " His
partner Mahan added, " We not only sell the mold, but the Plastisol,
the color, the glitter, and the injector. "
Fat Guys Fishing is a family affair. Both of their wives, daughters,
and nephews work there. " All our daughters set up and run the
machines, " said Miller. Their two dogs, Murphy and Jarvis, who roam
their Tullytown, Bucks County, facility, " are the laziest employees. "
The partners have developed a starter kit, so anyone can
get into bait-making as a hobby for under $200. " We offer six
different small cavity molds, and you get the mold, injector,
Plastisol, two colors,
two glitters, and
instructions. There
is also a video on
our website; we do
it all, " said Mahan.
" There's something
This pencil drawing was submitted by a
customer. The aluminum mold was constructed,
and the black plastic bait called the Plankton is
the final result.
special about catching
fish with a bait you
made, " said Miller.
" It's great to see the
photos customers
send us with fish they
caught with the baits
they made with our
molds. Like some of
those folks, I caught
many huge fish, but
I still remember the
first fish I caught
with the first bait we
made, " said Miller.
Craig Mahan checks the progress of an aluminum mold
being cut in one of the five CNC mills.
Kevin Miller examines the mold for the 14-inch eel, one of
the more popular saltwater molds they offer.
Fat Guys Fishing
fatguysfishing.com
May/June 2023
35
http://www.fatguysfishing.com
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2023

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