Hi Frogging! Welcome! Getting a new lure into mass production can be a very difficult process, especially if you're looking to license your designs to one of the big manufacturers (they rarely, if ever, accept new designs from the public or license designs...instead, they'll do slight modifications and produce their own version). To complicate things even more, mass production in a plastic cast is expensive, especially if you add in die cutting, plastic composition research, the custom assembly, painting/printing, etc. Depending on the volume, the upfront costs just to get ready for production can easily exceed $50,000 or $100,000 when all is said and done. So when a company is evaluating new designs, they need to have a VERY high level of confidence that there will be enough consumer demand to recoup the upfront costs and support a sizeable profit moving forward. For the big manufacturers, they can anticipate consumer demand based on their marketing strength through the pros and on test marketing the pre-production product in smaller focus groups and markets. So at the end of the day, when they commit to a product, they've already invested a signficant amount of money proving that it will sell and they know they can recoup their set-up costs.

The challenge with publically-submitted designs is that they don't have a track record of consumer demand at a specific price point...so there is often nothing that the manufacturer or investor can review that will indicate how profitable this investment will be.

That said...there have been people who have been able to get their designs to the manufacturers or into mass production. But there is some legwork involved...a lot of legwork actually. :)

The key phrase is "its all who you know". And that is never more true than in the fishing industry. If you really want to get your lure seriously considered, it needs to be introduced to the company by someone who is already trusted by the company. So that means you'll need to start networking your way into the circles of the people who already have relationships with the companies you're targetings. Get involved in your local fishing clubs and start leveraging those relationships to promote your design and meet other people further up the food chain. Then leverage those new relationships to get deeper into the fishing industry...until you reach the point where there is someone close to the manufacturers that likes your design enough to pitch it. It will take some time to do it this way, but by the time it reaches the manufacturer, you will have built up enough support through the ranks to warrant a look by the company marketing folks.

If networking and sales isn't your strong point, you might also consider pairing up with someone who is already established in the industry. If you're willing to pay an agent to get your idea pitched (or agree to split the profit from a sale), you may be able to get someone who already has those relationships to promote your idea without needing to network. To find someone who can help with this, you can either pay an existing pro (their sales team always reponds to email!) or find someone on the fishing message boards who might be willing to promote your design. I would expect to pay a lot for this service though ($5,000+ to arrange a meeting and product pitch and a much larger 10%+ commission if the deal actually happens).

Alternatively...you could pull together a business plan and then pitch the idea to investors who would provide the $ upfront to allow you to produce it on your own.

Best of luck with your new design. If you're persistent and have a good product, this will eventually work out for you! Please keep us updated on your progress!!

thank you for your input. the area in which I live is small bodies of water in western illinois. there is not a lot of fishing industry here. I will use your suggestions.

i have owned a couple of lure co.may be able to give you some ideas. give me a holler at
forrest2123@yahoo.com or phone 936)594-9171

frogging,
Sounds as though you & I are neighbors. I live right accross the river from Saint Louis, & I fish farm ponds in Macoupin County. Very best of luck with your venture.