Shore Lure
Driven to create a versatile, high quality, and cost effective alternative to the Stingsilvers he’d been casting to bluefish and spanish mackerel in the Cape Hatteras surf, Steve Sedlacek began molding his own metal jigs in the late 80’s.
Each time he and college roommate Jim Darges took another surf fishing trip to Hatteras, the lures underwent a revision, but it wasn’t until Sedlacek was examining some baitfish coughed up by spanish mackerel in his fish cooler that the lures received their final tweaking.
The baitfish were Atlantic silversides, colloquially referred to as glass minnows along much of the eastern seaboard, and Sedlacek was intrigued by their sea green backs and the single bright silver stripe down their sides.
Returning home to Pennsylvania after the trip, Sedlacek attached a strip of reflective tape to several lures’ sides and painted their backs green.
On their next trip to Hatteras, Darges was casting in the midst of a pack of surf anglers and consistently hooking up while they struggled to get strikes. Examining the homemade lure Darges was successfully using, a jealous fellow fisherman told Darges they should be for sale, and the Shore Lure Company was born.
Sedlacek and Darges decided to call their creation simply the Glass Minnow, and Darges took over distribution and wholesaling duties while Sedlacek continued work on the manufacturing end.
Now, as the popularity of the baits is taking off, Darges’ family assists with the final production of the lures, adding split rings and hooks to the pre-painted lead bodies.
More models have been added to the original Shore Lure line, which now features casting and jigging lures in 1, 1.5, 2, 4, and 6 oz. sizes. The mission of creating an effective, lower cost alternative to production lures continues, as anglers are finding that the larger sizes are functional substitutes for the expensive, elongated metal jigs that anglers are dropping to deepwater bottom structure for grouper, snapper, amberjacks, and other fish.
All the Shore Lures are given three protective coats of clear vinyl after they’re painted, giving the lure’s finish more durability than many similar baits.
Each size is back-weighted, meaning that the lures are stable when moving through air or water, making them cast better and sink faster than comparable lures of the same weight. They feature 4X strong Eagle Claw hooks, and every component that goes into the baits is made in America.
Thus far, anglers have landed over 25 species of fish on Glass Minnow jigs. The smaller sizes should prove not just effective on spanish mackerel and bluefish, but gray trout, flounder, and sea bass around nearshore structure. Larger Shore Lures will get attention from red drum, king mackerel, cobia, amberjacks, grouper, and many other species.
Shore Lures are available at Tex’s Tackle in Wilmington and Freeman’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Beach.
Interested anglers can get more information on the baits by calling the Shore Lure Distributing Company at (919) 851-3174.
