Manteca brothers' lure company takes off

By Scott Linesburgh

Posted Aug. 6, 2016 at 7:54 PM

MANTECA – Tyler Kruenegel knows what to do when he has a big fish on the line.

You reel it in, whether it’s a big striped bass or a business venture which started as a hobby.

The 24-year-old Mantecan, who is a lifelong fisherman and amateur carpenter, decided to make his own wood lures to improve his luck in snaring stripers, and after demonstrating his invention on a popular YouTube fishing show, started producing the lures in a shop set up in his grandfather’s garage.

His online company, Katch Fishing, has sold about 2,000 lures in the past year and has branched out into apparel and bottle openers.

It’s quite a development for a guy who just wanted to catch bigger fish.

“You don’t expect something like this,” Kruenegel said. “I was fishing top water for stripers, and I heard how good wood lures worked. I figured I could make my own, went out one day had one of the best days I ever had on lures. It sort of went from there.”

He recently brought his brother, Kyle, 22, in as a partner to help with production. Tyler guarantees every lure is handmade in grandpa’s garage in northeast Manteca.

“He’s developed quite an operation. He did it all himself, I just loaned him some tools,” said Russ Kruenegel, Tyler’s grandfather. “He says he’s not an artist, but some of his work is pretty artistic. And they catch fish.”

Tyler’s business success and determination don’t surprise his friends and family. He showed his entrepreneurial spirit at an early age, selling finger snowboards made out of Popsicle ticks to his classmates when he was in the fourth grade. It still took a little while for his friends to convince him to market the lures, but it was inevitable after he appeared on YouTube’s “Informative Fisherman Show" — which is hosted by Stockton resident Nick Smith.

He invited Tyler Kruenegel to show off his light, maneuverable wood lures, and they had a fantastic day in the Delta near Rio Vista.

“We went out and slaughtered some giants,” Smith said. “One of the things about the California Delta is that the stripers tend to stay shallow and they prefer something that slides side-to-side. Tyler has done a heck of a job, and his R-and-D (research and development) is fanatical.”

The video drew more than 40,000 views on YouTube, and Smith figures that the total is more than 90,000 when counting social media outlets.

“After that video went up, it was constant. I was getting maybe 20 calls a day about where to get one,” Tyler Kruenegel said. “But it took five months for me to get where I could produce a product I was comfortable selling.”

His father is a carpenter, and Tyler made much of the equipment that he uses. He starts with a 2x2 piece of Alaskan yellow cedar and forms the shape of the lure on a lathe, a machine tool designed for cutting, sanding and drilling. He moves on to prime and seal, and adding paint, eyes and the hooks.

The lures, which are priced from $34.99, come in different styles and sizes under names such as “Midnight Blurple,” “The Patriot” and “Clown Shad.” Tyler Kruenegel said he promises overnight delivery.

“It’s a pretty niche market to get in to,” Kyle Kruenegel said. “But once (you) create a product that people stand by and catch fish with, everyone wants it.”

As much as he enjoys creating the lures, Tyler Kruenegel does have other plans. He and his wife, Emily, are traveling back to home in the Canadian Gulf Coast Islands to await the the birth of their first child, and he is applying to be a California Highway Patrol officer. But he and his brother, who are also avid hockey players, will keep the business going.

“We enjoy doing it,” Tyler Kruenegel said. “And as long as people enjoy using them, we’ll keep making them.”

http://www.recordnet.com/sports/20160806/manteca-brothers-lure-company-takes-off