December 9

Lures in Jacksonville, Florida

May 27th, 2021, I was looking for a large water-type tank and dropped in at 2148 Ellis Road N.to ask because they had several in their corner lot. I was met by an orange cat who did not move and was totally unconcerned at my visit.

To my surprise, as I walked inside the old tin facility, several ladies inside were  making fishing lures!  The shop was in a metal building and the entire time I was there, the ladies spoke with me, tried to figure out if they could assist my request but did not for a moment stop their work of making bait-tackle. 

They were dipping some type of plastic in a warm machine which created the form of long candles and then the warm form went into a liquid, probably water to cool it.  The set were then hung out to dry and moved to another location.  It was a consistent process and I watched them time and time again as each set of lures were made and handled for packaging.

The company was called Soft Plastics of Florida.  It is listed as a “mold maker”, established in 2003 and incorporated in Florida. To be such a small place and quite unkempt, it reported an annual revenue of $484,000 according to Manta.  Wow.

I rode past today on the way home and the gate was locked with a for sale sign nearby.  

See you tomorrow,