SHELBY — It started with an idea and a handful of homemade fishing jigs. Now Justin Shandorf can barely keep up with demand.
Shandorf, a Shelby fisherman, began making his own jigs in April 2026 after deciding he wanted something better than what was available on the market. He started using them almost immediately — and the results spoke for themselves.
"I just started making them in April and started using them and started catching fish," Shandorf said.
Within his first five casts using one of his own handmade jigs, he caught an eleven-pound walleye.
A jig is one of the most widely used freshwater fishing lures. The weight, hook quality, and durability of the paint can mean the difference between landing a fish and losing one — and Shandorf had grown frustrated with the options available to him.
"You can buy cheaper jigs and stuff. But a lot of times the hooks will bend. They won't stay sharp. Yeah. I've had problems in the past with jigs that I've used of paint chipping," he said.
So he set out to build something better. Shandorf torture-tested his own designs — slamming them against the sidewalk, refining colors, and starting over from scratch until he got the durability right. He uses Owner hooks, known for their sharpness and resistance to bending.
Once he had a product he was proud of, he launched an online store under the name Shandorf Tackle Co. He listed around 50 packs — five jigs per pack — and sold out of quarter-ounce jigs within the first week.
Backorders piled up faster than he could fill them. He spent a rainy weekend recently doing nothing but building jigs just to catch up.
The response from the community caught him off guard.
"I didn't know much about small businesses until I became one, and the community support that I've had in the Shelby community and surrounding communities has been huge," Shandorf said.
Plans to expand into wholesale for local stores are on hold for now — online demand alone is keeping Shandorf at full capacity. But for a home-based business in a small Montana town, Shandorf Tackle Co. is proving that quality craftsmanship and a good fish story can go a long way.
