CUSTOM IN THE GARCIA FAMILY
INSPIRED BY DAD TONY, A VIETNAM VETERAN, ANGELO FOUNDED BAIT COMPANY THAT HAS REALLY TAKEN OFF
You probably should go back to Tony Garcia volunteering to go to Vietnam for the roots of his son Angelo’s Wack’em and Stack’em Custom Baits. Tony sat jigging a weedless bait through brush in an aquarium at the Tinley Park Fishing Show last Saturday. I’m a sucker for baits that run under docks or jigs that work through brush without snagging.
He wore a beatific smile. Don’t let that fool you, he earned that smile. When he volunteered for Vietnam, he ended up in the Pleiku area.
I’m also a sucker for faithful readers, and Tony is one. While jigging, he said, “You’re Dale Bowman. Then, it was time.’’
Tony did his service, came back and soon started working as a machinist in Pilsen. He also came back with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Fishing was more than fishing and so is working with Angelo’s bait company.
“It helps him,’’ Angelo said. “He has PTSD pretty bad. Fishing is therapy for my dad. He really enjoys the sports shows.’’
Jeremy Jakiel, one of Angelo’s guys, contacted me about Angelo and his baits.
“I just think military veterans are an important part of our society and get forgotten, and I look at the link between Angelo and his dad, and I see the company having such good success now,’’ he messaged. “It’s just a cool story and awesome to watch. I got the privilege of picking up Angelo’s dad for most closer shows, and him and I usually have good talks.’’
Angelo grew up in Palos Heights and did football, wrestling and baseball at Stagg. He would play first and third as a semi-pro until he was 32. “When I was younger and stealthier, I was a shortstop,’’ Angelo said. “But fishing has always had my heart.’’
He fished the Lemont Quarries, Lake Sedgewick and Saganashkee Slough.
“I fished all the forest preserves forever,’’ Angelo said. “It made me a better fisherman.’’
They would fish cheeseballs for rainbow trout near the old Meigs Field and fish salmon in the Chicago harbors.
“My dad gets all the credit,’’ Angelo said. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing this. You’ve got to love doing this because it’s not about the money, never the point of it. Share your knowledge and help the next generation.’’
Tony worked hard, but he would take his family to the Petenwell and Castle Rock areas in Wisconsin for two weeks.
“He ran things like a boot camp, so I am very disciplined,’’ Angelo said.
That discipline came in handy when he started making baits.
Wack’em and Stack’em started on a small
workbench in December 2015 in Cedar Lake, Indiana. Angelo was working at a steel mill and decided, “I’m going to get a melting pot and pour some jigs. And I’ll get my dad over, and just for fun I’ll have him help. It was a way for him and me to be together. He’s the one who started me in fishing.’’
Actually, the name would not come until one of Angelo Garcia’s co-workers, Harold Nordyke, had a great panfish outing in April 2016 using the baits. The name was scrawled with black marker on a piece of cardboard, and Wack’em and Stack’em Custom Baits was truly born. “It was a cardboard we-will-workfor-food kind of sign,’’ Angelo said.
A Cedar Lake bait shop was the first real customer. Over the years, the Tinley Park Fishing Show became huge for them. The booth was stacked deep last Saturday.
‘‘We started real small, local, word of mouth, then got a website,’’ Angelo said. “Word of mouth and taking a lot of pride in our bait. We don’t send anything out that isn’t right.’’
The word is spreading. At Tinley Park, I stopped by to see Jim “The Crappie Professor’’ Kopjo, and when he heard I was looking for Wack’em and Stack’em, he whipped out the special box that was made for him. “Jim has been good with us,’’ Angelo said. He already has an extensive pro staff. “A lot of these guys eat at my dinner table,’’ Angelo said. “The guys want to be part of something bigger and want to help with the future, friends of friends out there fishing.’’
The 1½-inch black shad pattern Suicide Minnow and the 1-inch Stinger are the hottest baits. They found a niche market in lead with 1/100- to 1/64-ounce jigs.
“I used to use Cubby and burned through them,’’ Angelo said. “I analyzed the market and thought this is an area where we can do well.’’
They bought out a Kentucky company and are now able to mass-produce jigs.
“We’ve come quite a ways in a short time,’’ Angelo said.
More information is at wackemandstackemcustombaits.com. ✶