Trio Tackle continues family legacy

Great ideas begin at the kitchen table.

For Max Heiter and Gary Jones, a hobby hooked their interests and they turned it into a well-known business, H & J Lures, based in Royal.

Now, the small-town company remains afloat, thanks to Jones' nephews: Alex, Brandon and Derek Sonnenfelt.

Now known as Trio Tackle, the Sonnenfelt brothers have operated the business from their homes and garages in the Norfolk area since October 2018.

Brandon plans to construct a shop in the Hadar area, which will have room for a storefront. He hopes construction will begin this fall.

"We still have a lot of contact with Max and Gary," Derek said, during a Friday afternoon interview. The brothers set up a make-shift shop in the pavilion at the Antelope County Fair.

Heiter and Jones formed the business in 1986, after Heiter ordered enough supplies to build approximately 100 lures. Jones found the paint.

Both figured they ordered more supplies than necessary.

Then, the two friends went to work, designing and building more than 1 million lures over a period of 32 years. Most of those lures were built in a former shop building.

Painting was completed at a kitchen table, either in the Heiter home or at the house owned by Jones' grandmother, Bertha Holms. Family and friends would assist when orders piled up.

Derek said Trio Tackle still considers Antelope County a home base.

"Still, this is our hometown area. We make it to the Grove Lake tournament when we can," he said.

Trio Tackle produces ice and panfish jigs, spinnerbaits and tungsten jigs.

Jigs and spinnerbaits continue to be hand-constructed. Each piece starts with a blade and a hook.

"We build them up from there," Derek said.

Heiter and Jones would construct 10 pieces an hour when they first started. Once they perfected their process, the duo made up to 200 items per hour.

Now, the multi-step process, which includes soldering and painting, can take up to three to four days to complete, especially since they build in bulk, completing 100 to 200 pieces at a time.

Brandon said, "Typically, when we're soldering teardrops, I can solder 150 an hour. You prime coat them and can do about 200 in an hour."

Then the lures are painted either an individual hue or multi-color and topped with a clear epoxy that holds paint, making the lure durable.

"The epoxy takes two days to dry," Brandon said.

For the Sonnenfelts, the decision to purchase the company made sense.

"These were the lures we used and always had the most success when we were growing up. When Max and Gary said they weren't sure they wanted to keep doing it, we wanted to make sure we didn't lose access to the lures, so we took it over so we made sure we had all our favorite items to use," Derek said.

Trio Tackle maintains contact with bait shops who purchased from H & J Lures, including the Grove Lake Bait Shop, at Royal, the first bait shop to sell Heiter's and Jones' creations.

"We have 17 locations in Nebraska, two in South Dakota and one in Iowa. We shipped out to New York a month ago," Brandon said.

The brothers estimate they have shipped jigs and spinnerbaits to more than 40 states.

Derek said individuals from different regions order different items.

"We've got a dedicated following that really like the ice jigs, especially out in the Valentine Refuge area," he noted. "When we're seeing other customers place online orders, the flipper jigs and hookers are popular."

The original H & J Lures logo, designed by the Sonnenfelt's uncle, Gale Jones, is still used, along with Trio Tackle information.

They also accept custom orders. One of the newest items features the Nebraska Husker logo.

"We got licensed to do officially-licensed Husker lures," Derek said. The Sonnenfelts sell Husker and Blackshirt spinnerbaits and ice jigs.

Derek said the company continues to be unique, offering something you won't find at a box store.

"What's unique about us is we build everything by hand and build locally," he said.