Today we’d like to introduce you to Colter Gaswint.
Hi Colter , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Slab City Jigs came to fruition during the pandemic. During lockdown while going stir crazy I took up the hobby of tying crappie jigs with a vice at my kitchen table. It started out as just tying them for myself and friends and expanded to Facebook marketplace and eventually starting an online business. As far as where the name came from my friends and I went back and forth on what I should call the business and we came up with Slay City Jigs but when my buddy was telling others he changed it to Slab City Jigs and it stuck. Our logo was originally hand drawn by my niece who was in high school at the time replicating the “Granger Skyline” with a water tower and granary in the background. I have loved fishing my entire life and found happiness during a hard season by tying jigs and getting back into the fishing world. We had merch made and sold it as pre sale only and at small festivals and online before finally taking a leap and opening a store front last year in Granger Texas. We take pride in offering small bait makers products and items that in the past you could only get online. We like to think of it as a fishing hangout and we sell cool baits and products. We have a table in the store with name placards for our regulars. We go live and talk with folks all over the nation about fishing. My goal was always to have a store full of products I stand behind for your weekend fisherman taking their kid to the lake all the way to pro anglers who fish tournaments across the nation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been somewhat fast and furious, to some 5 years may seem long but in 5 years I took a kitchen table hobby to a store front. I have never even worked in a store before that point so there have been a lot of learning curves along the way. This is pretty much a venture I took on head first with the assistance of my wife all while raising kids in sports, other jobs, being a fishing guide.
We’ve been impressed with Slab City Jigs Outdoors , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in crappie fishing but have branched out since opening our brick and mortar store to sell products for catfishing and bass. We sell our own line Slab City Jigs and also several other small business bait makers. Our goal is to offer products that you can’t get just anywhere in a store that feels like a hangout to come talk fishing with buddies. We also offer live bait, apparel and have a mechanic that works in the back that can wire up electronics and do basics repairs.
Our bait store is small town, greet you when you walk in, we have regulars but love meeting new folks who want to talk fishing. Right now through May 1st we have a contest going called Spawn Stars. Its free to sign up but you do have to come in store to get your name on the list. Spawn Stars pays out $1000 to whoever catches the biggest Crappie, Biggest Black bass and biggest White Bass before May 1st at Granger Lake. The caveat is you have to catch one bigger than MJ my employee who is a young avid fisherman, we sell his own bait line version in our store as well “Tha Sauce”. We have a leaderboard in store and every time someone comes in to weigh a fish we go live on social media to share the update. We do spring tournaments on Wednesday nights and this year we are also hosting a one day tournament for bank, kayak and boat anglers on our home lake. We also have a line of baits we partnered with a YouTuber in East Texas 903 Fishing they are the 903 Series Stingers which are in our plastics line.. He has come to the store for guest appearances as well to talk fishing with his Central Texas fans. Our goal is to make fishing and everything that goes with it fun and bring people with the same passion together.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My old school thinking is success is being the best, taking pride in everything I do. I want to be the best, have the best store and take pride in the products I make and I sell everyday.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.slabcityjigs.com
- Instagram: slab_city_jigs
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/slabcityjigs
