Matt Steele has gone from frustrated fisherman to enterprising entrepreneur.
The Spring Valley resident and his cousin – avid anglers – weren’t satisfied with the commercially available lures they were casting to try to reel in West Virginia’s largest fish – the mighty musky (or formally, Muskellunge).
Four and a half years ago, they decided to do something about it.
“We were ordering baits and getting stuff that wasn’t exactly what we were asking for,” Steele said. “We got to the point where we said, ‘We’ll just make it ourselves and make exactly what we’re looking for.’”
At first, the custom lures were strictly for personal use. Steele, an avid musky fisherman since 2015, wanted a bait that better matched the fish’s natural prey.
“A musky’s main diet is a sucker,” Steele explained. “Everything we make is based off a sucker-style shape. These are as close as you can get. They’re actually molded after a real live sucker.”
Soon, fellow anglers began asking where they could get the lures.
Word-of-mouth demand quickly turned into a business opportunity. Steele began promoting his products at a small show in Clendenin. As interest grew, he launched Facebook and Instagram pages for M&K Customs and began attending larger fishing and outdoor expos in Pittsburgh, Columbus and New York.
As demand increased for one particular style of soft plastic lure, Steele sough ways to expand production and improve quality. That’s when he turned to the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center (MAMC) for assistance.
Steele applied for and received early-stage funding assistance through MAMC to develop new molds for his expanding product line.
The MAMC team worked with Steele to scan and convert clay models of his lures into computer-aided design (CAD) files, which were then used to create highly detailed molds using MAMC’s resin 3D printers.
The project added new production capabilities for six different molds developed through MAMC.
“We had a high demand for this style bait, this style rubber,” Steele said. “I’ve had some molds done here in the past, and you guys are super professional, super clean. That’s what people are looking for when they want to spend their hard-earned money.”
The new molds have allowed Steele to enter additional retail markets and meet customer demand for specific bait styles and actions.
“I was able to get into other stores,” he said. “Certain stores have customers looking for a specific style bait, a specific style action, so we were able to expand and put these into those stores.”
Steele says the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The new ones I developed with MAMC’s assistance, I get high praises, especially for how clean they are,” Steele said. “That’s why I use you guys. It’s hard to make a mold and make it look realistic without having some professional help.”
In addition to the support from MAMC, Steele has invested in his own manufacturing equipment to streamline production, including a CNC machine and other tools to speed up the pouring process for his plastisol baits.
Preparing for trade show season is a major undertaking. Steele estimates he brings between 300 and 400 baits to shows each year.
“If I start now, by the time next February rolls around, I’ll have that amount,” he said with a chuckle.
Today, M&K Customs offers between 14 and 16 different bait models used by anglers targeting primarily musky but also bass, striper and even saltwater species. Steele sells primarily wholesale through select bait shops in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, including Crash’s Landing at Cave Run Lake, but much of his revenue comes from trade shows.
Despite the company’s growth, M&K Customs remains a side business for Steele. “This is more of a hobby at the moment,” he said. “It’s a nice supplemental income for me.”
Steele works full-time as a construction superintendent for Neighborgall Construction. He’s also a middle school basketball coach at Ceredo-Kenova Middle School and father to four children. “That keeps me pretty busy,” he said.
To learn more about M&K Customs, visit the company’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
April 28, 2026
