Bill Mathews Excels at Lure Building and Winning Tournaments

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Published: 16 January 2026

Michiana Sportsman Spotlight

Hometown: Dowagiac, Mich.
Occupation: Enrollment Marketing Specialist, Goshen College
Favorite species and biggest fish of that species: Largemouth bass, 10.5, in Texas
Favorite Michiana Lake: two…tournament lake is Diamond, but latest is Austin Lake
Hobbies when not fishing: Movies
If you only had one lure and why: Jig, it gets bigger bites and versatile throughout the year.
Favorite rod and reel: Powell 7-3 medium heavy. Lew’s Hyper Mag Baitcaster
Best tip to give a new Michiana angler: Don’t overcomplicate it, during summer only have 2 or three baits. Find cover like grass or docks. You don’t need a lot of baits and keep it simple to natural colors.

By Louie Stout

Nobody made more money fishing Michiana team tournaments last season than Bill Mathews. The Dowagiac, Mich. angler fished more than 40 tournaments, some of which qualified him for regional championships.

He and teammate Kris Iodice won the Stars and Stripes Classic on Kentucky Lake last November, proving he was a pretty good angler outside this region as well. For the season, Bill and his partners (Iodice or Dan Baerwald) won more than $20,000.

In addition, he won a lot of that by fishing baits he created for his own lure company, BAFA (By Anglers for Anglers), that includes a skirted jig and a lead head jig with more jig-style baits coming this spring.

Here is a Q&A we did with him:

MON: What’s been the key to your success?

Mathews: I guess I would say I’m good at keeping my mind in the game, not getting spun out even if I lose a big one. Seems like if we don’t have a bass in the first few hours of a tournament, I find a school. I thrive on figuring out what adjustments I need to make.

MON: So, what is your process for finding those schools?

Mathews: Obviously, people think it’s the forward-facing sonar, but honestly, I don’t even turn my graphs on during most summer tournaments. I kinda focus on shallow water and getting away from the crowd to find something different. Now, when shallow isn’t panning out, I will move offshore and try different baits – baits that I don’t think the fish have seen.

MON: When fishing shallow, other than around docks, what do you key on?

Mathews: Every lake is different. Big fish go to the grass patches, but not always to the big grass beds. We caught 24 pounds with A-rigs and Chatterbaits on Webster Lake by fishing little turns in shallow vegetation that was 3 to 5 feet deep. We try to find something different in vegetation, like the edge, a hole or a point that falls into deeper water.

MON: What made you get into the bait business?

Mathews: I have a lot of bait ideas. My first was the Primal Jig; I wanted a jig that had a better bait keeper and a quality skirt that won’t rot out or fall down. I found a manufacturer to make the jig, but I am hand-tying the skirts myself and only sell the skirt colors that anglers want around here. I am selling the jigs for $5.89.

I also wanted a jig head that would hold soft plastic minnows without slipping down the shank. I designed the FB jig and did the prototyping, so the bait swam horizontally all the time. I’ve been really happy with it. We sell it three to a pack of painted heads for $7.99 or $6.99 unpainted.

I’m working on a finesse jig and a swim jig for the spring.

You can find my baits at BAFAfishing.com

The Growing Tackle Business at Mishawaka’s JB Propane Targets Local Needs

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Published: 13 January 2026

Sponsor Spotlight

By Louie Stout

It’s not exactly the Lunker’s from yesteryear, but JB Propane and Tackle is a bait and tackle store that would surprise you as to the fishing gear selection that this inner-city business has to offer.

And while propane sales are a big part of the business, the tackle shop offers more tackle for all types of anglers than most people realize.

The Mishawaka, Ind. propane store first opened in the late 1970s by Blaine Pickavet’s grandfather, but the avid angler decided to add the fishing division around 2010. It’s located at 423 S. Spring Street.

And it’s been growing steadily.

“We’ve steadily expanded the amount of gear that we offer,” says Pickavet. “We used to have only one aisle of gear, now we have three and the walls are covered with pegboard full of fishing items. There’s no place in town where you can get the fishing gear that we try to offer. I’m trying to serve the people of this community.”

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