Wouldn’t you know it. … The one and only shower on radar in the entire state was drifting across the very White River oxbow lake where we were fishing.
While the brief visit from the rain dampened our clothes, it did little to dampen the spirit of the outing to this private waterhole between Des Arc and Hazen.
A mutual friend — David “Mountain Man” Mitchell — had set up the day so I could meet the owner of Leland’s Lures, the Searcy company that manufactures products such as the Trout Magnet and Crappie Magnet.
A mix of sun and clouds soon replaced the rain, and a nice breeze kept the heat and humidity of another Arkansas summer day at bay for a few hours more.
Jeff Smith and I had already caught a few keeper crappie on the Crappie Magnets and jig poles he employed as an offering to the fish.
Catching a few dozen of these future fillets was nice, but the fishing served only as a sideshow for our conversations about Smith’s company, his lures, his faith and his life.
In the beginning
Jeff Smith grew up in the Northeast. No, not northeast Arkansas, but in Pennsylvania, near West Virginia. His route to Arkansas, and specifically Searcy, was a detour from his original life plans.
Instead of staying in the Northeast and playing basketball while attending college, Smith heard from his siblings, a sister and two older brothers, of the positive atmosphere at a small private institution in Arkansas — Harding University in Searcy. Their reviews and the fact that Harding is a Christian school lured him to transfer to the South.
Smith, however, was not yet fully hooked on living in The Natural State.
“I planned on teaching and working as a youth minister for small churches in the Northeast,” he said of his chosen path following graduation from Harding in 1993.
As fate would have it, Smith later returned to Harding to work for a short time, recruiting students to the university he had attended earlier in the ’90s.
“That is when I met my wife (Bridget),” he said.“I enjoyed the area, and it became home. It did not hurt that the best trout stream in the country was here, too,” he added with a chuckle, noting his fondness for the Little Red River.
A year before coming back south in 1998, though, Smith had embarked on a separate journey through his friendship and shared love of trout fishing with another impassioned angler.
He and Todd “Leland” Gainer began producing a small jig. Their catch rates while using the lures marked the beginning for the Trout Magnet, which would go on to be named the No. 10 lure in a Top 30 all-time best lures list compiled by Field & Stream for the magazine’s April 2012 issue.
When the growing popularity of the lure had Smith weighing a life decision between his regular job and diving into the fishing industry, it was the words of a friend that truly set fate in motion.
That friend said to Smith, “What do you have to lose?”
Finding success
“God has opened many doors that I could not have opened on my own,” Smith said of his company, noting that it probably should have failed in its infancy.
“But, I was given help by the right people at the right time. Some of the help could not have been a coincidence. My father instilled the love of fishing [in me] at an early age. Todd “Leland” Gainer and his brothers helped me get started, and without their help, it would not have been
possible,”Smith said.
After starting out so small before breaking through by having his Trout Magnet in Walmart stores, more than 100 million of this cornerstone lure have been sold.
Smith has added more products to the company’s lineup through the years, including the Crappie Magnet in 1994.
An Arkansas inspiration, Smith said, “Several friends helped design it, and it took a long time to get right. It looks like a Trout Magnet, but it is very different in how it falls in the water.”
Since then, additions include a trolling jig, crankbaits for trout, the Slab Magnet and Double Cross jigheads.
Explaining the philosophy behind the production of many of his company’s products, Smith said, “All of our baits focus on the horizontal look of the bait. We have proven that a bait that is horizontal with minimal tail movement will outperform other baits.”
For instance, he pointed out that the Double Cross jigheads are engineered to hold the bodies out straight, providing a horizontal rather than vertical appearance to the bait.
“All of our lures are made with a distinct purpose. When they catch fish, we start to sell them,” Smith said.
Living a dream
With the success of the Leland’s Lures company, Smith said, he has seen his life enhanced in many ways.
“I have been able to fish all over the world with some of the most interesting people,” he began, looking back on the past nearly 20 years. “It is hard to believe that the dream I had in the early ’90s of selling this bait all over the world has come true.”
Closer to Smith’s adopted home in Arkansas, his dreams have allowed him to now own the oxbow lake where we were fishing, as well as hundreds of acres of surrounding bottomlands rich with wildlife like white-tailed deer.
Unwilling to rest on his laurels, however, Smith said, “I’m trying to build more baits that catch fish. If they do,
I will sell them, too.”
But there is a peace of mind that comes with the hand life has dealt him — whether there are more fish-fooling inventions or not.
“Either way, I plan on enjoying my two children: Zoe, 8, and Lane, 5,” Smith said. “Bridget is still the love of my life, and I am truly living the American dream.”
Sharing a vision
Smith’s career shift from teaching and coaching has allowed him to give back to his community — both here in Arkansas and “back home” in West Virginia.
“I work with the college class at the Highway Church of Christ [in Judsonia]. We have 100 to 150 students in my Bible class on Sunday morning, with students from all over the world. Their insight is amazing, and I learn a lot from them,” Smith explained.
Smith also draws inspiration from his wife and her career as a special-education teacher. The manufacturing facility for Leland’s Lures in West Virginia employs people with disabilities, a group that Smith calls a blessing and a “great team.”
It is with these people — his family, his friends and his staff — that he readily shares his philosophy of success and faith.
“I believe anyone can test their dreams to see if they should chase them. No. 1: Could it separate you from God? No. 2: Could it separate you from your family? And No. 3: Could it hurt you or anyone you love?
“If not, why not chase your dream and see if it can happen. I can attest to the fact that no one believed mine would come true, and I was not even sure myself, but I sure would have hated to not try it and have missed this amazing journey.”
Staff writer James K. Joslin can be reached at (501) 399-3693 or jjoslin@arkansasonline.com.