I can certainly agree with all that. No doubt it hurts at a personal level when your design is copied. I've made some attempts at making lures for myself before and I know it ain't easy as 1-2-3 here's your swimbait.

I just hope that the guys who spend the countless hours designing new baits also remember to spend some time doing what they can to protect their hard work. The only way to survive in the tackle business is to protect your design or make the product cheaper and better than the competition. For the small guys, protecting their design could be the only way to effectively compete so it makes a lot of sense to invest time and money in that area.

Crying, "I got ripped off" after the fact isn't an effective business strategy and when it keeps happening over and over clearly whatever is being done to prevent it isn't working. That's why I feel unsympathetic about it these days. And that has nothing to do with me and Jerry. I like talking to Jerry and swapping fishing stories and I've always appreciated his willingness to send sample baits and support the site.

We've had this same conversation before about getting ripped off and knowing Jerry he'll get it figured out either way in the end. The bottom line is that its the tackle industry and if you make something good you're going to get ripped off so be ready.