In the fishing industry, a thousand new companies start up each year.  Every single company believes they have lures or fishing equipment that anglers will purchase.  A hot new bait or fishing tool with a pro staff other companies would envy.  Then all you need is a catchy name for your company and product.  Some of my favorite:  Flappy Daddy by Gambler, Big Show by YUM, Little Peety by BassHunter Custom Crankbits, or Dump Truck Jigs endorsed by Hank Cherry.  Now, I have a new one, Naked Bait Co Skirt Expander.  The name of the company alone makes you stop, then add Skirt Expander to the mix and you have a winner. The story of this successful company and owner begins in August 2002, when Blake Muhlenbruck, a blue-collar worker suffers an arm and back injury while working.  Muhlenbruck ended up suffering major loss of use in his right arm and other related physical disabilities due to the accident.  This requires Muhlenbruck to endure surgery, rehab, and excess amounts of pain medications, but he did not respond favorably to this rehab.  In the end, Muhlenbruck decided to stop taking medication, even after his doctor told him such a drastic change could kill him.

Muhlenbruck’s rehab becomes his giant to over come.  Muhlenbruck had always fished and enjoyed to make his own lures and skirts for baits, but due to his limitations he could not use a linear collar tool to make his own skirts for spinnerbaits or jigs.  So Muhlenbruck decided to design his own collar tool, which he could use to make his own skirts for lures.

During this time of rehab he went fishing or practiced casting in his back yard at targets.  His brother-in-law, Aaron Schroeder, re-educated him how to tie knots, cast, and reel in fish with Muhlenbruck’s limited movement.

Now, back to Muhlenbruck’s giants. He decided it was time to start his own company with his Skirt Expander being the premier product.  Muhlenbruck explained the intention of the company name; Naked Bait Co. came from the word ‘naked’, which has over 10 definitions in the English language.  Naked Bait Co. was developed in relation to our products.  Naked Bait Co. produces products that add to otherwise ‘naked’ lures.  “You wouldn’t want to leave home naked, so why should your lures?” said Muhlenbruck.  “The other reason naked seemed fitting was due to my injury, during those four years, between doctor visits, prescription drugs, therapy, and my own mental state; I began to feel as if I had been stripped down,” Muhlenbruck uncovered. “I felt naked,” he exposed,  “I began to use fishing as my rehabilitation and it is the knowledge I gained from fishing, which allowed me to start Naked Bait Co.,” concluded Muhlenbruck.

Not surprisingly, the number one product has turned out to be his Skirt Expander Tool.  His company also sells Single Skirts, Slip Float, Saltwater/Freshwater Kits, Skirt Making Kits, and assorted products on his website http://www.nakedbaitco.com/ and at select retail outlets.

One in a thousand, is not particularly good odds, then add in the accident.  Nearly everyone else would have given up, content to just sit around and be alive.  Muhlenbruck, on the other hand, decided to face his giants and become a positive example for others to follow.  While his life’s story is an inspiration to all of us, the name of his company is proving to be unforgettable too.