Uncle Al’s didn’t start as a business. It started the way most good things do, just messing around and trying to make something better.

I was building bucktails for myself, testing different blade combinations, figuring out what felt right in the water and what actually got fish to move. Nothing fancy, just time, trial and error, and a lot of casts.

A few years later, while I was living in Tennessee, I hooked into a fish I won’t forget. From a 12-foot jon boat, I got into a giant musky that had me spinning in circles. I knew right away my net wasn’t going to cut it, so I flagged down a nearby guide and he came over to help.

We got the fish in the net, cut the hooks, and let her go. But in the process, my leader got nicked. I climbed back into the boat, went to swing the bait into my hand, and just like that, the leader snapped.

The bait dropped straight into the water and disappeared.

That one stuck with me. First 50-inch fish, and it came on a bucktail I made myself, the one that would later become the Pulse 8|9. Gone.

But the first thought I had wasn’t frustration: it was simple.

I’ll just make another.

That moment is really where this all started.

Around that same time, I was working to get back on track and build a better future for myself. Making baits became part of that. Something steady. Something I could put time into and be proud of.

I kept at it, refining things, dialing them in. Eventually, a friend at Hayward Bait and Bottle Shop told me I should start selling them. If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right.

Uncle Al’s officially launched in March of 2023.

The Pulse 8|9 came out of that process. It’s simple and built with purpose. A heavier #9 blade paired with a #8 creates a pulse you can feel on every retrieve.

This was never just about selling baits.

I build them because I want people to catch fish and feel that same excitement I do. The chaos of a big fish boatside, the adrenaline, and the stories that come with it.

When I’m not on the water, I still want to be connected to it. For me, that means building baits. That's what I do. 

That’s what Uncle Al’s is about. Today, I’m based in Roberts, Wisconsin, still building each bait by hand.