By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


It all started with an airbrush kit.

That’s what Casey Sobczak and team partner Jonathan Garrie came away with after winning the Smash Mouth College B.A.S.S. national title for Stephen F. Austin University in 2005.

After their win, the duo appeared on an episode of Bass Tech, one of the shows ESPN produced during its run as B.A.S.S. owner. The gist of the episode Sobczak and Garrie appeared on was how to extend the life of and repair equipment as a way to save money in their pursuit of a bass fishing career.

“I remember it being about how to oil reels and repair rod guides and how to airbrush crankbaits,” Sobczak said.

Joining the college duo on the show that day was pro angler Scott Rook, who instructed the college champs on the ins and outs of airbrushing baits. At the end of the show, they were given a Paasche airbrush kit to take back to Texas.

“When we got in the truck to head home, my partner said he didn’t want anything to do with the airbrush,” Sobczak recalled.

Sobczak figured he’d tinker with it and see what happened.

“I took it back to the dorm and started painting baits for friends in the college bass club,” he said. “Then I started painting for their friends of friends.”

Eventually, he listed a custom-painted lure on eBay and it sold for $20.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute. If I can sell 20 of these, I can quit my job waiting tables,’” Sobczak said.

And so begins the story of 6th Sense Lure Company.

Hidden Talent

Sobczak’s lure-painting business started to blossom while he was still in school. Airbrushing became his passion while pursuing a business marketing degree.

“Within 2 or 3 months, I quit my job and that’s what I began doing – airbrushing every day after class non-stop,” he said.

Sobczak’s creations are known for their detail and color layering that set his paint jobs apart from the stock and other custom finishes.

Until he began painting hardbaits, he didn’t know he had any artistic skills.

“My aunt is a professional artist, but I never knew I had it until I started airbrushing,” he said.

He built an e-commerce website through eBay called PaintYourBait.com and sold baits through that for 2 years before coming up with the idea to launch his own bait company, but maintain his high standards for quality and detailed finishes.

“It’s the details – the color schemes and the eye for the detail,” he said. “I tried to make it as clean and as close to perfect as possible. I’m a stickler for details. When I was a custom lure painter, I’d be so honed in on the details, like the amount of purples and greens and blues and scales and layers. I wanted to create that sort of detail on a mass scale.”

Hard Knocks

Sobczak’s first foray into the fishing business didn’t go as planned. He designed and built a square-bill crankbait that would’ve been the first to market from a U.S.-based company, even ahead of Strike King’s introduction of the KVD series of square-bills.

Issues with lips breaking off derailed his plan and he eventually scrapped the mold. His savings from lure-painting had been exhausted.

“I was backed by my own money,” he said. “I put everything into that first mold. It was awesome. It would’ve put me over the top overnight. It was that good.”

He almost gave up on the fishing business. He applied for jobs throughout the oil and gas industry as his family was mostly involved in those fields. Nothing panned out.

“That was hard,” he said. “That was probably the hardest part of it all. When you lose everything – when you lose your savings that you worked hard for – you want to quit. You just want to crawl into a hole and go get a job.”

He cranked up his custom painting business for another 18 months in order to save enough money to purchase another crankbait mold. By then, Strike King’s square-bills were already gaining market share in that growing segment of the lure business.

“I was behind the 8-ball,” he said.

He recovered in time to introduce his first two mass-produced baits at ICAST in 2012, among them the Crush 50X square-bill. He was still mostly ignorant to how the lure business worked when he arrived at his first ICAST.

“I didn’t know what an order writer was,” he said. “I didn’t know what margins were supposed to be on a crankbait. I knew nothing. I knew I needed to make money, but how much? What was the industry standard? I said, ‘I’m just going to show up.’

When prospective dealers would stop in the booth, they’d ask Sobczak for a price sheet that didn’t exist.

He’d respond, “That lure’s $5.50 and you can sell it for whatever you want. That’s all I knew. I had no idea. I didn’t come from a background in retail or wholesale or manufacturing or anything.”

Growth Spurt

Managing the growth of 6th Sense has been one of Sobczak’s focuses over the past couple of years. His baits have been instrumental in winning a number of major tournaments, including last year’s B.A.S.S. Nation Championship and the 2014 BFL All-American, so the brand has earned a measure of respect in some circles.

It’s still largely a three-person operation, though, with Sobczak running the show, a sales manager and his mom helping with office and administrative duties.

“It’s been an increased growth every year,” he said, adding that 2016 sales had already exceeded 2015 totals in July. “It’s getting crazy busy. It’s been stressful handling the growth to be honest.”

Ever since his first attempt and producing baits went awry, he’s realized very few things go as planned in the fishing business. He’s now able to put that knowledge to use and for his benefit.

“It’s okay to fail because I’ve failed at almost everything the first time,” he said. “I used to get really upset when I’d fail or not foresee something. Now, I know I’m going to fail before I get it right and I’m okay with that. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned. I can’t expect to do it right the first time because I’ve done everything myself. I had no mentors or anyone I could pick up the phone and call and no one overseeing what I do. Being young with no experience in managing a business, it’s all been a learning experience. It’s been insane.”

Big Year Ahead

Sobczak is hoping 2017 will be the year 6th Sense starts to make significant headway in becoming a more recognized brand name outside the southeast Texas area.

What started as a hardbait lure company has expanded to offer terminal tackle and swimjigs. Ultimately, Sobczak envisions 6th Sense being a one-stop shop for hardcore bass anglers, but he’s carefully managing and orchestrating its growth.

After introducing more products at ICAST this year than ever before – 18 new products with more than 100 new SKUs – Sobczak said the company will add a series of custom-built crankbait rods in early 2017. He also will continue his quest to add a unique lure to his lineup that could be a catalyst for growth on the mass market. He has some ideas that he’s working on, but nothing is firm yet.

“I’m hoping for a breakout year next year,” he said. “We haven’t had that true innovative patented product yet. For every company, all you need is that one product that’s completely different. We make good products, but we don’t have that ChatterBait or something that helps push us through as a mass level brand.”

One event that is sure to bring the brand additional exposure is the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, slated for Lake Conroe in late March. Sobczak hopes to capitalize on having such a big event in 6th Sense’s backyard much like Falcon Rods, Gene Larew Lures, Zebco and Lowrance did when the Classic was twice in Tulsa, Okla. (Grand Lake).

Anglers around Conroe are keenly aware of 6th Sense’s presence in the area as Sobczak, who lives 2 miles from the lake, is a frequent participant in local weeknight tournaments. He’ll often test new lures and colors during those tournaments, meaning virtually every product he’s designed and sells has been tested on the bass at Conroe.

He’d like to throw some sponsorship support behind a Classic qualifier or two as a way to alert bass anglers, both locally and nationally, that 6th Sense is a brand that they need to be looking for. He also plans to rely heavily on apparel as a way to spread the word about the brand.

“I think it’s going to open up some eyes because a lot of people don’t even know where we’re located,” he said. “It will be big.”