Our Story

Hi, my name is Matthew Pickar. I am the owner and founder of Allegiant Tackle, a startup that arose from my love of fishing, that eventually developed into my own line of handcrafted musky lures. Allegiant Tackle is a veteran owned business that officially started in 2021, though this adventure truly began in the winter of 2020.

If you haven’t already, at some point along the way of your musky fishing journey, you will eventually hear about "Wishmasters". These custom wooden baits are renowned as the best and most durable lures on the market. With this reputation, they fetch a hefty price costing thousands of dollars. As a novice woodworker and musky fishing addict, I had to try to make my own. Using a picture off the internet of a Wishmaster bait as my inspiration, I made my best imitation. After searching for open water in the middle of a cold Northern Wisconsin winter, I watched the bait run through the water and I was hooked! To this day, that lure hangs on my wall where it will stay as a testament to the small beginnings that grew into Allegiant Tackle.

The technique of trolling had never been a tool in my toolbox, as I knew very little about it, but wanted to learn more. The idea was to create a 6" bellied crankbait that I would be comfortable trolling all year long on the inland lakes in Northern Wisconsin and also as a viable option for late-Summer to Fall outings on the waters of Green Bay. The 6" bait was called the Osprey. I tested eight variations with different lip angles, working to push the limits to where the lure would barely run "true" at trolling speeds. The definition of true for a musky fisherman, is a lure that will run erratically, while not blowing out of the water. This eventually led to the creation of a smaller 4.5" bait named the Dubuler.

By the end of June 2021, two boats running Allegiant Tackle baits had landed 30 muskies in one month! Later that same year, in preparation of the fall trolling season, I made a 9" crankbait named the Dubulus Maximus. During two separate late-Fall outings, two beautiful, fat-bellied skis were boated. In 2022, the 5" Mini Sprey was born. I wanted to develop a bait that could be casted and trolled at high speeds. This bait can be trolled over 5 mph, yet still suspends in the water column with a very slow rise rate. In my mind, the Mini Sprey has been perfected and is the current focus for bait production while we work hard to perfect other models.

Bait making is a very humbling experience. There are many variables to making a lure work right, such as weight balancing, hook-hanger locations, lip depth, lip angle, line tying locations, bait sealing, epoxy techniques, air brushing methods, etc. The reward of catching the fish of 10,000 casts on a lure that you made, by hand, is priceless. The only greater reward is watching someone else catch a musky on a lure that you made. I look forward to the years ahead of mastering the craft. “Tight lines, hang on to them, and every once in a while, send a cast into the abyss to keep them honest,” as my old man would say.

Below are pictures and videos of each model and how they run in the water.

9" Dubulus Maximus