Many men will soon brave the cold to huddle over a hole in the ice on area lakes, watching tip-ups for a strike from a large fish.
Those fishermen may be using a jig created by Dale Schultz of Marshfield to help catch that elusive big one.
And, back in the warmth of home, their wives and girlfriends can open their jewelry boxes to admire necklaces and earrings made by Dale's wife, Jean, from fishing materials.
Dale started making jigs and lures in 1992 following a heart transplant. He was unable to return to his full-time job at Norwood.
``He started to putz around; it was more or less a hobby,'' Jean said. ``It started out small and grew and grew until our basement was full.''
Dale was hooked and, two years ago, the hobby flourished into Jake's Jigs -- a mail-order fishing equipment business named after their 10-year-old son, Jacob.
``It got to the point there was no way one person could handle all of the stock,'' Jean said. ``It was time to go public.''
Dale would pour lead jigs all day, doing tedious tasks non-stop, she said.
``And he has huge hands working on these rinky-dinky little things,'' Jacob said.
But, the lure business started to flounder. Enter Jean's jewelry line, which has been around since August.
``This was a venture to keep the fishing lure business alive,'' she said. ``It picked up. Plus I like it.''
But how would someone think of wearing casting spoons and spinner blades? Did a fisherman hook an ear when casting, and his partner thought, ``Hey, that looks pretty''?
``No,'' Jean said laughing. ``When I walked down to the basement, there was bright flashing metal and I thought that I could wear that. I convinced Dale to let me play with the lures.''
The necklaces, earrings and key chains are made of spinner blades, propellers and various types of fancy lures, such as willow leaf and French spinners. The metal baits are decorated with letters from local schools or professional football teams to ghosts, Christmas trees and other seasonal symbols.
Dale made all of the lures without the embellishments for the jewelry, Jean said. She cuts out all of the letters from fishing lure sticker tape. The beads that adorn the jewelry are bright fishing beads. And, all of the necklaces are created with fishing line. Jewelry hooks are purchased for the earrings.
``It would be tricky to use real fish hooks because of barbed hooks,'' Jean said, laughing.
``I threatened that it would get carried away if I was wearing leeches.''
She is also considering making tie tacks with the lures.
``I think they look pretty cool with the fishing tape,'' Jake said. ``The kids asked me at school if they can get them for their moms. When Dad first named it, I said, `OK, this is going to be embarrassing.'''
Jacob gave a pair of apple earrings to his fourth-grade teacher at Madison Elementary, Dona Balciar. He even tried to promote his parents' business -- and be funny at the same time -- when he wore clip earrings to class.
The first set Jean made honored the Green Bay Packers. Other local sports teams, like the Marshfield Tigers' recent state football title bid, helped create a demand.
``I am looking at next year contacting local schools to see if they want to do fund-raisers with team earrings and necklaces,'' she said. ``It's novel.''
Although her husband was apprehensive at the beginning, Jean said she netted Dale's confidence.
``When I first started, he told me the fishing lure stickers, what flashes on the jewelry, can't be cut,'' she said. ``I said, `Let me try.' The stickers are really expensive.
``I had to prove myself. It's been an artistic adventure.''
The Schultzes have a database for their catalogs, which they send out twice a year to nearly 850 customers.
The business is advertised in outdoor magazines including In Fisherman and Wisconsin Outdoors.
Jean said she has had some craft experience but not with jewelry and ``certainly not with fishing lures.''
She sold several jewelry sets she wore to work at the Marshfield Clinic lab.
``Many of the guys noticed they were lures,'' she said.
