Chad Pavlu and his wife, Melissa, are the owners and operators of PavLures, a Texas-based fishing lure company that has a growing reputation amongst inshore fishing guides, tournament pros, and avid anglers for producing high-quality soft plastic baits, slow-sinking and suspending twitch baits, jig heads, and weedless hooks.
They manufacture the lures and products themselves out of their shop where they live in Port Mansfield. This allows them to maintain the premium level of quality they strive to provide to their customers, as they are able to touch every single bait before it ever reaches the hands of an angler.
Pavlu said PavLures originally began as hobby.
“I was guiding fishing trips part time and just fishing a lot in general, mostly out of the Rockport area, and felt like the quality and durability of the lures I was fishing with was gradually declining,” he explained. “So, I started tinkering around with making some baits.”
Pavlu said the initial process started slow. He acquired the equipment he needed to start making his own baits a little at a time.
“Some friends would come over and see the baits I was messing around with, and often, they would mention they would be willing to give my baits a try,” Pavlu said. “More and more of my friends started using the lures I was making, so I started bagging some, and the hobby slowly began to evolve into a business.”
One thing led to another and by 2025, owning and operating PavLures became a full-time occupation for Pavlu and his wife.
All of the products in the PavLures lineup have undergone a lengthy and extensive design and testing process.
“We went through multiple prototypes and generations of each and every one of our baits before we were able to perfect them and produce the models that make up our current line-up of products,” he said. “Our goal is to provide anglers with the highest quality products for their hard-earned dollar. We don’t cut any corners.”
Pavlu said the entire production process for their baits is done in-house.
“Melissa and I make it all here in our shop,” he said. “That includes bending all the wires for our Softy models. We do all that by hand. We handle all the painting of the baits, the packaging, and everything in between. It’s all done in-house, including our jig heads and our weedless hooks.We personally make and touch every one of our products ourselves.”
PavLures uses Gamakatsu hooks for all jig heads, weedless hooks, and soft suspension and floater baits. All of their jig heads and weighted weedless hooks are lead free.
“All of our soft suspension and floater baits have 100% real cork in them,” Pavlu said. “That is a major factor in how those lures move through the water.”
Pavlu said he and his wife are big on creating new, custom-color combinations for anglers to try. They often take suggestions from seasoned fishing guides, their pro staff members, their brand ambassadors, and customers.
“Because we manufacture all our lures in-house, we can develop custom baits fairly quickly,” Pavlu said. “We don’t have to deal with a lengthy production process from a factory to get our hands on a few prototypes. We can make what we want to make, when we want to make it.”
According to Pavlu, owning and operating PavLures is a labor of love for he and his wife. They make an excellent team and are great at brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of one another.
“At the end of the day, we love what we do,” Pavlu said. “It doesn’t feel like work to us. We are passionate about helping anglers become more successful, and we are always trying to come up with ways to offer new and improved products to our customers.”
Current Texas dealers for PavLures include the Waterloo Rod store in Victoria, Jeco’s Marine & Tackle Outdoor Shop in Port O’Connor, Bayou City Angler in Houston, Anglers Anonymous in Katy, and Harold’s Bait & Tackle in Crystal Beach. They also have dealers in North Carolina and Virginia.
PavLures can also be purchased online at pavlures.com.
