The Advantage Bait Story

Falling in love with fishing on vacations to Florida, the fascination continued for Jason Schwartz in the Midwest before getting married and joining the bass tournament scene. After selling his tournament boat to pursue business opportunities, the metal fabrication company owner began to tinker with metal blades to scratch the fishing industry itch. 

A trip to Lake Newton in Illinois with his young son also helped him realize he was on to something. With the weather not ideal for a spinnerbait, Jason and his son were flipping and pitching when his son, like kids do, wanted to try something else.

“At his age, the bigger rods, it's hard for a kid to flip grass. I had one of my baits laying around and he wanted to try it. I knew the conditions were not ideal for it at all but I said sure give it a try. On his first cast he caught a bass and I knew I had to manufacture spinnerbaits, and with that, I started a bait company.”

After that, Schwartz began making baits and summoned the help of two influential folks in the fishing industry. At the top of his list, Gary Klein and Cliff Pace were both willing to help and Gary was very influential in getting the right blade and color combinations.

“I had gone through the process of getting the real die set so we had the different baits and both Gary and Cliff loved them. Those guys gave me the confidence to bring my baits to market and Gary shared a ton of wisdom about the skirts, colors and patterns. I learned from him that it didn’t matter if he shared all his spinnerbait knowledge because he could simply out fish anyone, regardless if they had the right baits. It was great to see two big name guys willing to help me out.”

When the company started, Schwartz knew he needed to offer more than spinnerbaits, and with the help of Cliff Pace, Advantage grew to include swim jigs and other bladed baits. In terms of the future, Schwartz is working with current Elite Series Pro Brandon Card to release Brandon’s signature series line, the Wild Card Series of jigs.

In addition to the patented blades, the baits are 100% made in the USA, aside from the skirts. Each spinnerbait also has a stainless-steel spring on the wire versus the normal plastic spacer. Over time, with heavy use and algae, the plastic will crack. Advantage uses the metal spring as a spacer to eliminate damage to perfectly functioning baits.