Wanting to present a unique birthday gift to a friend but lacking the money to do so, a young entrepreneur carved and painted a wooden fishing lure that he presented at school the following day. When his other classmates saw his handiwork, they began commissioning him for lures of their own. That is how Jacob Rodkey ’27 says he got his start in business.
“They weren’t very good, and they took a long time to make at first,” Rodkey said of the lures, which he sold at a modest price of $5 apiece. “I eventually started ordering blanks and repainting those, and since then I’ve been refining the process.”
In August 2023, Rodkey transformed his hobby into Z-Strike Lures LLC, a small business devoted to the creation and sale of hand-painted bespoke fishing lures. To help boost his venture, he sought and secured more than $4,000 from various Susquehanna University funding streams, including the House of Hawks business pitch competition and Student Startup Market, both of which are supported by the Jameson ’02 and Jennifer Engerer ’02 Troutman Susquehanna Entrepreneurship Fund. He also received funding from PA CareerLink last year to hire two student apprentices.
Rodkey trained his apprentices in sales, social media marketing and the finer points of crafting their product. Working in a leadership role gave him the opportunity to apply material from his Sigmund Weis School of Business management classes, including standard practices like creating quotas and rotating tasks to minimize boredom.
Fishermen want exclusivity and specificity. They want to feel special, and Z-Strike brings that.
Jacob Rodkey ’27
In his new management role, Rodkey was afforded more time to get in touch with his favorite part of the job: managing day-to-day business logistics. Rodkey’s drive and diligence in attending to these smaller details allowed Z-Strike to find an ever-expanding base of devoted customers.
“Z-Strike has sold over 2,500 lures, mostly to local bass fishermen,” Rodkey said. “The age of my customers varies, but there is one thing they all have in common: they enjoy fishing the river or lake and they enjoy using hard baits. I’ve shipped lures as far as California and filled orders for customers in Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey and Georgia.”
Regardless of the distance that separates his customers, Rodkey takes pains to ensure the final product withstands environmental conditions, doesn’t injure the fish that it catches and has an optimal weight in the water. Maintaining these standards transforms him into something more personal than a mere supplier — a partner.
“Fishermen want exclusivity and specificity. They want modifications made to lures and they want lures unique to them,” Rodkey said. “They want to feel special, and Z-Strike brings that. I remake old lures, mock paint jobs and tailor everything exactly to the customer’s preferences.”
A native of Huntingdon County in central Pennsylvania, Rodkey’s knowledge of current seasonal conditions allows him to tailor his lures to the size, color palette and water depth most likely to be effective in catching that year’s fish. He plans to create a design tool so anglers can show Z-Strike the personalized lures they’re looking for.
“My advice to beginning entrepreneurs is to find people in the same endeavor or profession, because they always have advice and tips,” Rodkey said. “I had a lot of questions about certain things and oftentimes I had to experiment on my own, but when I found people within the same industry, I was able to gain some really valuable tips from them.”
Rodkey has paid forward the support he has received from Susquehanna by donating 10% of his income to area churches and community causes in need, a move informed by his Catholic faith. For example, revenue from Rodkey’s sales helped cover the cost of roof repairs for neighbor whose home was damaged by a falling tree in the wake of a major storm.
