Hemphill Students Reel in Success with Handcrafted Sting ‘Em Baits

When you're out at the Big Bass Splash, you always expect to see lots of vendors selling lots of merchandise. This past weekend at the Toledo Bend tournament was no different. However, there was one booth that really caught my attention.

Sting 'Em Baits

The one booth I'm referring had items that featured the mascot of one of our Deep East Texas schools, along with several students. They were from Hemphill High School and they were there selling Sting 'Em Baits. Now, being a fan of fishing, and being from this area, my curiosity was piqued, and I had to learn more.

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Sting 'Em Baits is part of the HHS Life Skills program. Students with special needs get to create their very own soft plastic lures. Every lure is a unique, one-of-a-kind design, and have all the same characteristics that you would find if you were buying it in a huge sporting goods store, except that they're hand-crafted by these students.

According to the Sting 'Em Baits website, this process gives students the chance to "learn real world skills like measuring, following directions, working safely, and taking pride in quality craftsmanship while creating something anglers can actually use."

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These Sting 'Em Baits can be found at Toledo Bend Tackle and Co., Anderson Bait Distributors, Holly Park, as well as the Sting 'Em Baits website that I mentioned above. You can also keep up with everything that the students are doing on the Sting 'Em Baits Facebook page.

I was able to get a few pictures of the baits that the Hemphill students had on-site this weekend. You can see them below: