He will soon bring his wares to the Upper Peninsula Ice Fishing and Hunting Expo, set for Sept. 19 and 21 in Escanaba.

David Chovan lives almost 300 miles due west of Escanaba, outside of Osceola, Wis., which is on the St. Croix River on the Minnesota border. By trade, Chovan is an electrician; recreationally, he’s also an outdoorsman.

He was working part-time at a friend’s archery shop when he began to learn about home lure-making.

“I’ve always wanted to do it when I was young,” Chovan said.

A mold full of 3 1/2-inch crayfish lures is shown after setting by Dave Chovan. (Courtesy photo)

When he found a YouTube channel about the craft and watched a few videos, he was intrigued and decided it didn’t look too difficult.

“So I started looking at suppliers and bought some simple stuff to start, and started out hand-pourin’ lures and just kind of playing around with colors,” Chovan said.

“I started out with three cheap silicone molds I got from a supplier, a quart of plastic, and think I got three colors and three different flakes to start,” he said.

“Flake” is the glitter in lures that scatters light.

He also had to acquire some appropriate measuring cups and a microwave for heating raw materials.

Fresh out of the mold at Rippin' Lips Lures, a pile of crayfish designs are shown. "It's very detailed and realistic-looking," said Dave Chovan, adding that he calls this color "Mayberry Crumble." (Courtesy photo)

Pretty soon, it became, “Let’s get some more colors, get some more flake, and it’s just escalated from there,” he said with a chuckle.

His first season was 2022. He named his operation “Rippin’ Lips Lures” and began posting his creations on Facebook.

Chovan primarily produces custom lures. He said that probably 98% of his work is custom-ordered by people who request certain color combinations.

Most people find Rippin’ Lips Lures through Facebook or word of mouth. There’s also a website with some extras.

“Basically, my website is for, you know, overflow,” Chovan said. “If I’m running a certain color for a customer, I usually try to make little bit extra, either for my tackle box for testing, or I just throw them on the website as the secondary sale.”

An angler holds up a bass caught with a 7-inch trick worm in "Okeechobee craw" color from Rippin' Lips Lures of Osceola, Wis. (Courtesy photo)

Chovan’s own tackle box is now entirely filled with his own creations, he said.

Though hand-poured molds were how Chovan started, he’s moved away from that style and now focuses on injection-style. While the open pours used a one-sided mold, the injection method requires the melted material to be drawn up into a syringe and then inserted into a port on a two-part mold.

A number of people have turned away from big brands in favor of smaller names like Rippin’ Lips Lures, a one-man operation. Curiously — and Chovan doesn’t know why — his products have taken off in the South.

“Most of my customers are all (in the) southern states,” he said. “South, East Coast. A couple West Coasters but not very much. It’s mostly Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida.”

Though a few locals buy from him, not many people in the Midwest and northern regions seem to have discovered Rippin’ Lips Lures yet. But that’s changing, in part due to events like the upcoming ice fishing expo.

Someone in Escanaba had heard of Rippin’ Lips, and a member of the Daily Press — who organizes the U.P. Ice Fishing and Hunting Expo — contacted Chovan to see if he’d be interested in coming as a vendor.

He said he checked with his fiancee, confirmed they had no plans that weekend, and booked a booth for the Escanaba show.

Rippin’ Lips Lures will also attend another fishing show closer to Chovan’s hometown this year.

Though he’s not aggressively pursuing rapid growth — it is still a side hobby for now, after all — Chovan does intend for his business to gradually develop. He said he’s always looking at adding new styles and molds.

Some content creators use and promote Rippin’ Lips Lures, and Chovan said he’s got a few sponsored guys who give out cards and stickers and extra lures.

As an angler himself, Chovan said his preferred target is largemouth bass. This year, he said, fishing has been unusual in his area — almost all of his catches have been with lizards, whereas in previous seasons worms and slinkos were the most successful lures.

For walleye fishermen, Chovan said the lures of choice are often worms — which he carries in various lengths form 4 to 10 inches — and three sizes of swim baits.