ORLANDO, Fla. — Count yourself lucky if you get to meet someone as interesting as Isaac Payne.
Payne, 31, just graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where he was the president and founder of the school’s first-ever bass fishing team.
And if that were the most interesting thing about him, we’d just stop right there.
But that was after he’d spent eight years in the Marines. And fishing is what got him in school once he’d finished his service.
“The only thing that could get me to go back to school was the idea of being on a fishing team,” said Payne, last week in Orlando at ICAST, the nation’s largest fishing tackle trade show.
“I’ve always wanted to build lures,” he said. “So my first question when I was talking to SCAD was, can I learn to build lures here? They said yes.”
And he did.
In fact, that was his final project. He had to create his own lures to graduate. He did, and he graduated with honors this past spring with a degree in industrial design.
Now that he knows how to design and build the lures he wants, he’s going to fish with them — in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens presented by Allstate.
“When I catch them, it’s going to be on what I made,” said Payne. “I plan to build a new one for each Open and introduce it there, based on what I need for that tournament.”
Payne can make soft plastics as well as hard baits, such as the lipless cranks he’s holding in the photo at top and the one shown here, unpainted and sans hooks.
Now, the young man — complete with exemplary military service and a college degree — is at a crossroads: Build his own lures or work for a company that already manufactures them? He has several options in front of him.
But one of his main goals is to get the fishing team he created at SCAD to flourish even now that he’s no longer on the team.
“My vision is for the school to get more active in the industry,” said Payne. “And I want the team to do well, even though I’ve graduated.”
His trip to ICAST was for him to feel out the industry for his team and for his future. He had his lure prototypes on hand and was armed with tons of knowledge about what SCAD can offer the industry and what the fishing lure manufacturers are looking for.
“I just want it to be a win-win for everyone.”