Tim Jackson first started making ice-fishing traps in his basement in 1979 and would trade them for Christmas presents for his five children. Eventually the hobby morphed into a full-time job, and he began supplying larger retailers, including L.L.Bean. By 2005, the business had outgrown his basement, and he moved it to its current 6,000-square-foot retail and production space in Monmouth. Last summer he sold the company to Shawn Norton, who joined Jack Traps in 2013. While Jackson still occasionally helps out at the shop, his mission now is to teach more people how to fish and to share his passion for ice fishing.

Read Trap Master, our February 2020 story on Jackson and Jack Traps, here.