Louis Cooper was a determined and hungry South African team tournament bass angler back in 2013. He identified that, over time, the simple fact that “if you’re not getting hung up, you’re not fishing where they are” meant bass fishing can be a costly sport to pursue. He began to purchase components and molds to build his own custom jigs, drastically reducing the cost per jig for each of his fishing trips.
Within a year of committing to fishing his own jigs, Louis and his boat partner dominated the South African team tournament trails and attracted the attention of other avid anglers. Louis realized that he had a unique opportunity to provide custom colors that weren’t sold in any of the local shops – and so, in 2015, he founded Go Fish Bait Company (GFBC for short), and expanded into creating custom spinnerbaits and soft plastics.
From 2015 to 2021, Louis and his partner racked up many tournament wins and 3 x Angler of the Year titles on the B.A.S.S. and FLW-sanctioned trails – and also qualified for the Bassmaster Team Championships in the USA.
In 2019, Louis married his now-wife Zelmarie, who shares a deep passion for fishing. Zelmarie strengthened the available offerings of GFBC by creating specialized corporate branding concepts, along with important fishing accessories like custom rod socks and shallow water anchor covers. Together they continued to expand GFBC while also working full-time jobs.
In 2020, Louis began custom painting hardbaits which reflected the unique South African baitfish more accurately. GFBC quickly became the top custom painted lure business in South Africa for many of the country’s top tier anglers.
In 2022, the Cooper Family relocated to the USA through an intercompany transfer. Bass are bass, but local knowledge is still important. Louis would need to adapt and learn the subtleties of what makes American bass bite.
Louis joined a local bass fishing club in Connecticut and signed up to fish in the local TBF tournaments as a co-angler. He soon met Nick Cortina, another passionate co-angler who had been fishing the local water bodies, and the two quickly realized they shared an unwavering dedication to bass fishing. Their mutual desire to push the boundaries on known bass fishing techniques led them to become best friends, and eventually business partners as Nick joined the GFBC family in 2024.
Louis and Nick remain in pursuit of developing and providing unique and innovative lures to fellow dedicated bass anglers while maintaining financial accessibility. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our baits, plain and simple. Here at GFBC, we believe bass fishing doesn’t need to be expensive to be great. Great products do come at a cost, but that cost should NOT be a deal breaker, and above all else – they have to catch fish!
GFBC still uses some of the best South African anglers to do product testing to fine-tune and perfect our products. If our lures can withstand the carnage of giant South African largemouth, you can be sure it will hold up for your fish too!
We’d love to help bring your custom color ideas to life to help provide a bait that is unique and tailored to your needs – and we’ll do it at a price that won’t break the bank, either. Send us a message on our contact page and we’d be happy to get back to you!
“Go Fish, that’s all that matters”.
