About DMC
a vision to give fish chew toys vision
My name is Matt Pelletier, owner, designer, and creator of Dead Meat Customs. Honestly, Dead Meat Customs all started by accident. Originally it was a hobby for me to make custom eyes for the flies I was tying. But when I got into building baits I really got excited about being able to customize eye designs for those also. During the winter of 2017 I made a batch of custom eyes for a builder other than myself. Since then I haven’t looked back and I’ve continued making eyes daily...
FISH BUM since day 1! I use gear/fly to target tiger muskies, pike, walleye, trout and whatever has fins and swims. I first made fishing a part of my livelihood when I created the first ever forum and blog for anglers in New Mexico. After that I started making videos and soon developed an epic E-Zine for fishing in NM. Taking on fishing related videography for private and state contracts was a ton of fun, but my passion was teaching people how to fish. After many inquiries in 2012, I started my own guide service the following year focusing primarily on tiger muskies. We had customers traveling from all over the country and I wanted to add a special touch to my musky flies, so I started making eyes with our state flag in them. Each time a client caught their first tiger musky on a fly with my Zia eye, I would let them take that fly back home with them. A way to take a little bit of NM and the memory home with them ya know... During the winter of 2017, a bait maker in Pennsylvania needed eyes and asked me to make him a batch for an expo he had coming up. I did, he kindly blew up my work, and I started enjoying making eyes and the eyedea of making a brand started to grow before eventually snowballing into what is now a brand creators are using worldwide.
During a fishing trip targeting tiger muskies, I pulled out a bait I had recently built and with fingers crossed, made the first cast. As I started working the bait back on it's "maiden voyage", I got excited because she swam so well and the first thing that came out of my mouth was... “THAT’S DEAD MEAT”. Almost immediately I recognized I had a cool name for my small brand… I just never expected I'd end up making eyes and not baits!
I live and breath fishing so it’s an honor to make eyes for such amazing builders and remain connected to the community now that I don't guide anymore. To see fish caught on baits you made and added my eyes to... priceless!! Thanks for supporting Dead Meat Customs and other small businesses. The folks running them are passionate; they're pouring their blood, sweat, tears, heart, soul, time, and money into their art!
Matt Pelletier
FISH FAM
I’m beyond thrilled to design custom eyes for your baits & it truly is a humbling experience working with you all!. As a small business, I feel it’s important to have a personal relationship with every single customer. I try hard to support them by promoting their products, fishing their baits, commenting on and sharing their posts. We are FISH FAM & I'm honored & thankful I get to work with each of you!
DMC Apparel
I love creating cool apparel for guys to wear out on the water. The DMC line of hats & clothing is something I hope to make available regularly. New designs are always in the works, but if you have something awesome in mind, I’m all ears! I also love collaborating with other artists, please don't hesitate to reach out if you wanna team up on an "eyedea" you have!
