It is my privilege and pleasure to tell you about a new fishing rod manufacturing company, Duckett Fishing, and our premier product: MicroMagic fishing rods. We announced the formation of the company the day before Thanksgiving. That announcement was the culmination of a lot of long hours, extremely hard work and careful planning.
Before I offer a little more about what we’re making at Duckett Fishing and why I think it could change the landscape of the fishing industry, let me briefly tell you why we’re doing what we’re doing.
The Story
First of all, starting a company that makes and sells fishing products isn’t something I needed to do it at this stage of my professional life. I’m not complaining one bit when I say that my life was already extremely busy. In fact, I’m happy about that. But the fact is that my day-to-day life was plenty busy without taking on another project. I’m trying to win tournaments at the Elite Series level, and that should be a full-time job. I also own and manage an Alabama-based tank trailer leasing business that operates throughout the South, Midwest and Southwest, and I’m partner with my brother, Eroll, in a second tank trailer business that is based in Charlotte.
But this company, Duckett Fishing, is a labor of love - and it came about almost by accident.
Three years ago, shortly after I won the 2007 Bassmaster Classic, I signed a contract to endorse and help market Carrot Stix rods. That move made sense, because I had played a pivotal role in the creation and development of the rods (and I would later help market them).
I believed that we were on the right track when a Toronto, Canada-based company, E-21, began manufacturing and distributing the Carrot Stix. It seemed that through E-21 we would have the opportunity to effectively market the Carrot Stix rods worldwide.
In business, however, things don’t always go the way you want. Disagreements take place and, in a nutshell, E-21 and I eventually didn’t see eye-to-eye on critical issues. I became so concerned that I chose to split with E-21 and move in another direction.
It was tough to break ties with a major sponsor, but I felt that it was the right thing to do. During the time I began anticipating a break with E-21, I had to consider what my next step would be. I thought about what I truly wanted in a rod and in the company that would produce the rods I use when I fish competitively. I knew that, as far as a rod was concerned, I’d like to have all the tangible things that every angler wants: a light but durable stick that will produce the actions, specifically, that I need for each bait category I fish.
But there was something else. I’ve been a businessman for more than 30 years, and I’ve started a quite a few companies, so it didn’t take long for my thoughts (about what kind of rod I wanted) to go a step further. What I really wanted was the opportunity to produce my own rod, maybe even start my own company. I thought about what it would be like to work with innovative designers and custom-rod builders, as well as with outstanding anglers, to help create a rod that does all the things good anglers want.
I also wanted what all successful business people want: control of the product. I wanted to be in position to make the decisions that affect how rods are developed, manufactured, and warranted – and I wanted to make sure that the rods would be thoroughly tested before we offered them in the marketplace. If improvements needed to be made, by god we would make them.
So to make a long story shorter, at that point I started the work that has become Duckett Fishing. I am honored to have been joined in this effort by Ken Whiting, winner of numerous ICAST “Best of Show” awards and the rod designer I worked with during the development of the award-winning Carrot Stix prototype.
The Rods
Ken and I, with a lot of input from others throughout the fishing industry, started developing a rod that uses microguide technology. This was no small feat, because there are lots of hurdles to jump if you’re going to make even a single, customized rod that utilizes microguides. But after a series of trials and errors, we’ve learned to make not only the right custom rod, we’ve learned to make it on a broader scale.
It’s also important for you to know that as we developed the rods we worked with high-end, custom rod builders to put together a world-class microguide rod. We also did a lot of the best kind of research and development – on-the-water testing. Some select, top-tier pros have fished with our prototypes and given us feedback, and we’ve used that feedback to help us produce our initial series of rods.
So here’s where we are. Duckett Fishing LLC is a fishing products manufacturing company based in Demopolis, Alabama. Our first product, MicroMagic, is a line of rods that utilizes microguide technology. And though I use the word “utilize,” what we’re actually doing is “introducing” the wide-scale sale of microguide rods.
As I said, we’re certainly not the first people in the world to make a fishing rod with microguides, but I believe it’s safe to say that we’re the first company to put this technology into mass production. I should point out that, as part of this process, we’ve worked in conjunction with American Tackle to develop a microguide that is proprietary to Duckett Fishing.
From a technical standpoint, what we’re doing at Duckett Fishing is special and ahead of the curve. You often hear product endorsers making claims that their products are new and different, but in most cases you know that what they’re saying isn’t exactly true - it’s the same old thing. In our case, there’s nothing ‘same old’ about what we’ve created. The MicroMagic rods take existing technology to a whole new level.
I’m extremely excited about these rods. From a technical standpoint, we’re offering rods that will give you the following:
* All blanks are made from the highest quality, multi-modulous, “guaranteed fresh” pre-pregs and will be rolled on inhouse-designed proprietary mandrels.
* Based on our research and testing, we worked extensively with American Tackle to develop a set of proprietary ring-lock microguides; the only company to offer these guides will be Duckett Fishing.
* All rods will feature:
* Comfort grip reel seats, for both casting and spinning;
* High-quality “AA” cork grips;
* Hook-keepers made especially for Duckett Fishing;
* Custom-designed anodized aluminum winding checks.
* All rods will come with a comprehensive service and warranty agreement, including our extended lifetime warranty option, kind of like "rod insurance."
The bottom line, in less technical terms, is that you’ll get rods that:
* Are extremely lightweight and durable
* Offer unmatched sensitivity
* Produce increased casting distance
* Allow unparalleled accuracy
* Are well-balanced to reduce angler fatigue
Among all the other advantages, the rods are white and we at Duckett Fishing unanimously think they look cool.
The Company and Our Guarantee
I’m delighted that Ken Whiting, the "wizard of rods", will be heading up our design team as we move forward to develop more new lines of Duckett Fishing rods. I’m also excited that we’re being joined by a terrific pro staff, and the members of that team will make their appearance on this Web site soon. I’m also pleased to say that Sean Schuyler, formerly of E-21, has joined us as vice-president of operations and brings a wealth of knowledge about the sports products industry.
Our company slogan is “Pro-Driven.” What that means is that our rods were developed literally by and for pros, so people who buy this rod will be getting a product that professionals built and use with confidence. Obviously, you’ll see me fishing with them in the Bassmaster Classic and on the ESPN Elite Series tour.
But “Pro-Driven” also means something else: it means we’re not corporate-driven. Initially, we were actually going to make our company slogan say “driven by pros, not by profits,” because we want people to understand that our decisions won’t be made corporate-style. We won’t sit around a boardroom table figuring out ways to cut corners to help our bottom line. I believe that cutting corners leads to offering an inferior product, and we’re simply not going to do that. (We don’t do that in my tank-trailer business, and we won’t do that at Duckett Fishing.) We’re committed to producing rods that truly help anglers.
I invite you to give MicroMagic rods a look and a try. If you have suggestions or other feedback to offer, we’ll be happy to hear from you. In fact, it is important to us that we hear from you.
You can e-mail us at Duckett Fishing (info@duckettfishing.com) or call us (888- 603-0005). If you feel that you have promotional or public relations opportunities, you can contact Randy Coleman (304-546-1358).
Again, it is a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to talk about this exciting new venture. Thank you for taking a look at this Web site, and I sincerely believe that if you take a look at our products you’re going to like what you find.
Boyd Duckett
No comments:
Post a Comment