Hello all,

A question I've been wondering about for a while:

when one of the Big Name tackle manufacturers discontinues a line (eg. greys with streamflex, or sage with txl etc), do they ever sell the machinery, plans etc on to someone else, who then continues production under a different brand?

It just ocurrs to me that it's a fantastic waste of what are still extremely good tools - and I strongly suspect that someone could still profitably sell them at a fraction of the old price.

Just a thought as Christmas consumerism eats its way through my bank balance....

isn't most fishing gear now mostly made in Korea, China and Tiawan?
I was under the impression tackle companies contracted to have their products made and that the same factory could be making, say, rods for a number of different organisations at the same time.
There is always a sale, at significantly reduced prices, of products when or just before the company moves on to the next iteration or decides the line isn't what they want

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Eagles may soar high....but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!

And I strongly suspect that somebody does!
Most rods are built in the Far East these days by contracted suppliers who probably make rods for several brands. I don't know a huge amount about the manufacturing process of a rod blank but I would suspect that the tooling is minimal and probably relatively cheap.
I don't doubt that anyone with the right amount of money would be able to approach a rod manufacturer (the generic Far East guys, not the 'Brand' they are making for) and ask them to knock off a few hundred rods 'similar'...nod nod, wink wink etc. to a Greys/Orvis/Sage etc. model.
There would be a contractual tie up forbidding the manufacturer from producing the rod for anyone else but I would suspect in reality that unless someone tried to make a completely blatant copy right down to the same colour and fittings it would be difficult to enforce.

Andy

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GAIC Single Handed Casting Instructor

http://www.andygreyfishing.com/

Greys don't make their own rods, they are made in a chinese factory, alongside several other brands. Sage are made in their own factory in Bainbridge. The only thing that really becomes redundant when a rod design is discontinued, is the manderel, which is the metal rods that the taper is moulded around, but I doubt that the manderel would be of great use to anyone, unless they have the baking ovens, and all the other machinery that is generic to rod manufacture, which would be utilised in the new model anyway. It's a but like a clothing manufacturer... do they throw their sewing machines away, when fashions change??? No, they simply fabricate a new design, and use their existing equipment to produce it.

That's more or less what I thought.

So the obvious question now is: who is currently selling something which, if we looked closely, would turn out to be a Sage or whatever from 3-4 years ago?

There seems to be a magnificent opportunity for a sort of cheats guidebook to tackle...

---------- Post added at 07:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 AM ----------

Oops - I posted that before reading your post, Andre.

That makes sense - thanks.

Matt

Yes it happens where copies are attempted, although, it might be easy to copy a taper, there is a lot that a qualtiy product depends on, other than a taper. Brand models like Greys, Orvis, Redington, and many others, would also stipulate in the manufacturing agreement with the Chinese, certain manufacturing procedures, techniques, and grades of raw materials, which would influence the quality of the end product. These set the product aside from "generic" brands, and are very difficult to immitate.
Besides, I'm certain that most , if not all of the Chinese manufactured rods, have at some stage been " copied" from existing rods. I doubt the Chinese companies who make rods, do much in the way of R&D.
You also find overruns, where the branded company orders say, 500 of a model, but the manufacturer produces 700. The branded company then goes to China, and chooses the best 500 for themselves, and has them branded. The rest are sold as "no name brands" to anyone who wants them. If you buy a house brand rod, and you realise that it has a remarkably similar feel to a branded rod of a different name, there is a good chance that it is in actual fact from the same batch as the branded rod.