St. Croix Rod is worked up to announce that Redband Sports activities Group and Wisco Outfitters will symbolize the corporate’s rising fly-fishing portfolio and model in key fly-fishing areas of the US. Redband Sports activities will symbolize retailers in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. In the meantime, Wisco Outfitters will help current and potential St. Croix Fly sellers within the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Colorado and the Pacific Northwest
Led by Joe Amend, Redband Sports activities Group enjoys a 15-year historical past of serving high outside producers all through the American Northwest. The area is dwelling to a few of the most important retailers within the fly-fishing business. “These states have helped foster our total fly-fishing financial system,” Amend says. “Their distinctive sources and fisheries have created a tradition the place fly-fishing on the middle of day-to-day life. And the retail base that developed to help this tradition has expanded exponentially by way of well-executed e-commerce, and now serves the wants of fly-anglers from the remainder of the nation and around the globe.”
Amend is a product of that fly-fishing tradition. “I used to be born and raised exterior of Spokane. Rising up on a ranch in that a part of the world, fishing and searching have been simply stuff you did. I began fly fishing younger and it simply caught,” he says. After attending the College of Washington and Washington State, Amend recollects engaged on a graduate thesis when he was provided a job as a gross sales rep. “It sounded much more enjoyable than being a scientist,” he says, “so I took the job and by no means seemed again.”
St. Croix Fly Director of Gross sales, Zack Dalton, echoes Amend’s evaluation of the area and its retailers. He says outlets in these states have been profitable in increasing their on-line gross sales for a wide range of causes, most of that are instantly attributable to experience and belief. “They create nice experiences for anglers who stroll by means of their doorways, together with the numerous guests who journey to fish from different states, areas, and international locations,” Dalton says. “Which may be the place it began, however they’ve been capable of retain these prospects and appeal to new ones with well-curated on-line retail experiences that present the excessive stage of service fly-fishing prospects demand.”
Amend says there’s by no means been a greater time for St. Croix’s return to the premium fly-fishing area. “St. Croix was a cornerstone of the fly-fishing business for many years. All of us had their rods and plenty of nonetheless do. The model by no means went away, however it’s been pretty apparent to anybody watching that – up till two years in the past – it had been some time since they positioned as a lot emphasis on their fly-fishing portfolio as they did on the standard facet of their rod enterprise,” Amend says. “It’s all the time enjoyable to speak with fly anglers of a sure age about St. Croix. It has a few of the deepest roots of any American fly-fishing firm and anglers nonetheless affiliate the model with no-nonsense high quality, design, and American craftsmanship. However what’s much more enjoyable is spreading the phrase with anglers – particularly youthful ones – about what St. Croix has performed over the previous couple of years in leveraging its heritage, sources, applied sciences, and 7 many years of rod-building expertise to deliver distinctive and thrilling new choices in high-performance fly rods to market. It’s a cool story made even higher by the corporate’s heritage,” he says. “The retro angle is exclusive and interesting, however it’s positively an all-new period for St. Croix Fly, and it’s taking place on the good time when anglers and retailers are clamoring for brand new selections.”
When Amend isn’t touring to speak with retailers and anglers, he’s fishing – often dry-fly trout fishing on the Roaring Fork or fly fishing for bones, allow, or tarpon in Belize.
Midwest
Led by Matt Kwitek, previously of Dry Fly Gross sales, Wisco Outfitters will present gross sales illustration to 12 Midwest states, together with the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and the Nice Lakes States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. St. Croix Fly was beforehand represented on this territory by the Dry Fly Gross sales company and its house owners, Tony and Kim Ferrie, who lately introduced their retirement.
Along with vital on-the-job expertise representing the St. Croix Fly model throughout his tenure at Dry Fly Gross sales, Kwitek, primarily based in Madison, Wisconsin, has intimate information of the Midwest’s distinctive fisheries and the particular wants of the area’s anglers.
“My dad was a prolific, well-known fisherman and bought me into fly fishing fairly early,” Kwitek says. “He was the fly store supervisor at Bob’s Bait and Deal with in Inexperienced Bay for years and was additionally a information and knowledgeable tyer. I grew up with fly fishing and it caught with me. I ultimately crossed paths with Kim and Tony, who gave me a possibility to begin working with them, and that began my journey as a fly rep.”
Kwitek cites the various fly-fishing experiences tucked away all through the Midwest. “We’ve bought the Nice Lakes’ distinctive anadromous fisheries and Michigan’s storied trout waters, the Driftless streams in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, the Ozarks, and extremely diverse warmwater alternatives,” he says. “And there’s an unimaginable base of passionate fly anglers that discover all of them, together with a formidable variety of anglers who journey right here to fish from throughout the nation.”
Kwitek says the Midwest’s base of fly-fishing retailers mirrors the area’s variety. “We’ve outlets which were serving anglers for many years round established fisheries, plus newer fly outlets which have emerged to satisfy the specialised wants of anglers in particular fisheries and geographic areas, and I’m 100% dedicated to serving the person wants of each certainly one of them,” he says, citing the rising reputation amongst fly anglers of the Wisconsin and Indiana musky fisheries as only one instance. “These are well-known world-class fisheries with an abundance of fish, however they’re seeing rising angling strain,” he says. “Fly fishing is a terrific method to have success concentrating on pressured muskies, as a result of you can also make shows that merely aren’t attainable utilizing typical gear. Our numerous smallmouth fisheries are one other instance. Sure retailers have stepped as much as meet the rising demand for experience and specialised tools.”
Kwitek additionally enjoys working in a area the place the St. Croix model is revered by a lot of anglers. “The Midwest is St. Croix’s dwelling. Many anglers right here have an appreciation for the model and a ravenous urge for food for the Finest Rods on Earth,” he says. “I’m certainly one of them. I caught my first steelhead on a fly in 1988 on a St. Croix Professional Graphite fly rod. At this time, their lineup is extra stacked than ever with superb flyrods from high to backside. It’s a storied model with nice individuals making distinctive merchandise that enhance on-the-water experiences. I’m tremendous proud to be concerned, serving sellers and anglers, and fueling the St. Croix Fly story within the Midwest.”
Dalton speaks to Kwitek’s enthusiasm and expertise. “I’m stoked to have Matt on board, persevering with an unbroken, excessive stage of service to our Midwestern sellers,” he says. “He has deep associations with high quality retailers on this numerous and essential area and carries his personal fly-fishing passions and firsthand experiences with our model into these relationships.”
Redband Sports activities and Wisco Outfitters started official illustration for St. Croix Fly on October 1.
ABOUT ST. CROIX FLY
On the core of our model ethos lives a easy but fierce conviction; we exist to create dynamic fishing instruments that intuitively provide help to evolve as a caster and angler. Our centered philosophy frequently questions typical knowledge, evokes innovation, and drives our persistent pursuit of fly rod perfection. Once you personal a St. Croix, it’s greater than only a rod; it’s a promise. It’s 75 years of hard-earned information geared toward designing and constructing the Finest Rods on Earth, so that you could be the very best in your personal persistent pursuit. Be a part of our journey at stcroixfly.com.
