American-Made, Mid-Priced Fly Rods
One of the most prominent executives in the fly-fishing industry is launching a new venture: a fly rod and reel brand with manufacturing in New York, in partnership with one of the most famous salmon and steelhead preserves in the eastern U.S.
Jim Murphy, founder of Redington Fly Fishing and former president of Hardy North America, is president of the new company, Douglas Outdoors, based in Phoenix, New York, northwest of Syracuse.
Murphy’s partners in Douglas Outdoors are members of the Barclay family, which owns Douglaston Salmon Run – the two-mile stretch of the Salmon River from Pulaski, New York to its mouth at Lake Ontario, a pay-to-fish preserve famed for its fall and winter fishing for steelhead and King and coho salmon.
Douglas Outdoors’ initial products will include two lines of mid-priced fly rods, two reel models and a line of spinning and casting rods. The company’s Eclipse reel will make its debut at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades/International Fly Tackle Dealer trade show in Orlando July 15.
The Eclipse will go on sale to the public Oct. 1, with a retail price of $375 to $450, the company announced. Douglas Outdoors’ DHF series of fly rods, with models from 7 feet 6 inches to 13 feet long in line weights 4 through 10, will go on sale Aug. 1 with prices of $159 to $269. Its DXF fly rod line, featuring rods from 8 feet 6 inches to 12 feet long in line weights 3 through 12, will also go on sale Aug.
1, with prices from $320 to $375.
The company is “in the process of building a new fishing rod factory here in New York State,” Murphy told Angling Trade magazine. Tackle made at the factory will go on sale in 2015, he said.
Douglas Outdoors has enlisted High Strain Dynamics and its chief technology officer, Tom Murphey, to make the rods. Murphey, who has a doctorate in mechanical engineering, was a program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He developed composite materials to make things like solar sails deployed on satellites. Murphy brings angling skills as well as tech savvy to the venture: Along with 10 technology patents, he holds two IGFA records for tiger muskie on the fly, with 20-pound and 8-pound test.
“Douglas Outdoors did not evolve from a pre-existing enterprise,” the company announced. “It is an entirely new initiative, bringing together the most experienced practitioners to found a fresh legacy of new tackle that pushes both the science and practice of angling. Douglas Outdoors will apply the same diligence and innovation to all its enterprises. Rod and reel design, customer service and our merchandizing programs will bring an improved product and partner to the water and to the fishing business.”
Jim Murphy, founder of Redington Fly Fishing and former president of Hardy North America, is president of the new company, Douglas Outdoors, based in Phoenix, New York, northwest of Syracuse.
Murphy’s partners in Douglas Outdoors are members of the Barclay family, which owns Douglaston Salmon Run – the two-mile stretch of the Salmon River from Pulaski, New York to its mouth at Lake Ontario, a pay-to-fish preserve famed for its fall and winter fishing for steelhead and King and coho salmon.
Douglas Outdoors’ initial products will include two lines of mid-priced fly rods, two reel models and a line of spinning and casting rods. The company’s Eclipse reel will make its debut at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades/International Fly Tackle Dealer trade show in Orlando July 15.
The Eclipse will go on sale to the public Oct. 1, with a retail price of $375 to $450, the company announced. Douglas Outdoors’ DHF series of fly rods, with models from 7 feet 6 inches to 13 feet long in line weights 4 through 10, will go on sale Aug. 1 with prices of $159 to $269. Its DXF fly rod line, featuring rods from 8 feet 6 inches to 12 feet long in line weights 3 through 12, will also go on sale Aug.
1, with prices from $320 to $375.
The company is “in the process of building a new fishing rod factory here in New York State,” Murphy told Angling Trade magazine. Tackle made at the factory will go on sale in 2015, he said.
Douglas Outdoors has enlisted High Strain Dynamics and its chief technology officer, Tom Murphey, to make the rods. Murphey, who has a doctorate in mechanical engineering, was a program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He developed composite materials to make things like solar sails deployed on satellites. Murphy brings angling skills as well as tech savvy to the venture: Along with 10 technology patents, he holds two IGFA records for tiger muskie on the fly, with 20-pound and 8-pound test.
“Douglas Outdoors did not evolve from a pre-existing enterprise,” the company announced. “It is an entirely new initiative, bringing together the most experienced practitioners to found a fresh legacy of new tackle that pushes both the science and practice of angling. Douglas Outdoors will apply the same diligence and innovation to all its enterprises. Rod and reel design, customer service and our merchandizing programs will bring an improved product and partner to the water and to the fishing business.”
