Those looking for big news on opening
day of the 2015 Fred Hall Fishing Tackle & Boat Show didn’t have to wait
long, as Huntington Beach, California-based Cousins Tackle Corporation and
Montgomery, Texas-based CastAway Rods kicked off the show by announcing a
merger of their two companies.
This merger has been strategically
planned by both parties to have a positive impact on the fishing tackle
industry, as well as anglers worldwide. “This
is one American company merging with another American company, so together we can
build more and better fishing products for consumers,” said Mac DeLaup, Owner
of CastAway Rods. “We’re not doing this for any of the reasons
people might think when they hear the word ‘merger’. This is about growing both brands together in
ways that would never be possible apart.
The strength of our two factories working together will allow us to
accomplish things that no other company — big or small — will be able to
match. Together, Cousins and CastAway will deliver
unparalleled production capacity, custom-rod quality and the ability to react
quickly to market needs across America or around the world,” added DeLaup.
Cousins Tackle CEO/President Bill
Buchanan echoed this level of excitement.
“The synergy between our two companies was striking — primarily because
we both share a passion for building quality fishing rods here in America. Both brands have superior reputations for
quality and performance, and our product lines are complementary, rather than
conflicting. As such, our expanding family
of dealers will benefit from the combined power of both brands, and fishermen
will soon find Cousins and CastAway rods selling side-by-side in all 50
states,” said Buchanan.
In preparation for these future growth
plans, CastAway is looking to expand staffing at its 6,500-sq.ft. manufacturing
facility in Texas. Cousins opened its 13,000-sq.
ft. rod and vinyl lure skirt manufacturing facility in California about 18
months ago, and already has a staff of 50 building a complete line of more than
300 different high-end rod models for all styles of fishing.
With its proven blank designs and
state-of-the-art components, CastAway Rods has earned a loyal following among demanding
bass anglers coast-to-coast, including top tournament professionals like Todd
Faircloth, Russ Lane, Zell Rowland, Marty Robinson and Bill Lowen. In
addition, its location in Texas has helped the company develop a leading line
of spinning and casting rods ideal for inshore and Gulf Coast fishing. Overall, the CastAway line totals nearly 200
models of rods in six different series, delivering a full line of custom
quality rods ranging in price from $79 to $250.
Even though the Cousins brand is
relatively new, the two real-life cousins for whom it’s named — Buchanan and
Wade Cunningham — have both worked in the fishing tackle industry their entire adult
lives. Over parallel careers spanning decades, the two men helped create
such iconic and successful fishing tackle brands as Sage, Seeker, Fenwick,
Sevenstrand, Berkeley, Spiderwire, Stren, Abu Garcia, Abel and Shikari. Buchanan and Cunningham worked together and
honed their rod-building expertise at Fenwick – where the first high-modulus
graphite tubular style rods were built – at a time when the factory was putting
out 1,000 rods per day.
Plans are underway to introduce the
world fishing tackle industry to the combined power of Cousins Tackle and
CastAway Rods at this summer’s 2015 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing
Trades (ICAST) show in Orlando, Florida, where the companies will be exhibiting
together.
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