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Terminal Tackle Success Stories
One of the recurring themes in the world of terminal tackle is that of the triumph of the little guy. Many of the biggest brands on the terminal tackle scene, such as Nash and Korda, began when one angler got frustrated with the tackle that was available, and, unable to buy anything close to what they thought they needed, decided to make it themselves.
When they started having success with their hand-crafted tackle, other anglers wanted to enjoy the same results for themselves, and were queuing up at the bivvy door to get their hands on this brand new miracle.
The success of someone coming from nothing is one of the enduring legends across the angling world. A sport that's all about success through individual effort, and the creativity needed to succeed against a new and challenging element is bound to bring through a fair few people who follow their instincts, and achieve the kind of success that echoes for decades.
Terminal tackle is relatively inexpensive to make, if you know what you need your tackle to do, and you understand how different shapes and materials interact with water, and appeal to fish. And, when an angler hits on an opportunity, they're not backward in striking it – it's why, when Natwest employee Danny Fairbrass made £1,000 profit at the first angling trade fair he attended with the tackle he'd created, he gave them a day's notice, and left to take tackle brand Korda to the next level; I think all anglers would agree, that was exactly the right decision – for Danny Fairbrass, and for angling in general.
Nash Tackle is another brand that rose to dominance from the initiative of Kevin Nash; a teenager when he first began creating his own terminal tackle, Kevin is still actively involved with a company that has come to be almost the signature of carp fishing.
It's easy, when we hear success stories, to dismiss them as not being relevant to our life, assuming that those individuals must have been in a better place financially, they must have had more experience, they must have had a lot more social capital. With anglers like Danny Fairbrass and Kevin Nash, their beginnings could easily be our own beginnings. They have the same experience, the same networks, as we have access to through our own angling. The fact that Nash and Korda have both carried on to a position of prominence that they've held on to since shows that this wasn't simply a case of a precocious bankside drifter getting lucky, or having access to money and resources that the rest of us can't get hold of; these people were, and are, anglers doing what anglers do best, and achieving success through hard work.
Creating terminal tackle appears, on the surface, to be easier than crafting a rod or reel. It does, typically, demand less in terms of initial cost outlay. However, the level of knowledge, and the understanding of materials, and fish behaviour and attraction patterns, required to create effective tackle that will work well in the waters you typically fish, and with the species you tend to target.
Kevin Nash
A name that will forever be associated with Nash Tackle, and with carp angling, the CEO of one of angling's most prominent names began crafting his own terminal tackle while he was still at school, and enjoyed the success that these homemade hookers brought him on the bank. In fact, Happy Hooker Tackle was the first name associated with the quality and performance that would become the hallmark of Nash Tackle.
At the time that Kevin Nash was first crafting Happy Hookers, there wasn't much terminal tackle available. Kevin Nash made terminal tackle that suited the style of fishing he, and other anglers, were enjoying at the time. With the lack of terminal tackle on the angling scene, other anglers went to Kevin. It may have been a dearth of other opportunities that first brought orders to Nash's door, but it was the quality of the tackle Kevin Nash was creating that kept them there, and that still ensures Nash is the first port of call for anglers of all ages and levels of experience who find themselves in need of quality carp fishing terminal tackle.
Danny Fairbrass
24 hours notice to his bosses at NatWest. Terminal tackle created on the kitchen table... it's a romantic image, and one that's resulted in some top quality terminal tackle, and a revolution on the carp angling scene. It was a Korda rig – a rig born from a passion for innovation and creation that was followed against the logic of keeping a steady job and keeping your head down – that brought the Burghfield common out at just shy of 63lb.
Korda have created a brand that allows exploration, encourages innovation, and keeps bringing new revolution to a discipline that shows no signs of weariness with these dynamic offerings.
Terminal Tackle – Never At Risk Of Terminal Decline
It would be easy to say “Yeah, but the market's too crowded now, no one could achieve that kind of success now”, and yet the success enjoyed by challenger brands such as RidgeMonkey, ESP, and Advanta proves that the demand for quality, the demand for tackle that can perform, the demand for manufacturers who are inspired and guided by their own passion first and foremost, is still there.
Angling Craft
Terminal tackle tends to take one man with a problem and turn him and his tackle into big business precisely because it's such an essential. New rigs are being crafted all the time, to give anglers on pressured commercial venues the best chance of a catch, and new rigs need more terminal tackle. New patterns, new ideas, and a few more revolutions. There's room yet for another Kevin Nash, another Danny Fairbrass.
Know the water. Understand the fish. Make tackle that's adaptive, durable, and designed for high performance attraction, with the pulling power to draw and hold the big specimens that every angler wants to catch.
Quiet Revolution
Terminal tackle succeeds on its own merits. It doesn't need a noisy, bright marketing campaign behind it. Terminal tackle manufacturers are part of a quiet bankside revolution, happy to let the size and condition of the fish that are caught on their tackle and rigs do the talking for them. At Angling Direct, we hope we'll get to hear a lot more from these companies, and from the new blood that's on its way through.
