roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> That, in a nut shell is why products are built
> elsewhere and are imported to, and purchased by -
> American consumers.

I get it. It is cheaper to build products in foreign countries like China where its subjects have no rights. And in doing so we have U.S. companies putting American citizens out of work so their jobs and company can be packed up and shipped off to some foreign country.

Falcon rods is experiencing this problem now.

I want hand made in USA rods. There is no substitute for me.

That said, there is a place in my rod collection for a chinese rod... and that is when I do equipment abusing fishing here in Florida in heavy cover. I am not going to use a $300 rod in heavy cover where all I really need is a crane more than a rod. So if I am going to abuse a rod I'd sure rather it be a $20 or $40 cheap chinese rod I can easily replace and not cry over if I break it. I won't be using a NorthFork or Airrus or RainShadow rod for a crane to yank on trying to drag fish out of weeds and lily pads. But that is just my choices and nothing more as I could certainly subject my better rods to that sort of abuse too, but I just prefer not to.

I will agree and admit that chinese manufacturing is improving some, but I also still see plenty of cheap chinese junk rods and reels flooding into the USA and if people want to use that type of gear then all the power to them. I don't for the most part.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 06:30PM by Kent Griffith.

Kent, you spin an interesting yarn..like a fishing buddy use to tell me after i related a story about the big one that got away, "Maybe it,s all in your imagination"..lol.

lol! Snapping rods from China is more than imagination!

Just look at Roland Martin's growing collection of them in a video I posted in another thread... he has a hundred of them in one corner of his rod room and I'd bet more than 95% of those rods are from China.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 05:13PM by Kent Griffith.

Kent, your using the chinese rods only in abusive situations and when they break it,s because they are cheaply made and of poor quality..maybe if you tried the american rods in the same abusive situations they would also break and you would have to claim that they are made like chinese junk..lol.

15 years ago, if a friend came to me and said....I love my St. Croix rod but I wish the handle length was different and they don't offer what I want......I felt I could honestly tell him I can build you the same exact rod with the handle of your choice.

Now, I wonder if a factory built St. Croix rod is using a blank built in WI.....and when we go to buy a blank (that we are told is the same) from Rodgeeks......is our friend getting something that he can clearly feel isn't the same?

That puts me in a place where I end up being a liar when I was trying to be honest. That I have a problem with.

I don't know if it is true anymore. At one time carbon fiber was restricted and you couldn't import/export freely as there were "military" implications. I wouldn't expect an issue between US and Mexico. China and US would be an entirely different matter. So how can a company using the latest and greatest move production overseas and claim an equivalent product?

Edit: To be clear I'm not saying you can't buy a rod in US made from Toray material....nor a rod in China made from Hexcel material. What I'm saying is if you made your blanks from Hexcel material and then moved production to China I'm thinking you would have no choice but to use a different brand material. Now maybe Toray and Hexcel aren't the right names to use here but I think you guys get my point.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2020 05:30PM by Russell Brunt.

Cheap Chinese rods I can afford to be abusive to! Not about to do the same with an expensive rod! No way Jose, but maybe you are right! I found an interesting article in line with this thread as I am still digging looking for the most up to date info.... and this one might surprise some of you what Bob Penicka wants to do...

Bigger is not better: Latham company trying to hook customers on 42-inch rod

by Jim Franco December 18, 2019 in Business, News


RODgeeks President Bob Penicka demonstrates some attributes of the RG-42. Jim Franco/Spotlight News

COLONIE — Generally, most good fish stories are about a big one, either catching it or how it got away. But, a new line being manufactured by RODgeeks is out to prove bigger isn’t always better, at least as far as the rod goes. The bigger the fish, real or exaggerated, just always makes for a better story.

The RG-42 fishing rod is just 42 inches long, but has most of the amenities of a full size, high quality rod and comes with a solid spinning rod and nifty carrying case, tackle box and even a pair of pliers.

“It has a solid backbone to fight a good size fish and the tip is designed to cast bait a long way and it will give you a good sensitivity and a solid hook set when you feel the bite,” said RODgeeks President Bob Penicka. “It fishes great and it’s easy to take with you and fish anywhere, anytime.”

At first blush it may seem like a gimmick, but Penicka backs it up his product with a partnership with St. Croix and its 70-plus years of designing high-end fishing rods and his own resume that includes stints as an engineer for GE and the COO of Calloway Golf.

“We use the best materials and the best methods to build a light weight, strong fishing rod,” he said during a recent interview at the company’s headquarters on Avis Drive. “The world doesn’t need another company making a 7- and 8- foot fishing rods for the shelves of bass pro shops. We are trying to use our knowledge of product and production techniques and marketing to find where the needs are and where we can help someone out with a better product and build a business around that. That’s how we came around to building crazy little 42-inch short rods. That are easy to live with and they fish great.”

For the 10th year in a row, the number of people fishing has increased to 49.4 million in 2018, the highest raw number since 2007, according to a report published by the Outdoor Foundation. Due to the population increasing, the percentage of people who went fishing at least once in 2018 dropped by 0.1 percent to 16.4 percent while the aggregate number increased by 300,000.

While the serious angler may scoff at the idea of using a stubby 42-inch rod, the vast majority of fishermen, about 42 millions, are recreational, tossing in a worm just a few times a year. That is the market RODgeeks is going after with the RG-42, and, like completing any task, the quality of the tool used does make a difference.

“Nobody creates a solid product for them and we think we have done that,” Penicka said of the recreational fisherman. “Our biggest challenge is people see it and say a 42-inch rod? Is it worth it? Will it work well? This is a serious fishing implement, even though it looks pretty unconventional.”

It took the company nine iterations of blanks — just the bare rod sans the eyelets to run the line through, the handles or grips often made of cork or rubber, or fixtures to hold the reel — to get it right because the focus was to get everything a full-size rod offers into something about half the size.

Golf clubs to fishing rods

In the mid 1980s, Penicka was at General Electric manufacturing lightbulbs, but didn’t find it too enlightening, so he went to Harmon International Industries, a company known for making high-end audiophile products. In 1997, the Ohio State University grad joined Calloway Golf around the time the company purchased Odyssey, a company known for making putters. He worked his way up to COO and was in charge of manufacturing one of the largest, and best, line of golf clubs in the world. The company’s signature product at the time, the oversized driver, changed the game of golf.

A passion for making birdies on a golf course, or catching a trophy fish, though, is not what drives Penicka.

“I’m not in this because I like to fish, but I have been a lifelong hobbyist and it is one of my favorite pastimes. I like to play golf too, but I wasn’t at Calloway because I had to be tied to golf,” he said. “Life takes some crazy twists and turns sometimes. I was not in college saying ‘I can’t wait to build fishing rods.’ I’m an engineer by education. I like materials and I like manufacturing.”

After Ely Calloway died in 2001, the company went through a difficult time, so Penicka put in his notice and took a year off to connect with his wife, also an engineer who works at RODgeeks, when someone asked him to buy manufacturing factory in China that was making fishing rods for St. Croix.

That deal wasn’t feasible, but St. Croix still wanted someone to make rods, so Penicka set up shop in Central Mexico and the 200 or so employees there have been making several hundred thousand blank fishing rods a year since 2008 for St. Croix — a company based in Wisconsin with the reputation for selling solid, high-end fishing gear.

In 2014, he began using the factory to make RODGeek blanks for custom rod makers and about a year ago started selling finished rods directly to the customers. The RG-42 is the latest, but not the last, new product from RODgeeks.

“We were looking around and noticed retailers make more than double what they paid for a rod when they bought it from the manufacturer. That’s too much markup,” he said. “One of our hooks is we are truly factory direct. Most of the blanks are made in China and go through three levels of distribution before they get to the consumer and I thought if I can go straight from the factory to the consumer I can offer them a better value and I can have a lucrative segment of the business. Everything we do we go right to the consumer. We can paint a rod any color you want and ship it to right to your door.”

He and his wife started RODgeeks out of their home and then moved to an office in the Quackenbush Building in downtown Troy. While they liked the Collar City, it was impossible to find the needed warehouse space so they moved to Avis Drive.

Many of the RG-42 and other rods, up to a 14-foot casting rods used to toss bait up to 300 yards to get past breaking ocean waves, are shipped to Latham where they are then shipped to their final destination, the consumer.

Latham

For a company that makes fishing rods that are shipped all over the world via St. Croix, the shop in Latham has a mom and pop feel to it that is open to anyone who wants to come in to check out the blank rods or ask questions.
On a workbench in the back office was one rod that is bittersweet, he said. The company held a promotion for Veteran’s Day and asked people to submit the name of a vet and the number would get a free, custom made RODgeek rod done with wrappings of red, white and blue thread in the design of the U.S. Flag.

A vet on Long Island won the contest, but the rod was damaged enroute so a new one had to be made. It will take about 35 hours of wrapping more than 600 tiny pieces of thread, alternating between the red and the white, and then wrapping blue pieces with silver highlights to get the star section of the flag and then more wraps to get the sky.

There are six full time employees and if products need assembling or boxes need packing, the employees’ teenage kids and their friends work some part-time weekend and evening hours.

Every so often the company holds a rod building classes at Avid Drive where people can take a blank rod and add personal touches by wrapping threads like the custom rod builders.

“We are in the business of selling blanks to custom rod makers and we are trying to promote that activity here so for $60 you can build your own fishing rod,” Penicka said. “We use the RG-42 as the product because it’s modular and easy rod to build and it’s a rod almost nobody has in their garage already. It takes about a half a day to build so there is a lot of time to talk and we hear a lot of ‘I can’t wait to fish with this thing’



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2020 05:30PM by Kent Griffith.

Rodgeeks have not posted to their facebook page since April 2020.

Paul Schluter has stepped down as CEO of St. Croix. No replacement has been posted in public yet. Axiom North America, LLC can not be found. Listed in New York however dept of state shows no such corporation. The Entrada Group deal was signed for a second term going from 2013 to 2018. There has been no mention of a 3rd 5-year contract extension, yet St Croix is still making rods there at the leased facility in Mexico provided by Entrada Group.

"Axiom’s decision to extend the lease..."

“We had concerns about the quality levels of our previous manufacturer and transparency issues with our overseas suppliers,” Penicka added. (CHINA)

"Axiom now manufactures several hundred thousand fishing rods per year in Mexico. Previously, all rods needed to be inspected at Axiom facilities in Wisconsin, adding significant delay and expense. Now, however, because quality control is performed directly at Entrada’s manufacturing campus in Mexico, only a small sample need be inspected in the U.S. This is a big advantage and it speaks to the level of trust Axiom has in Entrada’s manufacturing support platform. Production quality in Fresnillo is so high that the rods can be shipped directly to consumers, without the need for inspection in the U.S."



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 05:12PM by Kent Griffith.

Put the crack pipe away

All I know is that I loved the rod blanks I was getting from them- they very straight and had a super consistent bend when the identical rod blanks from 2 different orders were tested with the same amount of weight!
The painted reel seats were awesome as well!
Pricing was also excellent!
Customer service has always been exceptional - Untill NOW!
I just I wish I could contact someone to discuss the 2 rod blanks in question in my 1st post!
Not to mention - I won’t order from them again until I know they are still there.
I also noted above about emailing St Croix on their website and haven’t received any response from them either.

Don't give up on RodGeeks based on a couple customer service complaints. 2020 has not been a normal year, to say the least. A lot of things going on like the pandemic and lockdowns. Give them a break and see what happens. There is no reason to speculate they won't continue to offer a quality product at a good price.
Norm

Got us a little off track, apologize again.

Just have to say if Kent isn't a lawyer he might want to give it a consideration in his old age. That dog don't let go of a bone!

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

No giving up on them Norm- but I won’t give my CC number to a company that I can’t contact.

Jon Hood

"After 36 years of fulltime employment at St. Croix, Paul Schluter is planning to spend more time fishing with a modest handful of the Best Rods on Earth.

This CEO recruitment process is being managed by LymanDoran. Interested candidates should contact Nora Klaphake at [email protected]"

I wonder if Bob Penicka will apply? (Kidding)



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 05:11PM by Kent Griffith.

I just found Bob Penicka's newest venture...

[mydigitalpublication.com]

Go to a website called [www.strategicfootprint.com] and what do we find? None other than Bob Penicka listing his involvement with St. Croix as this:

Leaving China Subcontracting Behind
Success Stories
He successfully moved from China subcontracting for a major US-based sporting goods company. Now he is a Principal for Strategic Footprint.

Download our success story to learn how Bob Penicka, formerly Principal of Axiom fishing rods and COO of Callaway Golf, left China subcontracting and successfully established a North American manufacturing footprint. [f533b146-d6df-4023-94a7-db4dcceeb18e.filesusr.com]

Bob Penicka

Formerly Principal of Axiom fishing rods and COO of Callaway Golf"

Press release from Strategic Footprint: [f533b146-d6df-4023-94a7-db4dcceeb18e.filesusr.com]

It is now clear the Axiom deal is dead and gone. Formerly means formerly.

Word Mark RODGEEKS
Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Fishing rod blanks. FIRST USE: 20140303. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20140303
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 85921210
Filing Date May 2, 2013
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition October 1, 2013
Registration Number 4540032
Registration Date May 27, 2014
Owner (REGISTRANT) Rapsody, Inc. CORPORATION NEW YORK 31 Lindsay Drive Troy NEW YORK 12180
Attorney of Record Robyn H. Drucker
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR).
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

---------------------------------------------------

Current Entity Name: RAPSODY, INC.
DOS ID #: 3420451
Initial DOS Filing Date: OCTOBER 04, 2006
County: SARATOGA
Jurisdiction: NEW YORK
Entity Type: DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
Current Entity Status: ACTIVE

Selected Entity Address Information
DOS Process (Address to which DOS will mail process if accepted on behalf of the entity)
C/O ROBERT A. PENICKA
17 JULIANS WAY
SARATOGA, NEW YORK, 12866



Edited 12 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 05:48PM by Kent Griffith.

I bet they will unload all of their remaining stock at the ICRBE 2020.

I’d just like to see St. Croix go back to selling blanks. Shipping SCV’s from the wilds of northern Wisconsin to a semi-rural city in the middle of Mexico, just to paint them and ship them back, never made sense to me. I’ve been to Park Falls many times and Fresnillo once. Neither spot is what you would call a shipping hub.

Billy Vivona, aren't you or weren't you somehow affiliated with Rod Geeks? Are you unable to shed any light on this other than "Put the crack pipe away?"

I designed a line of blanks for Rodgeeks. That was the extent of my affiliation with them.

Bob Penicka is now a "ReShoring & NearShoring Manufacturing Shelter Operator" - a new term for me... [www.machinedesign.com]

[www.businesswire.com]

[www.theoutdoorwire.com]

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

St. Croix President Paul Schluter to Step Down

Positioning for the Future

Park Falls, WI – St. Croix Rod CEO Paul Schluter announced a planned transition of leadership to St. Croix Team Members on January 3. Sometime in 2019, Schluter will step aside from his current role with the Park Falls, Wisconsin-based company. Paul will continue serving as a member of St. Croix’s Board of Directors, guiding strategy and monitoring performance, along with his sister Pamela Smylie, and brothers Jeff and Dave, and Chairman, John Smylie.

An internal and external search for a new CEO is underway.

Not retiring, Paul is stepping aside to allow the next CEO and trusted management team to advance the company in alignment with the goals established by St. Croix’s Board of Directors. Timely to this transition, St. Croix has adopted a Balanced Scorecard approach to operationalize and measure company performance.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity my father gave me at St. Croix. I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience,” said Paul. “We’re a family company and will continue being so. To me, it’s wonderful how we work together with the St. Croix team to create great fishing experiences.

“Someone else will be responsible for the daily operation of St.Croix, and I’ll be freer to focus on those aspects of the business which I love best.”

Paul’s journey with St. Croix started in 1983 when Gordon hired him to manage retailer accounts in Minnesota. A year later, Paul was promoted to Sales Manager. In 1989, Gordon stepped aside, and Paul assumed the role of President. Brothers Paul, Jeff and Dave, along with sister Pam purchased St. Croix from Gordon and Irene in 1990.

For 40 of its 70 years in business, St. Croix has been owned by the Schluter family…and continues to be today.

From day one, St. Croix has completely controlled the rod manufacturing process, which is a source of great pride for Paul. “We own and operate two state-of-the-art facilities, including the core operation at our headquarters in Park Falls, Wisconsin, where we engineer and handcraft a broad spectrum of rods for all types of freshwater, saltwater and fly fishing.” Paul adds that St. Croix does not reverse-engineer rods or source from overseas contractors. St. Croix rods are organic from butt to tip...

It’s this dedication to building premium species and technique-specific rods that has helped catapult St. Croix’s growth, as well as garner substantial accolades from the fishing trade. Since 2012, St. Croix has won 11 ICAST (International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trade) New Product Showcase “Best of Show” awards, spanning the freshwater, saltwater and fly-fishing categories.

“Bringing those first two ICAST awards back to Park Falls and sharing the victory with our employees, our extended family, was a watershed moment for St. Croix,” said Paul. “It galvanized, and validated, all of the hard work and dedication that goes into building the Best Rods on Earth.”

American Sportfishing Association’s (ASA) President, Glenn Hughes, spoke of Paul’s commitment to the organization, ICAST and greater wellbeing of the fishing industry: “Paul Schluter, and St. Croix Rod, have been leaders in the sportfishing industry for many years. Paul has always been committed to the success of the association and the entire sportfishing community.

“Paul served on ASA’s Board of Directors for eight years, as well, he served on several committees, including the Trade Show, Consumer Shows and Nominating Committees. The industry is a better place because of Paul’s involvement and leadership over these past 30 years.”

Beyond the ICAST award-winners, St. Croix has literally created rod categories, as well as influenced others. In 2008, the company introduced the iconic Mojo Bass series. The rod’s craftsmanship, componentry and technique-specific applications forever changed consumer expectations in its price-range.

In the realm of timelessness, St. Croix introduced the USA-made Premier series 60 years ago. It remains one of St. Croix’s best-selling rods, covering every freshwater application with 80 unique models in the series.

“Every angler deserves the best fishing experience possible, and St. Croix is positioned to deliver that to a growing number of anglers in all parts of the world,” said Paul.

After 36 years of fulltime employment at St. Croix, Paul is planning to spend more time fishing with a modest handful of the Best Rods on Earth.

This CEO recruitment process is being managed by LymanDoran. Interested candidates should contact Nora Klaphake at nklaphake@lymandoran.com.



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2020 05:51PM by Kent Griffith.

I have a few rodgeeks blanks..are warranties still good if they shut down..maybe stcroix covers them..