From the desk for Gary Loomis:

As I write this message – it is Memorial Day. It also happens that I am 80 years old today. I am privileged to have made it this far, many of my friends have not. I cherish their memories and miss them dearly. I look back at my 45 years of rod building and realize that I would not have been able to accomplish anything without great mentors like Milton Shedd and Chuck Yeager – there have been many. Today millions of products bearing my name are sold all over the world. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness – these are the unalienable rights that make me a proud American, those that my countrymen have fought hard to protect and defend are the same reasons why I love our industry. Within it, and reflecting on them, I feel alive, free, and happy.

A little over 30 years ago, I sold G.Loomis because I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and given 18 months to live. Some time after a decision was made to stop selling blanks to rod builders and OEMs. As a rod builder, I was upset, by that time we had manufactured blanks for 32 major rod companies, and tens of thousands of rod builders, but I was told that the founder of a company is someone who “started the company, built the company, sold the company, and had no say in how the company was run.”

In 2010 with the encouragement of my friends, I started North Fork Composites (Edge Rods was started a little later) the market had changed, but what didn’t change was that we were going to manufacture blanks and rods in America, and they were going to be the finest that we could make. I am a designer, but you also need to know materials and a little bit of engineering, and I am again thankful that while in the US Navy I was a machinist – that job prepared me for a lifetime of adventure.

It takes a little more than understanding rod design or material science to re-create a rod company. My close friends know that I have a favorite quote – “I would rather be lucky than good” and after a number of years of trying to scale, I met an ex Amazon nerd, who was working for Microsoft as a Lead in their Retail/Operations segment and convinced him to partner with me. For the last seven years, Alex has been my CEO, business partner, and my apprentice.

Today, we manufacture hundreds of thousands of tubular composites annually, we make parts for our military, aerospace, commercial, and of course rod builders and OEMs. We are proud that in a world where going overseas to purchase blanks, mark them up and re-sell them is the norm and easy - we choose a more difficult path. Our business model of direct to consumer enables us to deliver a high quality product at a fair price while outperforming imports that rely on deceptive marketing tactics like “graphene” or “nano-technology” to promote sales. They will soon join the ranks of Kevlar (or pick your other latest exotic buzz word in composites) of never to be heard of again in this industry. The re-sellers that promote them don’t know any better (despite their techno-babble claims) and manufacturers that take advantage of their ignorance – should be ashamed.

The USA blank industry is very intertwined with the steel, chemical, plastic industries. Factories in towns all over this great Country that employ American workers and feed local economies. Those that put “Made in the USA” on a rod manufactured with an imported blank need to reflect on the meaning of those words. The blank is the soul of the rod – in ours it is Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. To quote Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” Our blanks encompass the knowledge of the American blank builders that we have learned from, and their innovation will live on in us.

God Bless America, God Bless this industry.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2021 12:31PM by Aleks Maslov.

Happy birthday, and thanks!
Norm

WOW! Thanks for posting that!

Sad to say but that same techno-babble he is talking about has become the norm across the entire rod and blank industry and shows up all over the place and where one would least expect it!

Wish Gary had 80 more years!

Gary,
Happy birthday! You have well-served and helped to shape our industry. Your name is already in the history books and will remain there indefinitely. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do!

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Hello Gary.

Well done and hopefully many more to come, be strong and keep hope alive!


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

In my opinion Gary Loomis is to the rod building industry to what Steve Jobs was to cell phones. A leader, a innovative creator and a one of a kind individual.

Congrats on your birthday and wishes for many more.

Tom Wewerka

Not only is Gary an industry icon, he is a very active fish conservation leader! Additionally, he is one of the funniest story tellers ever

Best wishes Gary!.

Great message.

Cheers and Thank You for helping to keep, Made In The USA In our lives!!!!!!!!!

Many happy returns!

Thank you for what you do and how you do it. You make the best blanks I can get and available to the public whole. Thank you for supporting us and happy birthday.

Thumbs up!