Regaining His Edge : Bass Rods by Gary Loomis

Introduction: Nearly twenty years ago, to the dismay of loyal fans and customers worldwide, legendary rod designer Gary Loomis began an exit plan from the fishing industry with the sale of his company, G.Loomis, to Shimano America Corporation. The story, including Gary Loomis's entire history of how he got into the rod industry, was expertly told by our good friend Terry Battisti in a two part article published on our site back in 2009.

Gary Loomis began a plan to exit the rod making industry with the sale of his company, G.Loomis nearly twenty years ago.

It's an amazing story that explains the legacy of Gary Loomis and how to this day, his former company's product ranks among the best in the majority of consumer's minds when the question of performance in a fishing rod comes to mind. In fact, so pervasive is the G.Loomis brand that we here at TackleTour continue to use the company's Mag Bass product as the benchmark in the majority of our fishing rod comparisons.

But you can't keep a man as passionate about his art as Gary Loomis away from what he does best. In 2009, he, together with his partner Jon Bial debuted North Fork Composites.

We concluded our story, The Legend Lives, back in 2009 with the news of Gary's new company, North Fork Composites, and his announcement that together with his new team, he was back building custom designed and specified blanks for rod builders and manufacturers worldwide. Our first experience with the new blanks? It was during our 2012 Search For One campaign and Kistler's entry, a custom specified ZBone rod built on a blank made from the highest grade graphite material offered by North Fork Composites. The magic was back.

But the original plan was to simply make blanks for custom rod builders and manufacturers needing a source for high quality blanks. What are these carbon handles doing in the shop?

But of course the everyday consumer was not satisfied. Blanks are too obscure. Not knowing how many rod companies truly relied upon the G.Loomis OEM blank back in the day, what they really wanted to see was a finished rod. The simple no-nonsense high performing fishing rods with Gary Loomis's name on them. Though the truth lies elsewhere, in the minds of the everyday consumer, this is where he made the most impact. This is where he gained his reputation. This is where Gary Loomis had the edge. With their silence, they were saying, "Thank you for returning to the blank market, but where are the built rods?"

... and tip top guides? Is something else brewing in the factory of North Fork Composites?

Well, be careful for what you wish because Gary Loomis has now come full circle. He's retooled and honed his edge. In February 2013 at the Bassmaster Classic in Oklahoma, consumers will get their first look at a new line of bass rods built, designed, and custom specified by Gary Loomis through Edge Rods, a subdivision of North Fork Composites. We visited with Gary, his partner Jon Bial, and the entire crew in preparation for this debut and here now is an exclusive, inside look at the factory and a peek at some of the prototypes in action.

Be careful or what you wish. Today we're hear to talk about a new division of North Fork Composites - Edge Fishing Rods.