Blogging about my Passion for the Outdoors. Tips,tricks,Reviews, Interviews,
and general info about Hunting, and the Outdoors. Don't forget my Outdoor adventures
I had a very pleasant conversation with Marc Reindell of Wildlife Callers a few weeks ago and I really like what they have to offer their readers and customers. Here are a few things I discovered in the conversation and by checking out their web site.
Wildlife Callers consists of Mark Healy, Marc Reindell, and Dave Martens. They started in July of 2009 as blog about wildlife calling, predator hunting and wildlife photography with a focus on Mountain Lions. With over 23 years of experience calling all types wildlife in four different states I’d say it was a good fit for them. Recently they have expanded their blog and added a store.
When you are browsing the Wildlife Callers blog you will find many different sources of information from Mark Healy’s advice on calling and hunting, to great guest posts by professionals like Chad Messa of Messa Sky Wild life Photography, posts about their hunting and calling outings, and other great bits from around the web related to wildlife calling, predator hunting and wildlife photography.
With in the blog Wildlife Callers will also point you to great places to find batteries, decoys, or other predator hunting and calling related items.
When reading the blog you get the sense that these guys are very passionate about what they do. If you like what you read I suggest subscribing to receive e-mail updates, or Subscribing through Google Feedburner. This way you can keep getting all of their splendid information right away. Believe me I signed to receive update via e-mail and I haven’t been disappointed with the info yet.
Wildlife Callers offers the new Mighty Atom MA-15 and MA-21 from Wildlife Technologies; these great products are available in the Wildlife Callers store.
There is a kicker (your going to love this)!
Wildlife Callers is the only authorized dealer for Wildlife Technologies who can customize the sound list of the MA-15 and MA-21 per the customer’s request. You can’t go wrong with the guys who have tons of knowledge about the product, and the experience to help guide you to the correct selection of sounds for your electronic calling needs.
They also offer a few other products in the store like individual animal sounds (incase you want to expand your sound library later), and shooting supplies. Wildlife Callers stands by each and every product they offer, and you can be sure they have thoroughly field tested all of the products before they offer them in their store.
Wildlife Callers will be at a couple of shows in the near future.
On February 26th through the 28th they will be at The International Sportsmen’s Expo in Phoenix, AZ. They will also be attending the world Predator Expo in Columbus, OH on March 19th through the 21st. They will have a booth at each show and Mark Healy will be speaking at both shows as well.
Wildlife Callers is a top notch company. If you had not heard of them before reading this article please go check them out at http://www.wildlifecallers.com/ . They come highly recommended by me and if you need more convincing follow this link to their testimonials page.
I just wanted to send everyone a quick note and let you know I am still alive and have been very busy with our new Baby Boy Nolan Benjamin. He was born on Jan. 21st and he was 8 lb 5 oz and 19in.
I took two weeks off from real life to enjoy my new family member as well as help take care of Wyatt, and help my wife out in here recovery (c-section). Amber (my wife) and Nolan are both doing fine. Enjoy the pics below.
Ben G. Outdoors hasn't really been keeping up our end of the bargain when it comes to fishing related topics so I am very excited to introduce you to John Delaney of Fish Creek Spinners. From what I have seen these spinners are top notch, the cream of the crop if you will. In my opinion Fish Creek Spinners are just as good if not better than all the big name spinners on the market. I have yet to try out the spinners John sent to me and probably won't get too until the ice is out. Watch for an update and/or review this spring or summer.
1. John can you let my readers know what inspired you to start Fish Creek Spinners?
There have been lots of small steps and fateful events along the way, but the one I remember most (bordering on inspiration) occurred on a camping/fishing trip to Miracle Mile on the North Platte River; a certain place, a certain time and a specific fish.
To find spinner components, I used to search the hardware stores looking for interesting angle worthy items. On one trip, I came across an aisle storing spools of various plastic tubing sold by the foot and I bought a few feet of several types. The braid reinforced PVC tubing really interested me; I thought it looked like fish skin.
I cut the braided variety to a 1 inch length and hand-crafted a ‘monster’ of a spinner from it; #5 French blade, a couple plastic beads to bookend the PVC tubing, and a #6 treble hook. The woven crisscross pattern on the PVC was reflective and sure looked like fish scales. The spinner was not a pretty sight, a little big, a little buoyant, but still worthy of my attention and a test in the water.
The spinner got its first swim below the Cortes Dam on Miracle Mile on the North Platte River north of Sinclair, Wyoming.
It was a cloudless sunny day, without wind, an unusual day in Wyoming. On my second cast a big brown trout surfaced on the far bank to examine and grab it. He hit my spinner hard and ran upstream in strong current. What a memory, I scrambled over rocks to keep him away from other obstacles and eventually brought him to shore to land and release him. I admired the beautiful fish maybe a 5 pounder with my ‘monster’ spinner in his lip, then removed the spinner and sent him back to his home, leaving us both to reflect on our choices.
The inspiration in this memory was that it shattered my perceptions of what a spinner had to be. That spinner wasn’t precise; it wasn’t a certain weight, size, or color, just an unattractive piece of PVC, book-ended with a couple beads. Yet it attracted and caught this amazing big beautiful fish. It didn’t have to be a Panther Martin, Mepps, or Blue Fox or some other big brand found in stores in order to catch fish.
I guess the impact and inspiration was that once you recognize what things don’t have to be, it’s easier to imagine what they might be. That profound observation at the side of the North Platte broke down a wall and made some space for Fish Creek Spinners - alternative spinners catch fish.
2. I know you and your son run FCS, does anyone else help out?
Every spinner in the water helps our brand recognition as anglers choose to give us a try. So that said, our biggest outside help comes from the anglers and fishing forums around the country that recognize FCS and help promote our brand.
We’re a family owned business. My sons, Ben and Will and my fiancée Marie all help out, even the grandkids. Marie jokes we’re a non-profit. I do the component and packaging purchasing, Ben and I do the designs, assembly and packaging. Marie keeps us organized, asks the tough questions that keep us grounded and manages some of the paperwork. Will supports the web, photo editing and graphics. Other family members perform quality control on fishing trips. We’re having fun and it’s exciting to have a dream.
3.Why are FCSspinners a great alternative to the existing big name brand spinners?
Hmmm, I don’t have a quick answer to this one. Technology changes, fishing changes, fish change, and spinners change.
Imagine you’re standing on a bridge over a river. Which direction would you choose to fish? Upstream or Downstream, Left or right? It all depends on individual choice and there’s no right answer.
Fishing is filled with choices and anglers will continue to seek out alternatives. We’re selling more spinners each year and expanding our presence cast by cast, around the world. The anglers choosing our brand try them and buy more. Their decisions and our continued improvements could make us a ‘great’ alternative someday. Today we’re happy to be an alternative and I already feel successful. Our future successes will be measured by lots of small steps. Things that go fast cost more.
We can’t be found as easily as the big brands, except on the web. That’s something different that I find interesting; a game changer.
4. Can you tell us a little about the materials and the process used to make FCS spinners?
We use a lot of faceted glass. It’s more reflective then plastic with an abundance of color choices. It’s also made from silicon (sand) and ‘green’. We added metal discs to protect the glass, but found the discs brought a lot of added fringe benefit. The discs created noise and vibration and even caused the glass to rotate with the blade and reflect more light. Kind of a game changer and they give the spinner a different underwater profile and although I don’t have a hydrophone, I 'suspect' a different higher frequency noise profile then other thumping spinners due to the discs lighter weight and it's ability to wobble back and forth against the blade during rotation.
After time in the water, you'll notice score lines on the underside of the blade where the discs are rubbing and causing friction. The scores are wider then the disc. To me, this validates they wobble and 'ring' the dinner bell attracting strikes.
Components are high quality and bought from US companies (from East to West, Worths, Lakeland, and Hagens).
The spinners are assembled locally in Boulder County in Colorado. Although I have been approached, there are no plans to offshore manufacturing. Ideally we grow to create more jobs.
Here are some pictures of the spinners click on them for larger views
5. Does FCS offer any products other than spinners if so what are they?
After being prompted by Marie, I tried selling some fishing theme earrings but they didn’t sell and we removed them from the store.
6. John when I was reviewing you site I came across a unique aspect of the packaging you use for your spinners. Can you give us a little more insight on it?
When we started wholesaling for retail sales I had to come up with a better way to package the spinners and I wanted something unique and reusable. I checked the typical clamshell packaging, but it added cost and was throw away. I decided to use clear plastic containers with convenient pop off caps. I call it ‘pocket tackle’.
The cool FCS display and packaging
The container protected the hook, but didn’t display well so I built custom wooden displays with a wood-burned mountain theme logo. Each display hold 36 spinners, in hindsight, I wish I would have numbered them.
To expand into larger corporate settings, I needed something for wall mounting so I designed a custom rack card to hold the container for wall mounting.
Lots of small positive improvements. After sale, the containers find homes organizing tackle boxes and other creative use. I put a couple spinners in a few tubes and I’m ready for the high country hike to my secret beaver ponds - ‘Pocket Tackle’.
Web shoppers ordering 20-30 spinners a year, are saying they want something simpler and have enough containers… This year we’ll provide an option for reduced prices if ordered without the tubes, wrapping the spinners in a corrugated strip for shipping and offsetting the price difference with a few extra spinners.
7. What type of fish have you had the most success catching with your own spinners?
I like fishing in Mountain Rivers, streams and ponds. It’s definitely Trout for me; Browns Rainbows, Brookies, Lakers, and Cutthroats.
Fish Creek Spinners catch different fish around the globe; Trout and salmon, Musky and Pike, Rock Bass, Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Perch, Crappie, Fallfish, and Bluegills. Even some salt water feedback on Redfish.
8. What is your most popular spinner?
For a model it’s the glass Armadillo’s; Red and Orange or Black.
9. Does your FCS offer any type of promotions?
We provide promotion codes for discounts on web purchases to fishing forums we sponsor. There’s also a Fish Photo promotion on the website that was pretty popular last year and its being continued. If you buy a bunch of spinners online, then make the effort to take some digital pictures documenting your success, you can send me an email with a picture of the fish (mug shots appreciated). I’ll post them on the site and send you a free spinner for your testimonial. Check us out, get them wet and send us a fish story for free spinners!
10. Now that you have all of us interested in your spinners where can we purchase them?
Our retail presence is growing around the country and the website lists each location by state. We have toe holds in about 14 states, but I expect that to explode this year. The web store is the most convenient spot for the time being. http://www.fishcreekspinners.com/ You can buy by credit card online or mail a check or money order. You will not be disappointed and I’ll track your location on our Get on the Map page recording our expansion and your location as an FCS customer. Check it out.
11. Last but not least, what can we expect from FCS in the future?
We’re small, friendly and adaptive. We’ll continue to try new things and take lots of small incremental steps to bring you fresh and interesting fishing spinners as alternatives to the major brands.
I would like to have customers in all fifty states this year and be wholesaling in about thirty. I expect you’ll see FCS listed as catching fish in more state and forum fishing reports. I hope to see FCS winning some fishing tournaments or getting a few professional fishermen using our brand.
One other thing you can expect from FCS is a digital diary of sorts. On this years road trips I will be taking pictures of the business and shop owners who decide to purchase Fish Creek Spinners. From what I have seen in the past this is going to be a fun adventure to follow. Keep watching our web site for a link to the photos. http://www.fishcreekspinners.com/
Noise on the Line!
John
John sent me this video that shows FCS spinners in action
If you didn't get it from the interview John is a very nice guy and I really enjoyed talking with him. I think it's great that a family owned company like FCS has the potential to make a huge impact on the fishing world. I can see FCSspinners in every fishing related retail store in the country. Make sure you check out the Web site http://www.fishcreekspinners.com/. Don't forget FCS slogan Noise on the line!
Indianapolis, IN- EHPElectronic Hearing Protection founder Denny Snyder has announced that the Quality Deer Management Association logo will adorn the ‘Big Woods’ adult series of EHP electronic muffs for 2010. EHP will be introducing the new line of electronic hearing protection during the Bass Pro Shops Media Day on January 18th, 2010 held in conjunction with the annual NSSF SHOT Show in Las Vegas.
“I have seen the growth of the QDMA with their successful mission of promoting quality deer management to the hunting community. The EHP goal is to promote hearing protection for the twenty million hunters and all those folks that participate in the shooting sports. “ Snyder adds, “ By helping promote the QDMA, not only do we help promote hearing protection awareness to their 50,000 members, we show our support for the QDMA message of conservation to all those participants of the shooting sports looking for good electronic hearing protection made right here in the USA. “ EHP will include a membership application at half price for the QDMA with every EHP Big Woods adult model of electronic muffs for 2010.
“QDMA is pleased to enter into a licensing agreement with EHP for 2010. The conservation mission of QDMA is to ensure the white-tailed deer, wildlife habitat and our hunting heritage for our future and EHP is working to conserve the hearing of all sportsmen and to protect the ability to fully enjoy the natural world.” Randy Bowden, Director of Marketing & Corporate Relations.
Every time you shoot a gun, permanent hearing loss occurs without using proper hearing protection.
Experience the future of electronic hearing protection with EHP- the Perfect Fit for Hearing Protection.
Founded in 1988, QDMA is a national nonprofit wildlife conservation organization with more than 50,000 members in all 50 states and Canada, and several foreign countries. Membership in QDMA is open to anyone interested in better deer and better deer hunting, and committed to ethical hunting, sound deer management and the preservation of the deer-hunting heritage. To learn more about QDMA and why it is the future of deer hunting, call (800) 209-3337 or visit http://www.qdma.com/. Contact: Randy Bowden (800) 209-3337 or rbowden@qdma.com
I live in central Minnesota. Married with one child, and a gun dog. I didn't exactly grow up hunting and fishing. It was kind of a here and there thing. I started to get in to it when I was living in Sandpoint Idaho with my Dad. We went Elk, and deer hunting for two seasons.We also did a bit of trout fishing in the mountian streams. Even though I never got to shoot anything I was hooked. Ever since I've been hunting as much as I can.
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