You could probably make a number of educated guesses as to what direction Classic winner Skeet Reese went when he suddenly left Lamiglas, as noted on bassfan.com recently. But I bet you never would have guessed Eagle Claw. But it’s true.
In the entire history of the bass fishing, I can only remember one prominent tournament pro ever using this brand of rod, and that was Tom Mann, founder of Mann’s Bait Company–and that was back in 1971! They didn’t even have graphite rods back then.
Eagle Claw (Wright & McGill) must have some extra money to work with now that the flow of advertising dollars they used to pump into Fishing & Hunting News ended when that publication went out of business last summer.
Yet a brand known for snelled hooks and trout baits will have to get on their R&D horses if they want to come up with the quality and technique specific actions required by an Elite level professional. And then they will have to market their waders off if they want to crack that very tight, brand-loyal bass contingent.
This would be like KVD switching to Bayliner!
Wow.
8 Responses to “Skeet Reese is going to use those rods?”
Hey Kramer –
Interesting blog. One thing to keep in mind. Wright & McGill and Eagle Claw are not the same thing. Eagle Claw make lots of hooks for the avareage guy, and proud of it.
Wright and McGill is another story and has already become a force in the rod world in places like Alaska for serious guides and Florida for the Redfish tour. Guys like Blair Wiggins TV host, Redfish tournament angler and 2007 Champion already have a signature series of rods with some cutting edge technology built in.
Maybe these guys just know something you don’t.
Wright and McGill manufactures Eagle claw and will be associated as such. It is like Toyota and Lexus, Lexus of course being associated with luxury, but we all know its just a glorified Toyota.
I don’t blame Skeet one bit! That’s a hell of a company with years and years of experience over competitors. They build a fine product and don’t overcharge like many other companies. Just becuase the price tag isn’t high, doesn’t mean the quality is lacking. Skeet would obviously have input and test anything before he put his name on it. I think it says a lot about Wright & McGill’s quality that the hottest name in bass fishing signed with them!
I’m very proud to say that Tom Mann was my uncle and I learned everything I know that makes me a wonderful!!! living here in Daytona Beach Florida. I fished on his farm with him many times growing up in Eufaula, AL. I have many of his personal rods and reels and I fish with his Eagle Claw rod he left me before he died. He was as real of a man as I ever known!! I get choked up just writing this! Good luck, Skeet!!
Capt. Farr, thanks for the tribute. Tom Mann caught fish his way and developed lures with the same independent thinking. Having a such a rod as you describe is marvelous. Good for you!
Fishermen need to have several fishing gear for other angling situations. The greatest justification with this is it helps an individual hook extra fish. Should the absolutely wrong fishing equipment is being in use, strikes will be much more challenging to detect, as a consequence not as much fish are going to be caught
Great article. I don’t blame him.
Eagle Claw had a storied history in the rod business. They were in front of the graphite rods and the older yellow glass series was a rod of choice. They also had a reel business years ago. The 555 graphite blanks were among the most used by custom rod builders in the early 80′s of the original glass to graphite movement.
Skeet moving to Eagle Claw is more like an old pioneer trying to reface a company to it’s previous heritage. They probably still have some of that technology if not more than many or most do.