After 15 years as a promotional products distributor, with 12 of those as a Guy Harvey Licensee and over 35 years in retail, Mindy Wimberley had an idea. Every fishing shirt, short, hat or buff has a fish graphic or custom logo on it so why not manufacture protective reel covers with fish or custom designs on them? With the support of her husband Mark, SportFish Reel Covers was born in March of 2016. Thanks to relationships formed while selling the Guy Harvey licensed products, she was able to get her new products into some local bait and tackle shops right away. They started setting up booths at marine flea markets, seafood festivals and sponsored fishing tournaments to get the products in front of avid fishermen.
In July of 2016, SportFish Reel Covers introduced their product with three sizes of covers in a variety of fish designs for conventional reels and one size for spinning reels at ICAST, the world’s largest fishing tackle trade show. After feedback from folks they met at ICAST, they quickly added fly reel covers in three sizes, spinning reel covers in three sizes, a baitcaster size and several more sizes for conventional reels, all available in different designs. In addition, they began making custom reel covers for Hooker Electric and Lindgren Pitman, two of the biggest players in the electric reel market.
According to Mindy, that first year was hard as most of the stores already had inventory of plain black reel covers that hadn’t sold well and no one had ever seen reel covers with fish designs or custom logos on them. However, she knew in her heart that if they could get into more stores, the fishermen would buy them.
In July of 2017, SportFish Reel Covers exhibited at their second ICAST where all the hard work seemed to pay off. Their products got picked up by Walmart and Amazon and they took on manufacturing for Kristal Electric reels. They even had a some stores that looked at them the year before finally place orders for product. Unfortunately, shortly after ICAST, their manufacturer’s building burned to the ground and then Hurricane Irma hit. Mindy and her husband were devastated as the business was just taking off. They had good inventory going into ICAST, but now they had to find a way to fill orders long term. With no other options, they invested in some small format equipment and large volumes of neoprene. Mindy learned how to sew and together with Mark, learned how to manufacture their own products. Limited by smaller equipment and trying to keep the business going, they developed a line of coozies with fish graphics and football team colors to fit stainless steel cups and tumblers, selling them on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and their own website. They added shade straps for sunglasses, rod covers and landed an account with the BevFridge Company making coozies for wine chillers. They were able to make some smaller size conventional reel covers to fill some orders, but no spinning or fly reel covers.
Over the course of the last year, with the help and patience of many people that love fishing and wanted custom products, SportFish Reel Covers has been able to grow and purchase larger equipment. They now manufacture all products in all sizes at their Davie, FL facility. Recently, they have added a line of fishing towels that can be customized or purchased with their original fish designs.
To learn more about SportFish Reel Covers and their products, check them out online or give them a call and make sure to let them know that Coastal Angler sent you.
SPORTFISH REEL COVERS
DAVIE, FL
954-554-7065
www.sportfishreelcovers.com