Rambling Around the Fishing Industry
As always is the case once we get past I-Cast 2019, the fishing industry has lots of news, with changes and announcements over the past several months; here are a few that interest me. First of all the race for control of the trolling motor market has heated up; for many years now there was only two players of any consequence in that market but as the boat market grows and the need to link all your electronics to the trolling motor the race to become the owner of the trolling motor market has ratcheted up. Lowrance, Motor Guide, Minn Kota and many more are diving into this market race with new and better motors and only time will tell who succeeds to come out on top. One thing for sure the competition should produce a better motor and hopefully bring some price reduction to the fishermen.
As has been the case for many years the growth of the soft plastic market is once again taken a giant leap forward with nearly a hundred different suppliers of some sort of soft plastic baits. The biggest gain I can see is in the coloring part of the plastics as there are more color combinations than ever before, with blues, purples and greens becoming the hottest of colors. Combine the coloring race with some new designs and changes to the current designs with better products and advanced looks and you have the biggest soft plastic market ever.
The boat market has once again expanded with some of the original designers of bass boats getting back into the market with new and expanded versions of the bass boat market. At one time many of these original builders were consolidated up with the 2008 down turn of the industry; bankruptcies and the economy drove many out of the business, but renewed faith in the market, improved economy and jobs has the bass boat industry buzzing and expanding the market once again. As goes the world of big business once you consolidate your industry for financial reasons; you just wait out the next up-turn and old players become new and bigger players. With the cost of bass boats nearly doubling since the 2008 market fall one would hope this would help improve quality and keep the price of bass boats in check.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
www.facebook.com/FishGuntersville
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Capt. Mike Gerry