Our Story
Building the World’s Best Fishing Company, One Brand at a Time
Angling is growing worldwide and Pure Fishing, Inc. has positioned its portfolio of brands to fuel that growth. A global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels, our brands are organized to meet market needs and encompasses all corners of the fishing marketplace. With operations in 19 countries and a dedicated workforce conversant in 28 languages, Pure Fishing, Inc. is a leader in outdoor and recreational lifestyle products.
History
1874Hardy Brothers is founded in 1874 in Alnwick, England. |
1880Earnest A. Pflueger starts the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in Akron, OH to make fishing tackle. |
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1897The William Shakespeare, Jr. Company is founded Kalamazoo, MI, and a patent is awarded for the original Shakespeare fish-line reel. |
1921AB Urfabriken is founded in Blekinge, Sweden as a manufacturer of watches and telephone components. The company will later refocus on fishing reels. |
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1932Machinest Otto Henze founds the PENN Fishing Tackle Company and completes his first two reel designs in Philadelphia, PA. |
1936PENN intorduces the legendary Senator reel. |
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1937The Berkley Fly Co. is founded by 16-year old Berkley Bedell in Spirit Lake, IA with $50 in paper route earnings. His first flies are created from hair clippings from the family dog and feathers from backyard chickens. |
1939Göte Borgström refocuses his company on the manufacturing of fishing reels. |
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1948Upon the death of Otto Henze, Martha Henze takes over for her husband as President of PENN. The company continues to prosper. |
1949Johnson is founded when Lloyd Johnson and Henry Warren Denison build their first fishing reel in a basement in Mankato, MN. |
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1952Göte Borgström presents the revolutionary Ambassadeur reel. |
1952Fenwick is founded by 5 Seattle businessmen and is named after a lake in Kent, Washington. |
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1958Stren is created 20 years after the invention of commercially viable nylon and becomes a household name in fishing line. |
1959Berkley introduces Trilene fishing line. |
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1966Shakespeare acquires the E.A. Pflueger Company. |
1968Greys of Alnwick is founded by former Hardy employee Malcolm Grey. |
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1970Shakspeare moves its base of operations to Columbia, SC. |
1973Fenwick is the first to market an all-graphite fishing rod. |
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1976Shakespeare creates the Ugly Stik rod by perfecting a method for manufacturing fishing rods invented by Dr. Arthur M. Howald. |
1978ABU acquires it’s US distributor, Garcia, and is renamed ABU Garcia, Inc. |
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1988Berkley acquires Fenwick and becomes Outdoor Technologies Group |
1988Berkley creates PowerBait Trout Dough, revolutionizing the fishing bait industry. |
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1992JRC is founded in Hatfield Peverel, Essex. |
1995Abu Garcia joins Outdoor Technologies Group |
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1999House of Hardy acquires Greys of Alnwick. 4 years later the company will rename itself Hardy & Greys Ltd. |
2000Outdoor Technologies Group becomes Pure Fishing and acquires Mitchell, Johnson and SpiderWire brands from Johnson Worldwide Associates. |
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2004Allstar is acquired by Shakespeare. |
2004Stren is acquired by Pure Fishing. |
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2007JRC is acquired by Shakespeare. |
2007PENN Is acquired by Shakespeare. |
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2007Pure Fishing and Shakespeare merge. Pure Fishing becomes the world’s foremost purveyor of fishing tackle and related merchandise. |
2011Pure Fishing acquires Hodgman & Sebile |
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2013Pure Fishing acquires UK brands Hardy, Greys, and Chub. |
2019Private Equity firm Sycamore Partners acquires Pure Fishing. |
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2020Pure Fishing acquires Van Staal and Fin-Nor. |