38 FTR • March 2014 The Business Magazine of the Sportfishing Industry www.fishingtackleretailer.com

T oday’s angler knows the importanceof dressing smart for his sport. Thelast thing we want is to be distracted

by being uncomfortable while on the water,or have to cut a day short because of sunburnor cold. Anglers have more important thingson their minds, and that is fooling fish. Whenasked what his secret was for success, youare very likely to hear about a favorite lureor tactic, but not what he or she was wearing. But, that doesn’t mean anglers underesti-

mate the importance of being prepared forthe elements, whether harsh or mild. We paygood money for those very important piecesof gear, if only to be able to forget about themwhile pursuing our sport. The right clothingand footwear are imperative and anglersknow it.And when it comes down to it, what’s

good enough to wear on the water is oftenwhat we put on our backs and feet when noton the water. Anglers wear their passion dayin and day out and tackle retailers shouldn’toverlook this fact. Nor should one ignore theconsensus among retailers carrying clothingor footwear that the profit margins for theseitems are markedly higher than most non-apparel goods. Chris Pardue, Director ofProduct Development for the Calcutta brandand Big Rock Sports says that on a marginstandpoint, retailers should expect to bemaking 45 to 50 percent and even more onthese soft goods items.

Performance FabricsPerformance fabrics are still leading the

way as far as popularity and growth. Theseinclude the many styles of shirts and t-shirts

that are made for quick drying, have an SPFsun-protection rating, and incorporate ananti-microbial finish for odor control. “Longsleeves and protection from the sun are keyfactors right now,” Calcutta’s Pardue said.Ted Sakai, Product Manager for Shimano

backs up the sentiment. “We see continuedgrowth in EVA (Ethylene vinyl acetate) mate-rials as it is super-lightweight, comfortable allday, and holds up to all fishing conditions.”

DRESSINGANGLERS

for

SUCCESSAnglers have enough decisions to make when on the water. By choosingthe right clothing and footwear up front, we are able to concentrate on thefishing instead of what we should have been wearing.

Tanner Sutton

By Polly Dean

Clothing made from bamboo seems to begetting more attention these days. The mainattraction with bamboo is its incredible soft-ness and it is light weight. “We created ourbamboo clothing to fill a void we felt wasmissing in the fishing industry—a REALLYcomfortable shirt that had a (purposeful)simple design and functioned really well onand off the water. We are encouraged to seea good sell-through of our apparel in specialtyretailers around the country. Beyond thebuttery soft hanger appeal, bamboo willalways keep you dry, comfortable and odor-free on any fishing excursion,” said TannerSutton, Founder of Free Fly Bamboo Apparelin Charleston, SC.

Key West Bait & Tackle and Haddrell’sPoint Tackle in Mt. Pleasant, SC both saythat customers like the bamboo apparel. Theshops order their bamboo performance wearfrom Tasc Performance out of New Orleans,LA and Free Fly Bamboo Apparel. Another natural material used for outdoor

apparel is wool. Icebreaker uses merino woolfrom New Zealand sheep and has adapted itto all-season garments that are cooler insummer and warmer in winter. The wool issoft, not itchy like its predecessors, breath-able and doesn’t retain odor.

Face MasksFlying Fisherman is known for its

sunglasses line and also sells clothing, includ-ing its most popular item, the SunBandit facemask. “The face mask category has grownand expanded tremendously for us and with

the retailers in the lastcouple years,” saidLinda Sheldon, VicePresident of FlyingFisherman. Sheldonnoticed a differenceat a recent trade showwhere retailers werepurchasing the masksafter selling out of

them, compared to last year when many werehesitant to order them for their shops.This type of product was first introduced

in the southeast and mainly used by guides inthe fly-fishing community. “Now we see it asa trend that is just blossoming everywhere,even out west, up north and in the Midwest.

Now they are everywhere,” Sheldon said.They were designed for sun protection, butare just as popular for cold-weather use.

Technical GearThe company Frogg Toggs, which special-

izes in technical gear for fishermen, relies ontheir original technology in materials thathave brought them success with their rainwear. They founded the company in 1996with their non-woven polypropylene mate-rial that is 100-percent waterproof, breath-able and wind resistant, but retails at a veryaffordable price.Expanding on their original technology,

Frogg Toggs has introduced other lines ofproducts such as Toadz, which combines thenon-woven waterproof inner lining with anouter polyester shell adding durability andperformance. Their upper-level line of rain-wear, the Pilot Series, is actually made froma lighter version of their best breathablewader material. The company also offers afull line of boots and waders.

Frogg Toggs prod-ucts are available insizes for women andchildren. “In the raingear category, thewomen’s sizes are alarge part of our sales.We have several newpieces for women andthey are styled, cut

and sized for women,” Frogg Toggs’Director of Marketing, Will Fowler said.“Most of our retailers carry at least one typeof women’s garment in their store.”

www.fishingtackleretailer.com The Business Magazine of the Sportfishing Industry March 2014 • FTR 39

Haddrell’s Point Tackle in Mt. Pleasant,SC sells a lot of the long-sleevebamboo shirts made by localcompany Free Fly Apparel. Anglersprefer the performance bamboo forsun-protection and comfort. Flying Fisherman’s SunBandit is

made of lightweight 100-percentpolyester. They are breathable, so lesslikely to cause glasses to fog up. Themasks only stretch horizontally, so fitcomfortably without being confining.

Most retailers that carry Frogg Toggsrain gear also carry at least one oftheir women’s garments.

Linda Sheldon

Will Fowler

40 FTR • March 2014 The Business Magazine of the Sportfishing Industry www.fishingtackleretailer.com

Footwear“Footwear is a fairly new category for us.

We’ve always sold t-shirts, hats andsunglasses and we felt like this was the onearea that we didn’t offer anything tocomplete the ensemble,” said Chris Pardueof Calcutta. “The biggest need in footwearin the fishing and boating industry is to offera good non-skid and non-marking sole.”Shimano’s line of Evair boots and shoes

are popular with retailers and customers. TheEvair Marine Fishing Shoe is a waterproofsandal that is fashionable and functional. Itis extremely lightweight, weighing less than9 ounces. It’s constructed of one-piecemolded EVA that absorbs shock and reducesfoot fatigue. “The key selling point for theseshoes to our market, the fishing consumer, isthat these shoes were made by anglers, foranglers,” said John Mazurkiewicz of Shimano.“They have a high-traction sole that won’tmark up a boat.”

How Can Apparel Sales AffectYour Business?“Let’s put it this way. We wouldn’t be in

business if we didn’t have it.There’s just no way,” said ChrisKing, co-owner of Key West Baitand Tackle. This is a strong state-ment from a retailer who is locatedin the Florida Keys, one of the bestfishing venues in the U.S. “Clothingsales are very important. I wouldguess that clothing accounts for 20to 25 percent of my overall sales,maybe even a little more. I sell hats,T-shirts, performance shirts, shorts,bikinis, board shorts and a fewshoes. Profit margins are moresignificant than anything else andthe turn-around is better. We don’tcarry a lot of shoes, but we sell agood many of the Shimano Evairwater shoes and Calcutta flip-flops.And for whatever reason, we sell alot of cheap flip-flops.” Donna Cox of Jerry’s Bait Shop

in Rockwood, Tennessee agrees thatapparel sales account for a bigchunk of their total sales. Jerry’ssells Walls insulated coveralls, Under Armour

and Drake insulatedclothing. Cox esti-mates that 30 percentof her sales are appareland footwear relatedand agrees that theprofit margin on theseitems is greater. Merritt Gilbert of

Valley Rod & Gun inClovis, Californiasays they sell a lot ofthe Bassaholics line ofclothing and doesfairly well with a localline from Hard CoreBass Fishing. The8,000-square-footstore consists of about60 percent fishing-related products withthe remainder huntingand has been in busi-ness for 25 years. Thesales of camouflage inthe hunting side of thebusiness accounts forthe greater bulk ofclothing sales. “Wehave tried differentlines of clothing over

the years in the fishing department and thecomputer tells me what items to carry ordiscontinue,” Gilbert says. He estimates fish-ing-related clothing to be less than moststores at only 4- to 5-percent of his totalsales. “We stick with what we’ve had goodluck with, and Bassaholics is probably theonly one that we really consistently sell onan even keel year ’round.”

Bright Future for Apparel“We see a trend in tackle stores carrying

more and more clothing. Footwear is part ofthat trend and continues to grow as anglersare looking for items designed for theirspecific needs,” said Ted Sakai, ProductManager for Shimano.Judging from their sales, Will Fowler of

Frogg Toggs views the health of the fishingsportswear industry to be strong. “We’vegrown steadily for the last seven or eightyears,” Will said. “I’ve seen an expansion ofour retail base, which has grown at the samerate as our sales, which is a great thing for us.”“I would say that fishing apparel is a hot

trend right now, whether it’s t-shirts, head-wear or performance wear,” said Chris Pardueof Calcutta. “The sportswear industry is veryhealthy.” As far as Calcutta’s most popularapparel item, Pardue says their original skulland crossbones logo t-shirt remains theirday-in and day-out top seller.n

Chris King of Key West Bait & Tackle estimatesthat around 70 percent of his business comesfrom tourists. Often customers aren’tprepared for the hot sun or the fishing andthis fact boosts his overall sales of clothing,hats and shoes.

CIRCLE NUMBER 016 ON READER SERVICE CARD