Sponsor's Spotlight

American Rodsmiths Crafts School Spirit
www.americanrodsmiths.com

Based in Houston, Texas, American Rodsmiths does it all, from designing and manufacturing to selling and shipping various types of fishing rods. The family-run business started in the mid-90s and has been going strong ever since.

When Garret Scherer, American Rodsmiths promotions manager, learned that his alma mater had a collegiate bass fishing team, he took it upon himself to get involved.

"I became a lot more interested in fishing during my college years, and when I found out that one of my fraternity brothers is a member of Texas A&M's Aggie Anglers, it really sparked my interest," Scherer said. "As soon as I talked to him, I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in, so I got in touch with Careco Multimedia to see how we could help out."

American Rodsmiths is a second-year sponsor of the BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, supporting the Texas A&M bass fishing club. Vice President Bob Brown, a Murray State (Kentucky) alum, wouldn't let his school go unnoticed either, so between the two bass fishing clubs that the company supports, there's sure to be some inter-office rivalry.

Aside from personal reasons to support collegiate fishing, American Rodsmiths also recognizes the potential that comes from collegiate anglers. "College kids are the ones who will be buying our products for the next 20 years, so we see the collegiate fishing market as the market of the future," Scherer said.

Of course, you can't overlook the personal reasons, especially when it comes right down to school spirit.

"It's a lot of fun to interact with the college kids because they're in it for fun, they're excited to be there and they're excited to fish. Once we started sponsoring this program, we started hearing from other fishing clubs across the country. Even though I fully support Texas A&M and still like to talk trash about other colleges (all in fun, of course), it's great to see how fast the sport is picking up at other universities," Scherer said. "As a fisherman, that excites me. As a business owner in the fishing industry, it's even more exciting."