The History of Kistler Rods-a true American Dream
First I want to thank you for having an interest in
Kistler. As president, I am honored that
your fishing passion brings you to our digital front door!
To get a sense of how Kistler has become one of the premier
bass fishing rod manufactures today, I’d like to share with you a little bit
about where we started, and what we believe in.
When I was a young boy, my father helped start up All Star
Rods with a friend of his, giving me a chance to see first hand the ‘business
end’ of a sport that I loved. The great
thing as the kid of ‘the boss’ is I had the chance to be the tester of many new
designs. Not only did I get to
experience some rods built for much more than the local pond, but also I soon
observed what worked and what didn’t in the design of bass rods. As the days past, my father began Castaway
rods. Dad knew a thing or two about
building good quality fishing rods and it showed. During this time, I had joined the military
with a tour in Iraq, but as soon as I returned, dear old dad put me to
work. I was initially hired on like
anyone else, at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Although I worked hard, and worked my way up
the ladder a bit, I wasn’t satisfied, and like many other young men, felt I
could venture out on my own to do other things.
A few years went by, and after trying and failing a couple of business
ventures of my own, I discovered that my true love was fishing, and making fishing
rods.
So with the lessons learned from my father, I started
Kistler Rods. I had nothing more then a
couple of names in a Rolodex and the desire to build a truly innovative and
unique fishing rod. Thanks to the
loyalty of some customers of my fathers’ old company, the dream I had grew
quickly. They heard about what I was trying to do and put in a very large
order. Since I was starting out in my
garage, this was both a blessing and a curse. Suddenly I was in a scramble to
find the type of rod blank manufacturer that would meet my specifications and
handle large orders at once. I found
such a company with a good reputation but after a few years their quality did
not hold up to the rigors of our standards and I was on the search for a new
provider of rod blanks. This took on a
life of its own and after going through a few manufacturers we landed on one
that could provide us with the lightness and strength we demand.
This brings us to a dark part of the Kistler History. Although I wish I could tell you we made
every decision perfectly, finding the right blank producer is a difficult task
and if you choose poorly, you don’t find out until the customer has it in their
hands and tests it in the real fishing world.
Unfortunately for our customers and us the period in our history hit us
both very hard, costing fishermen time and fish, and us thousands of dollars in
warranty claims.
They say God works in mysterious ways, and right when I was
at the end of my rope, He tied a knot for me in the name of Gary Loomis. Many of you know this famous name and while
at an ICAST tradeshow event we became acquainted. His
knowledge of graphite development has literally been a Godsend. We are now working together to produce what I
believe to be the most amazing series of bass rods yet. The Z-Bone series is the result of nearly 50
years of combined experience, providing the elite angler a truly fishing
experience. Additionally, we now
implement a 7-step inspection process on all of our rods to make sure they stand
up to the Kistler name.
Through all the good times and the bad, it has always been
my intention to stay true to my core values of God, Family and Serving
others. With this simple but firm
foundation, building the Kistler Rod Company has been a labor of love. I think you will feel that dedication when
you take your first cast with a Kistler rod.
Today Kistler Fishing Rods is well on its way to becoming
the most innovative, and exciting fishing rod company in the industry. Again I want to thank you for allowing me to
share our story with you.
God bless,
Trey Kistler
President, owner
