A Visit to Thomas & Thomas: The Comeback of a Trusted American Brand

thomasandthomasflyfishing

How do you re-energize a trusted brand? How do you regain marketshare in a market that’s not only crowded, but also highly discerning? These are the very questions American rod manufacturer Thomas and Thomas is facing.

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Video: Hoagy Carmichael on the Garrison Carmichael Bamboo Fly Rod Shop

Before the bamboo rod shop was gone, I wanted to capture it, and its history. Over Thanksgiving, I shot a bunch of video of my dad talking about the shop, and have spent the past few months editing that video down to what you can see in this post.

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Margaree River: Salmon Fishing on Cape Breton

Margaree Salmon group

This is the Margaree: a beautiful river, with tremendous character. But unlike other salmon rivers, where the water is private and, as a consequence, often eye-wateringly expensive, the Margaree is accessible – at least in price. Getting there is another matter. Situated in a heart of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, trip is an epic one; 12 hours from Boston, according to Google maps. And that’s without pitstops.

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Bowing to the King: Tarpon Fishing in Boca Grande

Tarpon fly fishing Boca Grande

We had been chasing tarpon — a giant fish constructed of silver dollar scales, dark eyes the size of plums, and a mouth that could swallow a basketball — in the warm, blue waters off Boca Grande. The pass at Boca is renowned tarpon water, and the coast nearly so: it’s here that Americans, who can’t be bothered (or afford) to fly south to South America or elsewhere, go to chase tarpon. All morning, we had been doing just that: driving with our guide up and down the coast in his 18′ center console boat, searching for schools of tarpon. We blazed past islands and boats and fishy looking sections, stopping here and there, with not a single fish in sight.

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