"Charles Summers" wrote in message ...
I was told this by several people at the Oklahoma Fishing Expo this weekend
and just wanted to confirm. Anyone have any info on this? If so, what's this
mean for the Stren line-up?


Ristori: Berkley purchase stuns industry
Thursday, February 19, 2004

BY AL RISTORI
Star-Ledger Staff

In the fishing world, it's the equivalent of General Motors taking
over Ford, as Berkley stunned the sportfishing business by buying
archrival Stren last week.

Berkley is the largest fishing tackle company in the country, if not
the world, and it has been aggressively buying other firms for years.
Yet, taking over the company that has traditionally been its biggest
competitor in the premium line business was completely unexpected.

Berkley Bedell is a modern Horatio Alger. He started out selling flies
and rigs he made at home while a high school student in Spirit Lake,
Iowa, and eventually built his company into a giant in fishing lines
before expanding into rods, lures, boating accessories and many other
fields. After turning over the company to his son, Tom, Berkley Bedell
went on to become a U.S. congressman from Iowa.

Recent acquisitions of companies such as Abu Garcia have added the
famed Ambassadeur baitcasting models to the mix, and the spinning
selection includes Mitchell reels, but the company remains rooted in
Spirit Lake.

DuPont developed nylon monofilament for military purposes during World
War II, and its superiority as fishing line over the silk lines we
used before that was so great that the public quickly switched over.
DuPont's Stren brand was developed 45 years ago and has always been
considered a top-of-the-line item that Berkley tried to topple with
its Trilene lines. There have been huge advances in fishing line
technology over the years, but those two brands continued to fight
head-to-head in the market place.

It will be interesting to see how this purchase will affect both
brands. Those who swear by Stren can take heart because initial
indications are that Stren will continue to be marketed, though some
of the lower-volume specialty lines will probably be dropped.

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/inde...4973176050.xml

-Phish