About Us
They say, necessity is the mother of invention.
I say, fishing is a necessity.
Fresh air, clean water, a healthy dose of vitamin sea.
Some of my earliest memories as a child is trolling for fish in the lakes of Minnesota with my Dad.
There were many ways to catch fish in Minnesota. Some were flashy, some were more subtle. Some legal; some not.
But my Dad was a troller. And so I was raised with the idea that if you dragged around the appropriate lure, on the right day, and in the right location, you stood a reasonable chance of making a discovery in the form of success. Maybe just for that day…maybe for a lifetime.
And although there were times during my age of single-digits that I loathed the monotonous sound of that old five-horse Johnson outboard chugging on the edge of the weed beds of Northern Minnesota lakes, it apparently took a hold of me. With maturity it became evident that it was, and still is, that the most magical form of presentation of an artificial lure to catch a fish is trolling.
Fly fishers would protest this statement, and I continue to pray they come to their senses.
Later in life, my Dad and I converged on the saltwater fisheries for salmon in Alaska. He no longer needed to keep my own head in the game with the flash of my favorite candy bar, or tugging on my line when I wasn’t looking, or to promise that we’d only take “one more spin” around the weed bed for good measure before succumbing to the wet and the cold. Often, we found ourselves out all night long offshore, in the glory of the never-ending light of Alaskan summers.
My most prized possession given to me by my Dad will always be what I inherited from him in those early years. That in faith, and trust, in presenting the right lure, at the right time, and in the right place, you will have your reward.
I guess you could say that a troller was born.
SO this brings us to time present.
After four decades of life in Alaska, I can look back and say that I rarely had an occupation that was easy on the body.
Oil field work on Alaska’s North Slope, commercial fishing for 16 years, and a contracting business specializing in residential cabinet and countertop work has taken a bit of a toll on bones and ligaments. I still manage to get out fishing easily, with my beautiful wife Susan, and so perhaps the allure of saltwater fishing for salmon somehow trumps all my previous bad occupational choices? I love fishing the saltwater, and it is there that I thrive.
My goal, when I started MimicKing Tackle Company, was not a get-rich-quick scheme to usher in semi-retirement. MY goal was to apply all that I have learned in all these years into a product that I truly believe in. Fishing tackle is an inherently fad-driven industry. But I found myself wanting to get back to the basics of presentation with a spoon I could not find elsewhere in the marketplace. As I experimented with design and color of spoons, I resisted the urge to make spoons that attracted fishermen and tried to stay focused on what attract FISH.
I’m not sure that I have built a “ better mousetrap” … but that is my sincere goal.
I thought I would get a bit bored playing around with spoon design, making solid stainless hook and tow rings….welding 8 at a time… dressing with the very best vinyl renditions I can find….
But I honestly feel no boredom, no fatigue in creating these spoons. With each and every one that I complete, I find myself wondering what that particular lure will yield. The experiences associated with their use I will mostly never know. But as I said early on, a troller was born, in early childhood. And so i believe in these spoons, and feel that anyone armed with them will be granted the passion for the sport I have always felt.
I will leave you with one of my all-time favorite quotes, my fellow enthusiasts :
“ The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”
-John Buchan