ORLANDO, Fla. — Inspiration for fishing products at ICAST can come from almost anywhere, even the golf course.
Paul Steinhauser used a shaft from a golf club in developing the prototype for the No Tangler fishing combo. The ingenious design of line threading inside the blank won the ICAST Best of Show award for Kids Tackle.
The product, which breaks open like a shotgun and has pin weights to feed line through the hollow blank, comes in standard and telescoping versions.
“Our tangle-free rods are designed for everyone, regardless of age or skill level,” Steinhauser CEO Ralph Duda III said. “It’s a pretty simple yet ingenious concept — no tangles, no line bunching and way more fishing.”
Duda wasn’t so sure about the concept when first contacted by Connie Steinhauser, whose father came up with the design. She pitched it to Duda because of his involvement in Lil Anglers and KidCasters.
“She sent it anyway and I said, ‘Holy cow, this is it. This is a great invention. This is exactly what the fishing industry needs,’” Duda said.
Steinhauser, who worked as an inventor for GM, is the mastermind behind the patent-pending design. Everyone who’s fished with kids knows the down time of untangling and rerigging takes away from fishing and overall enjoyment. Using a hollow blank solved that, and Steinhauser had one on hand.
“His first prototype was a golf club shaft,” Duda said. “It had PVC pipe and Zebco spincast. It was heavy, but my kids took it and didn’t have any hassle. And they caught fish.”
Duda’s boys Ralphie, 7, and Bryson, 4, have long since been his “guinea pigs” with revisions, and now they’re both seasoned anglers. “They bait the hooks and have no problem taking fish off.”
The Steinhauser No Tangler line is the new arm of Anything Possible, a holding company owned by Duda, CFO Jason Bauer, and his two other partners. Duda started the entity with a group of young fathers who were looking to get kids outside fishing as opposed to being stuck inside in front of a computer screen. Duda’s team of dads includes former NBA all-star Brad Miller and current NBA star Anthony Tolliver.
Lil Anglers brand of KidCasters make up the other arm of Anything Possible, which got a major boost last year when it teamed with popular Nickelodeon properties like Paw Patrol, SpongeBob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
There have been kids’ rods for years, but KidCasters came up with a unique sponge fish training lure. It looks like a small artificial lure, but when cast in water it instantly transforms to a sponge fish.
“Young kids can now learn the basics without the sharp hooks or uncertainty of catching fish” Bauer said.
Those training lures accompany the KidCasters rods and are available at most major retailers. The Steinhauser No Tangler rods will be coming to Cabela’s, Academy and Myers in Spring 2016.
Steinhauser missed seeing his invention find success at ICAST as he is home in Michigan being treated for cancer, his daughter, Connie said.
She said her dad is not able to speak but she knows he is excited about winning Best of Show. She said they expect a full recover and he should be able to attend ICAST next year.
She did bring him with her though, in spirit and image.
