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The Reel Bait Story
BY LISA BENNETT - For the Lincoln Journal Star
In 1967, founder of ReelBait Tackle Co. and inventor David D. Patterson set out to revolutionize the sport of fishing with irradiated minnows - bait forever fresh. But all that remained of the $5,000 experiment after bombing the tiny fish with radioisotopes was a bucketful of water.
"It ended up eating itself," recalled Patterson's son Al Patterson. "It just disintegrated."
However, Patterson's ReelBait Tackle Co. trademark has remained intact through the years and recently got a second wind.
With "pocket change," the younger Patterson, 48, launched a new line of fishing tackle from his white frame house on Seward St. In just three years, the manufacturing and distribution operation has experienced 500 percent growth annually, nabbed sponsorships that include Ranger Boats and Mercury Outboard, and staked claim to the title of Seward's "first Internet business." Patterson says.
But it was a Patterson family tragedy that provided the impetus for ReelBait's resurrection. Nine years ago, Al and LeeAnn Patterson's son, Andrew, born with an abdominal wall defect known as omphalocele, lay in an Omaha neonatal ward fighting for his life. Several times a week, the Patterson's drove to be with Andrew and do what they could to comfort the baby, who lived most of his short life breathing through a tracheotomy tube. The despair, Al Paterson recalled, was overwhelming.
"I'll never go to hell," he said. "I've been there."
When nurses suggested making audio tapes of children's books for Andrew, Patterson's emotions were so raw he couldn't even speak. Instead, he recorded a series of "tackle box tapes," talking to Andrew as if they were planning a fishing trip as he organized each lure, line, bobber and jig in the box. It was an outing the father and son would never enjoy.
When Andrew died, Patterson said, "You do a lot of soul searching. I realized there were two ways I could go, so I immediately went downstairs and started making fishing lures."
A former technician for the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department, Patterson said he found inspiration from fame of another Seward fisherman, professional angler Denny Brauer. "If Denny can do it, I can do it." he said.
And from a mom and dad who always encouraged him to aim high. He recalled, "My parents never told me 'You can't do that!'"
"I thought I saw a niche." Patterson said, in the world of walleye lures, spinners, jigs and flies, and "went about doing it bigger, more, better."
Most recent additions to ReelBait's product line are Fergie Spoons and Walleye Flashers, ideas fellow Nebraska fisherman Dan Ferguson and Blaine Brown handed over to Patterson to promote. In exchange for a new design, Patterson provides his lure makers with marketing, distribution, VIP status within ReelBait and products at discount prices.
Beatrice's Sheridan Industries assembles and packages the "made in the U.S.A." lure components, while Patterson, with the help of two part-time employees, handles the rest of the business from his basement. He plans on making ReelBait's forest green and burgundy logo on environmentally friendly brown paper as recognizable of that of a well-known detergent.
"If you see a box of Tide without Tide written on it, you still know it's Tide," he said.
Twenty-five "Pro Staff" fishermen, from the unknown to the famous, including world-ranked walleye fisherman Richard Mellon, promote ReelBait at tournaments throughout the Plains, upper Midwest and Canada. Patterson described his representatives as "people who will represent our company and the values we have.
"This is a family-owned business, and family comes first. They've got to be a sportsman and get more enjoyment from the going than from the killing or eating of the fish." he added. "Sure, we're there to sell lures and make a profit, but we're also building a brand name."