A little more than 3 weeks into the re-launch of Catch Outdoors and the reception to the new site has been off the chart positive. In years past any time we made changes to CLU there was usually some fallout and flack. Having not rcvd' any flack from the recent changes it validates more than ever that we needed to move on as custom had lost much of it's punch. The decade + of custom were golden up til the time period around 2011-13. At that point the economy was struggling, gas prices were at all time highs and there was a noticeable decrease in anglers willing to pay high end prices for custom. During that time period we released the Zero Gravity Jig and purchased DJ's Original Floating Worms. Those two items without doubt kept us afloat. The ZG has been our #1 seller since it's release, the floaters #2. Then Mystery Tackle Box came calling for the ZG and we were instantly introduced to another generation of younger anglers by the tens of thousands. A year later Lucky Tackle Box put the ZG in their boxes and rolled out a great video featuring both underwater and drone action. The blow up from the video was unreal. While those items were great for the business it pushed CLU even further away from custom as the large purchase orders required more of our funding, time, and logistic planning. Fast forward and true custom builds became the smallest piece of CLU, all these factors combined lead to the development of Catch Outdoors beginning in late 2014- early 2015. In many ways we felt the end of CLU occurring for a few years, however being persistent and loyal we kept pushing against the trend. In mid 2016 the hard decision was made to make the move to Catch from CLU. In ways more than just sentimental it was a difficult move, especially in regards to taxation, legality, and from the manufacturing ID aspect. The big pieces were finally ironed out early in 2017, the site build design progressed on, and Catch became a legal DBA in March. For the custom junkies and loyalists, we still retain the rights to Custom Lures Unlimited (technically CLU owns Catch Outdoors, BITE!, Hero Skinz, etc,...). For creativity reasons we will continue to offer some custom lures online, built and released in our down time. You may recognize many of your CLU favorites.
Lastly, we want to say large thanks to all that have supported us since 2003. We have plans to grow Catch into something bigger than the constraints of straight custom would ever allow. The ultimate goal is to put quality goods in your tackle box that simply catch any fish that has fins, from the mountains to the ocean and all lakes and H20 in between. Til the next cast Live Great Outdoors!