Celebrate the 100th birthday of Gibbs/Nortac Fishing Industries Ltd

Ever heard of the Highliner Flasher, the Ruby Lake Wobbler or the Gibbs Minnow? How about the Clendon-Stewart or Stewart Spoons? Well if you are a fisher – sport or commercial – you probably have as they are legendary fishing lures made by Gibbs/Nortac Fishing Tackle and are sold all over the world.

This month B.C.’s sport fishing industry celebrates the 100th birthday of Delta-based Gibbs/Nortac Fishing Industries Limited, the largest manufacturer of fishing tackle in Canada with over 14,000 lures, sinkers, landing nets and accessories for fishing enthusiasts.

Gibbs/Nortac products are a staple of the sport and as such, are available in major chain stores including Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Wal-Mart and Zellers, as well as most individual sporting goods stores and tackle shops. The company sells over one million pieces of fishing tackle per year with distribution in North America, Scandinavia, Russia, pockets of Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The Gibbs/Nortac saga is the story of three men. The company was founded by Rufus Gibbs, a Vancouver tool and die maker, who took his leisure at Campbell River’s Tyee Pool and landed many a fine slab. In 1908, he combined his fishing hobby with his metalworking facilities; by the 1920s his lures and flashers were famous throughout the fishing world. When Gibbs passed away 40 years ago George Whatley, who ran the Northwest Tackle Company in Kamloops, bought and merged the two companies. An aficionado like Gibbs, Whatley was known for diving underwater to observe his lure’s in action and the reaction of his prey. Whatley produced many new lures including the internationally known Wonder Spoon, one of his proudest achievements.

Gibbs/Nortac’s current owner Syd Pallister bought the company in 1989. As the grandson of Len Thompson, creator of Canadian Prairies lures, it was a continuation of the family business that had surrounded him as he grew up. Under Pallister’s ownership, Gibbs Tackle has continued to thrive and innovate with such modern classics as its bestseller the Gibbs Minnow, as well as the Highliner Flashers, the Hockey Stick, the Ruby Lake Wobbler and the Kokanee Troll. The Gibbs Mudraker has the special distinction of having been used to catch a halibut of more than 300 pounds off the coast of Alaska. The company consistently employs about 45 staff and many of Rufus Gibbs’s old dies, moulds and presses are in use today.

“It was one of my personal goals to make it 100 years manufacturing in Canada,” says Pallister. “When Rufus Gibbs was manufacturing he always took the advice of fishers so we have lots of professional staff and field testers telling us what works and what doesn’t in certain areas or with certain species so that we can meet the needs of our customers.”

In celebration of the company’s centenary, invited guests attended a special event at the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC’s Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery and fish ponds in Abbotsford, B.C. on June 13, 2008.

“We have a proud heritage of sport fishing in this province,” says Pallister. “We’re thrilled that we can celebrate 100 years of running a successful business and we hope even more people discover fishing in BC, as we do believe it is the best there is.”