I am trying to purchase products not made in China as much as possible because of their relations with the U.S., COVID-19 response and human rights violations. I have noticed that much of our fishing gear is made in China! My new Mercury outboard as well as the majority of my boat parts, reels, rods and lures are made in China.

Is there a way for the fishing community to put pressure on manufacturers to source their products from countries more friendly to the U.S. or the U.S.? It seems like a good cause for the fishing community and industry.

I emailed one popular reel company about leading the way in moving their manufacturing from China. I received a generic response. My next reel purchase was from another company partly because it was manufactured in a friendlier country.

Do others feel the same way? Who would we contact?

The only pressure they feel is their dollars. You must decide that paying more for American-made goods is worth it. Luckily, much of the online research can help your decisions.

strike king lures, made in costa rica. very american friendly
tfo rods, made in dallas, pretty sure they are american friendly
yamaha, made in japan, american friendly since 1945 or so.

there are others, have to look but I try real hard to buy non cheeneese krapola, not buying from amazon is one sure way to stop buying cheeneese.

It's gonna take a while to get past the Chinese make it cheaper and that's better phase of Merica. I have started looking at the label of every single item I purchase now and although there's no way to get around buying Chinese products (for now at least), if we start one item at a time, we can eventually get there. I sincerely recommend that you talk to the store managers of the places you are a regular. Let them know how you feel, and tell them, better yet show them your receipt, that you are trying your best to buy American. It has to be a grass roots start. How do you eat a Chinese elephant? You know.

It will take years before the Chinese people get tired of being the "cheaper" products manufacturer of the world. It took many, many years for the Japanese to do it.

St Croix rods are awesome & made here in the USA...

Are the blanks really made in the USA? Keep in mind that the legal hounds have gotten into the definition of words and phrases. "Made in USA" can be claimed in certain scenarios. I believe that one is that if 51% of the labor is done in the US, for instance. If you can work it out that adding the guides and handle, thread, etc. is 51% or more, then voila! Import all the pieces, glue the guides on here, and you have a good 'ol "Made in USA" product.

Update: This statement is from the St. Croix website: "Whether your rod was made at our Park Falls, Wisconsin headquarters, or if it comes from our state-of-the-art factory in Fresnillo, Mexico, you can rest assured that your St. Croix rod was handcrafted, from start-to-finish, by passionate and talented members of the St. Croix team"

So, at least some come from Mek-e-ko!

November will determine the answer to this issue.

I worked in Aircraft Manufacturing for 30 years, and some of our products were made in China, due to lots of reasons. Some reasons being that there is/was a trade balance issue (read - Government Requirement) that caused us to offload some of our products to China. Also, Boeing was told that if they wanted to sell any of their aircraft in China, then they had to move some percentage of the manufacturing to China. The list goes on and on.

One of my associates made a trip to China and was taken on a tour of an electronics manufacturing facility. At some point they entered a very large room with row after row of dimly lit work stations with hundreds of people hunched over electronic circuit boards hand installing components manually. My associate asked a question: "That must be hard on their eyes. What do they do when they can't see to do that anymore?" Without a beat, the Chinaman says "We get another person."

The Human Labor issue is amazing. If one falls .... there's plenty more to handle the job. It's a different world over there.

Another associate worked in Chung Du for two years, and said that the Chinese will LIE to you straight to your face. Apparently it is not necessarily part of their moral constitution to tell the truth. They will tell you what you want to hear, as long as it keeps their head above water.

Steve I think they are great rods even if some are made in Mexico. I have a couple and like them a lot. It's better have them made there than over in China.

Hop...ya might want to check on the TFO comment. I think they have an office in Dallas. They say made in China on the rod. In fact, I don’t think they are even repaired in the USA

I bought something recently that said in large letters
Made In The USA
and in tiny letters underneath "from materials sourced worldwide"

Yep, there's a formula that determines whether or not they can put "Made in USA" on something. It's not as cut & dried as you might think.

First - excellent question and observations.
As someone above said - take away the dollars and they'll pay attention. To that end, the local flea markets, tractor shows, "Offer Up (online", eBay, etc. are part of the key. The other part of the key is learning what USA made reels were premium products in the past. Some of those can now be picked up for less than a 1/100th of what was originally paid for them. For example, the strongest offshore conventional reels were the "Templar" and "AtlaPac (Atlantic Pacific) made by Pflueger (no one would ever believe it). The Pflueger was premium because it had backing plates for everything. Few others did. Pflueger AtlaPac:



Another cut above is "Ocean City" and their parts interchange with Penn because guess what? Penn's founder learned at Ocean City. Some of the best of all are still on Ebay in the box (the last owner of the firm was True Temper). I apologize in advance to you gentlemen (and lady) for the length of the below, but if you want to help break them - learn to buy and restore older reels - it's not hard because by and large you buy one, the only thing you need to do to use it for 50 years is lube the thing. Many overhaul and lube guides in the time description of the movie below:

Baitcast & Conventional Star Reels Guide, How To Own The Best Affordably: Penn Shimano Daiwa & More -- Slide your time slider to the subject area - Links for replacement parts below subject list:

00:31 New Reels
00:56 Star Drag VS Spinning Reel Drag
2:45 Gearing for reels
3:30 ABU GARCIA Baitcasting Reel - What's inside?
5:54 DAIWA Baitcasting Reel - What's inside?
8:27 Shimano Baitcasting Reel - What's inside?
8:35 Centrifugal Drag & How To Set It.
12:41 Heddon "Pal" Reel - What's Inside?
13:45 - STAR DRAG SYSTEMS (all of them)
16:00 - Drag Washer Construction & Order
16:55 - Bridge Casting - Bridge Sleeve Explained In Detail
17:20 - Washer Setups Old & New Systems - Leather (etc.) Copper Brass Stainless Carbon
17:55 - Dogs, Gears, Yokes - Workings Of
18:00 - Penn Conventional - Ocean City - & All Large Saltwater Conventional Reels
20:30 - Shakespeare Saltwater Conventional Reel - What's Inside?
22:10 - Star Drag Schematics
25:15 - Carbon Drag Washers
25:30 - Modifying - Updating A Star Drag To Newer Systems (easy to do)
Below are links to help you service your reels (believed reliable):
PENN - USA VS Chinese: https://youtu.be/rLDXH-cjUZ8
PENN PARTS: https://www.mysticparts.com/ -- was old Penn Parts (bought by Mystic)
PENN SENATOR RE-ASSEMBLY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oXKJAeVMkM
Ocean City 112/113 - Take Apart/Service: https://youtu.be/-dcPTi7nFI8
OCEAN CITY: https://www.orcaonline.org/ocean-city-salt-water-and-the-numbered-reel-page/
Heddon Reel Information: http://antiquereels.com/articles/Heddondates.htm
Boca Bearings: Bearings for reels - https://www.bocabearings.com
Reel Schematics: https://www.mikesreelrepair.com
More Schematics: http://www.pursuetheoutdoors.com/fishing/reel-schematics/
Carbontex Drag Washers: https://downriggershop.com/products/carbontex-drag-washers
E Replacement Parts (Shakespeare and others): https://www.ereplacementparts.com
Zebco 33 Buying Guide: https://youtu.be/Tg917tVFrM8

Baitcast & Conventional Reel Guide - What's Inside - How To Select, Lube, Modify, Adjust & Restore All Of Them - affordable reliable reel buying (buyer's) guide to all models. Baitcast & Conventional Reel Basics How To Own The Best Fishing Reels At Affordable Cost 101

I've always tried to buy American made, but lately am more diligent about it. Recently needed a new wallet, after lots of looking you end up at a site like Etsy to find one. Sometimes its not easy. For fishing equipment: Kistler rods, Santone lures, Smash-tech, all made in the USA.