Lost another "Made In USA" company

[Lonnie84]

I know this may be old news to some of you but I just discovered a few weeks ago that my home town favorite bait manufacture of soft plastics Bobby Garland and Gene Larew have been purchased by the Pradco Outdoor conglomerate located in Fort Smith, AR. I'm going to miss going out and taking the tour of the facility, but most of all I'll miss looking at the package and seeing made in USA Tulsa, OK. I seen a package a few months ago that said made in China and I thought it was just a knock off, but now I know it was the real deal. I always stayed true to the Bobby Garland brand but now I'll be searching for a different brand that is still made 100% here in the USA; so if any of you all have suggestions let me know.


Guess I'll round up a few of the old packages and save them for some future memorabilia,




Here is a the Pradco homepage on there website, looks like they've got about everybody now.


Fishing - Pradco Outdoor Brands

[silverside]

Sad news. The baits MAY be just as good but the loss of jobs irritated me. We really need to stop letting China own this country.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[CrappiePappy]

I've gone to our members that custom make baits : Skiptomylu (Thump-it Jigs) - Snake River (Bob's Jigs) - slabeye (Slabanator Jigs) - Grousefly (P&S Custom Tackle).

[pab1981]

Sad news. The baits MAY be just as good but the loss of jobs irritated me. We really need to stop letting China own this country.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Pradco is based in Alabama, China isn’t the problem, it’s corporate greed.

[Slab]

Bobby Garland is still making product in the USA.

They are still cranking out lots of Garland from Oklahoma and Fort Smith, AR, too.


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[Slab]

My source says nothing from China. So Dono what you’re seeing.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[deathb4disco]

Most fishing tackle is made in China. It's a sad reality.

[armyman]

BG Baby Shad is my favorite bait. I have 29 packs of 18 with every color that's been made! That should last me for about 3 years! But I'll be on the lookout for the Green Banana jig that's on Lonnie84's post!

[GoTennTitans]

Crappie Magnet. If you can’t catch a fish on Tennessee Shad or Dede Special, may as well load up and go home.

[6poundtest]

Southern Pro might be an option for you but I think something is out of whack there, too. They have not been updating their webpages with all the colors of crappie baits they used to have, particularly in their "stinger" line of baits. When I inquired as to when they might come back in stock, I got a very non-committal "going to be a while" reply. Stock seems to be low as other distributors as well.
Hopefully, BG remains here making product in the USA, even if they are owned by a bigger company.