By Capt. Andrew L Derr and Skip Clement
[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast February we interviewed Anthony J. Magardino, owner and president of Beaverkill Rods. Magardino bought BKR out its mothball state just over a year ago from former owner and talented rod maker, Steven Forrer. Forrer and his team of experienced rod designers produced superior “American Made” graphite rods – starting back in 2001.
Knowledgeable and skilled anglers scooped up the Beaverkill rods, but the company’s reach was limited by it’s marketing and by finances so sales were mainly regional. One of those skilled anglers that got hold of a Beaverkill was Anthony J. Magardino who bought a 7-foot, 6-inch 3-weight and loved it.
Fast forward; when the wheels fell off and the economy in 2007 so to went the fortunes of many small companies without deep pockets. One such mothballed company was Mr. Forrer’s Beaverkill Rods of Brinkow, Maryland.
Rod case comes with all Beaverkill Rods
Anthony said: “After four years of research, I finally ran down Steven and made an offer to buy the mothballed company’s assets in entirety, re-capitalize it and relaunch with innovations not known to the industry. I always liked the idea of American Made.”
This August marks a full year of operations for BKR and Magardino has line expansion on his mind. Namely, switch and Spey rods as well as plans to introduce four piece travel rods – all of which will carry the signature BKR flex system. And we think there’s a reel operation in the works, and you can bet it will be Made in the USA. Magardino is passionate about being 100% made in America
The first full year for BKR was not your usual glitch riddled start-up, the technology was in-place and a studied Magardino was on top of everything that mattered. He’s been a student of the entire fly fishing industry for many years, and it paid dividends. The year went extremely well according to Magardino. “In terms of customer appreciation, fulfillment, operations and achieving a steady growth in sales was satisfying,” said Magardino. “Success, Magardino says, came from paying attention to every detail.”
When asked about making a multi-sectioned travel rod, Magardino didn’t dally on the point saying: “I have no interest is breaking a rod into 5, 6, or more pieces.”
Anthony said: “We have received a ton of attention for the Legacy three piece series – kind of a large cult following. Seems like many anglers are, to some degree, turned off by the big brands for discontinuing a two or three piece fly rods. So, we answered that call with a sweet three piece rod series, and will follow that up with a similar four piece series.”
Capt. Andrew L Derr did a multi-week long test using BKR’s 9-weight Power Tip Flex – Legacy Series – click here to read full report.
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Website: Beaverkill Rod […]
THE BEAVERKILL ROD COMPANY
Roscoe, New York
Naples, Florida
USA
Beaverkill Rod Co.
32 Andrea Lane
Scarsdale NY 10583
Call: 914-490-3052
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