Abel Makes Shift From Defense Work by Going Fishing

With advance orders piling up for a new big-game fishing reel that will retail for as much as $875, the reel’s manufacturer, Camarillo-based Abel Automatics Inc., appears on the verge of finally completing a three-year-long conversion from defense to consumer products.

About 600 of the new Abel Fly Reels have already been ordered by retailers nationwide even though not one has yet been produced, company President Steve Abel reports.

The company, founded in 1977, now basically makes fishing reels and luggage for fishermen. Thus far this year, sales at Abel Automatics are up 52% from last year, and Abel believes that the trend will continue if fishermen like the new items as much as retailers expect.

The retailers, known as “fly shops,” were apparently attracted by the anti-reverse feature of the new reels. It’s designed to save fly-fishers’ knuckles by keeping the handle in place while the line is being pulled out by such powerful fish as tarpon and marlin.

The anti-reverse feature is widely available in conventional fishing equipment but until now has been frowned upon by many fly-fishing purists, Abel said. He’s optimistic that he can break down this resistance.

“I like to think our earlier reels helped gain acceptance for the new ones,” Abel said. “The early ones were expensive, too, but they provided the strength that’s required for big-game ocean fishing.”

Abel, a sports fisherman, designs all of his firm’s reels. The latest, to be formally introduced at a trade show next month, comes in four models ranging in price from $650 to $875.

Compared with what it was just three years ago, Abel Automatics is virtually a new company.

During the Gulf War, the firm’s production was devoted entirely to helicopter parts and other defense equipment. But the defense downturn convinced Steve Abel that his future lay in consumer products. In the past three years, he has concentrated on developing the reels and a line of fishing-related luggage.

“Now, 98% of our revenues come from fishing equipment. We’re finishing up a few defense jobs and some other high-tech work. After that, we expect to be 100% non-defense.”

Abel’s company is privately held, and he said with a laugh that his firm’s annual sales are “somewhere between $2 million and $5 million.” But he conceded that it will be some time before revenues return to defense-boom levels. The company has 30 employees, about half the 1991 level.

But Abel added: “I feel our business today is more stable than ever.”

Significantly, Abel doesn’t expect to do any major hiring even if his new reels prove successful. “We may add a few people, but it’s more likely that we’ll meet increased demand by bringing in new machinery.”