Courtenay’s Buzzbomb Tackle weathering COVID-19 storm

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WatchSales of the popular fishing lures are up 80% in Canada as Canadian "staycations" appear to include more fishing rods.

If you’re a fisherman around Vancouver Island or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, you have probably used a Buzzbomb.

The brightly coloured fishing lures were almost an instant success after a Comox Valley man named Rex Field invented them in the early 1960s.

“He recognized that a fluttering, rotating piece of metal attracted all sorts of fish including the prized salmon of the day and the Buzzbomb evolved from that,” said Tim Dolden, who purchased the business 4fouryears ago.

The Buzzbomb, which is still made in Courtenay, is synonymous with catching big fish in salt and freshwater literally around the world.

“Our dominant market is certainly still the Pacific Northwest but we’ll sell as far as Costa Rica. We have sales in South Africa and Australia,” added Dolden.

Dolden says business was rolling along until COVID-19 hit in March.

“It was scary slow just like everybody else,” he said.

But then Canadians started going outside and many of them it seems had a fishing rod.

“People now, they’re doing their staycations, and they’re fishing and they’re using our tackle and we’re lucky. The last two months sales have been very very strong in Canada, the rest of the world quite slow but Canadians buying Canadian products is really keeping us alive,” said Dolden.

Business is up 80 per centin Canada.

Buzzbomb also makes popular Zzinger, Zelda Jig and Spinnow lures.

Dean StoltzDean Stoltz

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