ABOUT REAL RODS
Here at Real Rods we love fishing and the outdoors. Our venture into the fishing industry was no accident. We have been fishing, camping and hunting since we were young. We were lucky to be introduced to the outdoors very early by our parents and grandparents. We have all worked in many other industries in the past, but finally decided to do something we love. Imagine working in a field that you normally volunteer to spend hours and hours and thousands of dollars on when your not working. Now we work, make money and have fun at the same time. It works out nicely and we will probably live a lot longer too.
Our Founder
Founder Mitchell Dillard has been fishing since he could walk. As a boy, he first fished for bass, perch and catfish. Fishing has always been in the blood, and summer family trips always revolved around fishing. Whether it was fishing on the Texas coast, the Rocky Mountains, or spending Easter at the "crappie shack", the Dillard's were enjoying the water and the outdoors.
Mitch's evolution as a fisherman led him to begin experimenting with ultra light fishing and fly fishing at his house in Jonestown on the north shore of Lake Travis outside of Austin, Texas. Bass over 5 lbs. were hard to come by, and light tackle made any fish fun to catch.
Mitch, and younger brother, William, spent summers in Colorado and Wyoming fine tuning their trout and salmon fishing techniques year after year. One day back in Jonestown, Mitch had an idea. He gave into temptation, hopped a fence and and cut down a few fishing pole sized sticks of bamboo. He immediately went home, taped some guides and a reel onto the pole, and walked down to the lake and caught a 2 lb. bass. He was thrilled and had again taken his fishing experience to a new level!
Mitch was amazed at how good the rod felt. It was strong, sensitive, durable and beautiful. Soon Mitch had duplicated every graphite rod he owned and was hooked on bamboo!
He made more and more fishing rods and gave them to his friends and family. Everyone loved them and no one had ever seen fishing rods like these before. They enhanced the fishing experience for others just as it did for Mitch. He was on to something. One day Mitchell quit his boring day job and began focusing on bamboo fishing rods full time. Since that day, the rods have become favorites of fisherman and fisher-women across the U.S. and the company has continued to grow.
Beautiful brown trout caught at the Pan in Basalt, CO
Above are the Dillard brothers with father Don geared up for a day on the water
Every employee at our company loves fishing and the outdoors more than anything else in the world. It shows in our craftsmanship and customer service. Call us or send us an email.