Berkley Gulp! Alive! Waxies Soft Bait

The Berkley story is deeply rooted in the idea of the American Dream, a tale of hard work, struggle, and tough times, as well as the building of partnerships to achieve goals. However, this story is much more than just the story of Berkley Bedell; it is also the story of dedicated co-workers and loyal customers who were equally willing to take risks.

In June 1937, 16-year-old Berkley Bedell took $50 from his paper route earnings to start a business selling his hand-tied flies to fishing tackle shops and vacationing anglers. Working in his upstairs bedroom, Bedell crafted flies using hair clipped from the family dog, Stubby, and feathers from the backyard chickens, with the aim of enticing local bluegill and bass from their underwater cover. This marked the founding of the Berkley Fly Co.

By the time Bedell graduated from high school in 1939, he was employing several local girls who made flies, silkworm gut, and cable wire leaders in their homes. The business soon outgrew Bedell's parents' basement and living room, leading him to expand to the second floor of the local grocery store, where he utilized a tub filled with ice and a fan for air conditioning.

After attending the state university and serving in the Army Air Corps, Bedell returned to Spirit Lake in 1945 to start Berkley and Company, with a focus on its cable wire leaders. One evening, while reading Popular Science, Bedell learned about a Connecticut company that was producing nylon-covered cable for sailboat rigging. After visiting their plant, he began to work on nylon-coated wire for use in fishing leaders, and production began in Spirit Lake. Shortly after, the distinctive Berkley heart logo was designed with the slogan "nylon leader with a heart of stainless steel."

Bedell then became interested in extruding nylon monofilament fishing line. After receiving a license from DuPont, the company began developing equipment to produce nylon, using reclaimed washing machine wringers, bicycle wheels, and other homespun materials. Soon, Berkley was marketing private brand mono as well as Dew Flex monofilament, and ongoing experimentation would soon yield the company's breakthrough innovation - Trilene.

In 1959, Berkley introduced Trilene at about the same time DuPont introduced Stren. To help introduce the new line, Bedell sent out thousands of sample spools of line and asked store owners to have their best fishermen try it on a spinning reel. Fishermen loved the line, and it began the successful launch of Berkley Trilene.

The next four decades were a time of great growth for the company. In the 1960s, Berkley entered into the rod business, leading to international expansion in the 1970s. Soft plastic baits made an appearance in the 1980s, and the 1990s through today have seen significant technology improvements in all of the Berkley products. From the beginning, Berkley has committed significant resources to research and development, a continuing strategy that has resulted in countless product innovations, including Berkley Trilene, the Lightning Rod, PowerBait, FireLine, and more recently Gulp!? and Gulp! Alive.

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