Of course, the first question that comes to my mind is why did you change your distribution method and go direct?
Fred Miessner âeuros Let's say that the fundamentals of the fishing market were no longer respected at all in terms of the different risks you take. I wanted to change my business model, to try to develop a business model that would still be valid in 10 years. The distribution model had to evolve and the online sales site was for me the logical continuation of the FTF story. The fact that we sell directly allows us to adapt much more easily to seasonal changes but also to unforeseen events such as a change in regulations for example.
At the time of FTF old generation, I had faith in certain brands, techniques, certain products but which did not find echo with the retailers. A certain number of retailers have lost the monopoly of knowledge, of the technical progress of people and have rather become followers. The increasingly sophisticated knowledge acquired by fishermen via social networks, from which we originated and on which we communicated long before the other brands started, was out of step with that of the retailers. Let's just say that with FTF we were certainly ahead, not better, but aheadâeuros¦ I then realized that I was doing a tremendous amount of work to make products and brands known and that the obligation to go through a retailer did not allow me to get the expected return. Quickly, my best customers were logically websites managed by passionate people, fishermen fond of new techniques who had the possibility to sell directly. Finally, I also saw small Japanese brands that could not support the traditional distribution scheme, at the risk of seeing their prices literally explode.
So the reasons for launching the FTF Pro Shop are many and it's obviously something you've been doing for a whileâeuros¦
Fred Miessner âeuros This idea of direct sales had been nagging at me for a long time, yes, and the creation of the Pro Shop is, in short, the result of constraints linked to a business where you have to move a lot of stock to make money. With the FTF Pro Shop, there is little difference between Japan, the United States and France, the prices are correct. I want to remain reasonable at a time when the market is global.
Beyond direct sales, another notable change is that of no longer distributing brands historically imported by French Touch Fishing in France, why?
Fred Miessner âeuros In 2019, Reins was sold back to Hayabusa, and then everything changed, we no longer spoke the same language. Before the commercial relations, it is the human relations which are important for me. I have enormous respect for designers. They are not primarily businessmen, but real enthusiasts, independent people. And I am of this fiber, I am an independent. So I wanted to turn the page, to move forward in my project, to start with a new copy. On top of that, I had some exceptional things in the pipeline, such as a privileged relationship with Hiroshi Nishine, who I consider to be one of the best lure designers in the world alongside Seiji Kato, Yuki Ito and Masahiro Adachi. He has a very interesting chaotic career in the Kill Bill style and has made some incredible lures! His history and legitimacy come from the Craft. And then he understood that before he could make his brand and his products known, there was a need to make the history known, his story, to know where he came from, what he was made of. Nowadays there are brands behind which there is nobody and others where there is a real story to tell.
Does Ninshine Lures Works represent the foundation of the new FTF?
Fred Miessner âeuros Yes, clearly. Honestly, Hiroshi Ninshine is the person who is closest to me, the one who has an incredible creative potential, who brings new things and who goes into great detail. And I like this return to hard lures, crankbaits, jerkbaits, etc. It's really the brand that I have to distribute well. Beyond that, with Nishine Lures Works, the fundamentals to properly distribute are there, there is enough back margin to get it out at consistent prices, even in stores.
Can you tell us about the other brands?
Fred Miessner âeuros There is HMKL, the brand of Kazuma Izumi, who also comes from the Craft and who could be the father of Hiroshi Nishine and who is at the foundation of the modern lure culture in Japan. For the record, he was the one who made the Kick Ringer, which was not produced in the Reins factories but in his small workshop. For the connoisseurs, it is a legendary lure! The Kick Ringer is a lure that we hid during the first years, that we kept for the FTF Team for the street competitions. So with HMKL, it's like putting back in a new form the cream of what I used to have at Reins because the Kick Ringer's material is the same as his soft lure line. HMKL has a line of soft and hard lures focused on Bass and Area that is incredible in its quality and diversity. As far as Bass are concerned, this range has been developed for fishing, not the big Bass of Lake Biwa, but those of Eastern Japan, around Tokyo, evolving in small natural and crystal clear lakes at the foot of Mount Fuji. These Bass are very difficult to catch and a fish of 45 cm is a specimen! HMKL products are therefore designed for "Finesse" fishing and will find a logical echo in France for technical fishing of perch, in particular.
There is also Pitch and Strike, the brand of a friend, Kenshin Chiba, who makes soft lures in Spain. I am very happy to have a European production, focused on Bass once again, and which makes a Soft Jerk formidable on the bar. A very mobile lure, very effective in traction or in lighter version, on the fly. And fishing with Soft Jerk is also very effective on pike. I am thinking in particular of David Mery, who worked for many years at my side in the old FTF generation, and who contributed to the popularization of pike fishing with Soft Jerk on the Alpine lakes. This type of lure is also the basis of what I like, that is to say, to propose a new action, new vibrations. In short, to offer something new to the fish!
I can talk about Ichikawa Fishing, a brand of hooks that equip all Ninshine Lure Works lures and which has developed a big crankbait in collaboration with Rick Clunn (American figure of Bass fishing editor's note). Then we find Big Hammer, the famous American shad characterized by its square paddle, a soft and dense rubber at the same time as well as a triple injection of colors but also Obasslive, Madotachi without forgetting Big Fish 1983, the brand created by my friend William Fichard.
You were talking about the fact that you wanted to control prices by offering high quality brands at affordable prices. Exception that proves the rule, you still propose some particularly expensive lures, the Flag 255 from Grow Design Works in the lead. How do you justify the price of this lure?
Fred Miessner âeuros First, it is handmade in Japan in a small structure, the series are ultra-limited. We can also follow the production on social networks, we can see the person making the products. There is for me a real sense of giving value to Craft, to this creation of unique products which is the opposite of Aliexpress which completely fossoes creative energy and innovation. These are two opposing worlds. After all, the price at which this lure touches him has nothing to do with the standards of what I have been doing for the last 10 yearsâeuros¦ But I have so much faith in this out of the ordinary product that has the ability to make fish move and attack in very difficult conditions that I want to be the one who will make people talk about it.
This lure, initially designed for black-bass, is characterized by a very soft and tender rubber which leaves no doubt that there will be damage with the pike...
Fred Miessner âeuros I'm certainly not going to pull a Flag 255 on a pond full of pike that you can easily get bit on something else. On the other hand, when conditions are tough, you pull out all the stops and go fish when no one else will. And I can attest to that, we've had fish react on overfished areas. The soft aspect brings a little more life compared to hard lures. It does have a mesh to protect it at the joint, but it's clear that with the pike there will be some damage and it will be necessary to have a bottle of soft lure glue to keep it as long as possible.
Beyond all that I have just said, with the Flag we are in something very visual, it is a happiness. As far as I am concerned, it brings me a lot of pleasure. After, free to each one to fish as he wishes it but personally, I have a lot of difficulty to remove the Flag 170 of my rod, in sea as in fresh water.
