Hi John, how did your passion for fishing come about?
I started fishing at the age of 8, as I grew up in Hangzhou next to a large pond. Back then (in the 1990s), fishing in China was purely for food, and I had to fish with very basic equipment. I made my own bamboo rods and hooks from sewing needles. China wasn't really open to the world yet, and to obtain fishing nylon, I tried to find objects to sell or recycle in order to get some money.
So how did you come to discover sport fishing?
With the advent of the Internet, I was able to discover, during my high school years, that there were a multitude of other techniques for catching the perch, pike and other snakeheads present on my fishing spots. And that's when I realized that I needed a boat to prospect further and better.
So you decided to build your own boat to go fishing?
Yes, I had no choice. If I wanted a boat designed for fishing, I had to design it myself, as it was impossible to find bass boats in China at the time. So I built my first bass-boat out of fiber and decided to set up a fishing club to organize fishing competitions in my country.
And you very quickly obtained results, which enabled you to increase the number of boats?
Yes, I was lucky enough to be able to develop this sport fishing activity, and I was led to create a Pro-Staff team with which we were able to take part in fishing competitions in the United States. I also had the chance and the desire to travel the world to discover and continue to learn about the world of sport fishing and the boats that could be found there.
In 2020, you created the Nakhoda brand, and since then everything has accelerated?
In fact, I filed the patents for my bass-boats in 2020, and since then, orders have been increasing all over the world. It's a real pleasure to see that anglers are enjoying using my bass-boats. It's been a long and winding road, but it's been worth it. I'm still trying to develop and enrich the range so that as many anglers as possible can enjoy their passion.
