Rods & Reels

As Googan Squad grew, expanding from lures into rods and reels was a natural next step. For our team, it meant diving headfirst into an entirely new world of product design, engineering, and manufacturing—and creating something that would stand out in a very crowded market.

We set out to develop a collection of rods and reels that combined bold, distinctive styling with great ergonomics, quality materials, and the right specifications for a wide range of fishing applications. The initial Green and Gold series shared a common design language but had very different personalities. Green was loud, energetic, and unmistakably Googan, while Gold introduced more refined finishes, upgraded materials, and higher-end specifications. We later expanded the collection with the premium Black series, taking the design and materials even further.

The rods featured an unusual asymmetric design carried through the grip, reel seat, and butt. It gave the entire collection a recognizable silhouette while creating some interesting engineering challenges. Working closely with our design team and manufacturing partners across Asia, we developed the components from initial sketches and CAD through 3D-printed prototypes, material-accurate models, and countless rounds of sampling. We specified the rod blanks for their intended fishing applications and worked through every detail of the custom components to balance aesthetics, ergonomics, performance, and manufacturability. For the reels, we developed distinctive spools, handles, grips, drag knobs, finishes, and graphics to create products that felt unmistakably part of the same family. Throughout development, we worked closely with the Googan Squad for testing, feedback, and plenty of time on the water.

We also wanted to tackle another challenge: choosing the right fishing rod can be surprisingly complicated, especially for newer anglers. We helped develop CatchSmart, a system that organized lures into five intuitive categories and matched them with appropriate rods, supported by additional ratings for different fishing techniques. The goal was to take some of the guesswork out of choosing equipment and help anglers spend less time scratching their heads in the tackle aisle and more time fishing.

I led the development effort, working closely with our lead designer on design direction, ergonomics, materials, and engineering while selecting and collaborating with our manufacturing partners. Together, we launched three rod series and two spinning reel series, with the initial Green and Gold collections earning strong customer reviews and retail placement. What started as a big leap into an unfamiliar category became one of our most distinctive product families—and a whole lot of fun to develop.