A River Never Sleeps

The family-owned company, its origins a basement workshop in the Elwood Street, Victoria, home of the late Joseph Foster, has been in the precision machining business for 30 years.

More recently, over the past decade, their Islander Reels operation has grown to a point where it accounts for half the annual production of the firm and its 35-strong workforce.

These are fly reels that combine stunning good looks with the prime essentials of efficiency and dependability. As you might expect, this attention to detail and appearance makes for what can only be described as a luxury product – a Porsche or an Alfa Romeo to use the auto industry analogy – with prices ranging anywhere from US$250 to $630 before taxes depending on model and size. Not cheap by any measure but then each reel brings to the original purchaser a lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship.

The commitment to excellence goes even further than that. Take the true story of the fisherman from Campbell River, B.C. who lost everything in a house fire. His Islander, useable but definitely the worse for its experience, was recovered from the ashes and returned for service. Instead, he received a new reel with the original retained by Islander to demonstrate the durability of the product in the most extreme circumstances

The Islander operation has to be a classic example of an enterprise moving with the times, listening to its workers, taking a chance on a new direction and then striving to be the very best in its field. Ten years ago there were no Islander reels, no beautifully crafted, golden hued examples of inspired engineering design to complement images of successful fresh and salt water fishermen in magazines across North America, in Japan, New Zealand and Australia and in the United Kingdom.

And all this because company president Jack Foster, son of the founder, listened to a few of his employees when they said there would be a market for a locally made reel offering mechanical excellence, eye-catching design and total reliability under the most demanding of conditions. Skilled machinists, and dedicated fishermen, one or two were already running up reels at work for their own use and, you can be sure, attracting the attention of the knowledgeable anglers they encountered on Vancouver Island’s rivers and lakes.

Many of those reels, original prototypes and early Islanders, remain in regular use, treasured companions of fishermen in pursuit of Pacific and Atlantic salmon, steelhead, brown and rainbow trout, bonefish, tarpon and permit and on up to the real heavyweights on the big game order of merit. Put a fish in water, anywhere any time, and there will be an Islander model equal to the challenge. All the more so these days with the fly fishermen chasing every imaginable species, from cod to pike, or sharks to bass.

Why Islander? From the outset the name and the familiar island-shaped logo were seen as a natural choice, for these are Vancouver Island reels, designed and produced by Vancouver Island residents. It’s an apt tribute as their Pacific coast birthplace is home to some of Canada’s most productive fresh and salt-water fishing. What better place to develop a product one reviewer considered worthy of consideration for display at the Museum of Modern Art.

When I spent time recently with Islander manager , Greg Miller, and some of the team who work on various aspects of reel manufacture, he was not prepared to divulge specific production figures. That’s understandable since this is a very competitive business, one where Islander sees North American as by far its largest market, one where Abel Reels, of California, and Tibor Reels, from Florida, are major competitors.

"Over the last three years we have also developed a good presence in Japan and we are just now making inroads in Europe. Recently we have been starting to do business with a distributor in Italy", he said.

The very nature of the company’s original business as a production machine shop provided skills perfectly in tune to the manufacture of high end fishing reels. In one way or another, Greg notes, everyone has input into the way the reels function mechanically and into the aesthetics too.

"We have four or five people working in the assembly room who do nothing but reels and everyone else is involved in some way at some point from the moment the bars of aluminum are delivered right on through design, machining and finishing,” he said.

"One of the really nice things about being the manufacturer is that you can experiment with new materials, you can turn out a couple of parts, put them in a reel and try them out. We are always pushing ahead, trying something different, listening to our customers and to the people we get to test Islanders in the field."

That includes a group of salt water guides in Florida who were given very specific instructions to use the reels just as hard as they possibly could with no attention to maintenance, no greasing, and no rinsing off in fresh water.

"We also tend to abuse our own reels," Greg explained, "and that’s because we know there are people who will inevitably fish them like that and we want to know what to expect."

Incidentally employees are encouraged to borrow company reels whenever they go out – a privilege dear to the heart of every fisherman on the payroll.

The market for Islander reels has increased beyond all expectations over the last 10 years, and Greg thinks it will continue to grow.

"Much of this is due to the demographics – more people going fishing, more people retiring with time to fish and with the disposable income,” he says. “It’s also a lot to do with the new popularity of salt water fly fishing."

While many people still both use and treasure the Islander reels they bought in the early 1990s, others are moving on to second and third generation products.

“Rods are getting lighter and lighter and you want a reel that balances,” says Greg.

"You could say it’s an ongoing revolution. Our reels keep changing and getting better although the differences are often hard to spot. Last year, for example, we completely redesigned our LX (Large Arbor with cross-holes in the arbor)) Series. Generally speaking ideas happen a year or two in advance of their introduction. It’s very much a matter of being in tune with the market and recognizing ways to improve,” he says.

Islander voices:

Jeff Willing, mechanical designer: "The major difference between now and when we started is having computer-based equipment. It allows you to get a little more artistic, if you like to use that word, to have a smoother transition of line. There was no engraving on the early reels although we were Islander from the minute we made the first one. The name was one of a number we bantered around. We are all islanders and it just seemed right. It sounded good.

The first reels we made were centre-pin, float reels for steelhead. Then came the first fly reels, eventually known as the FR2. At that time we were working pretty closely with a couple of fly fishing schools and we exchanged ideas. Most of our design has been a group effort working with the industry and fishermen. We want to give people what they want to fish with. All the holes you see in the newer models makes them look great – perhaps a bit like Swiss cheese. It lightens them up and, with the new carbon fibre rods, a few grams makes all the difference

The gold colour is very distinctive (there are also identical models in black with no price distinction) and you can see them from a long way off, especially out on the ocean. If we see one in use we will often detour to ask how the fishermen are getting on and tell them we made the reel. Then we meet up later on the dock, have a beer and offer a full service."

Phil Cotterell, senior lathe machinist: "There was one guy who for years had wanted us to produce fishing reels. His name was Pete Gustin, a machinist, who later went on to have his own shop not far from here. He came to me and together we went with the idea to Jack Foster. Everything came from that one conversation. Pete had moved out from Ontario.

He was and still is a most avid fisherman. He makes me look as if I have never fished in my life. After he came we had a slow period and we asked how could it hurt to spend a few hundred dollars on labour and materials. Right away it took off and I think it was Pete who showed the reels to Peter Morrison who worked for a distribution company in Alberta. There were so many people involved to bring us to where we are today. We have become part of the fishing scenery and that’s pretty exciting."

Brandy Cornish, assembly room employee tuning reels before packaging: " Listen to that noise. I just love the sound when the line is peeling off."