Vance McCullough – Anglerschannel.com

Patrick Sebile is known by his country of origin – France. “I am a very proud US citizen now for two years,” stated Sebile, his accent still thick, as we talked fishing while tarpon rolled in the marina behind us.

Sebile is here in Marathon, midway between Key Largo and America’s southernmost point in Key West, to introduce his affiliation with A Band of Anglers, his newest venture with Brian Anderson, President & CEO of the multi-brand company that will bring Sebile’s legendary knack for innovation to both, the saltwater, and freshwater fishing worlds.

Sebile stressed that passion is everything. His love of fishing. His love of the United States, Florida being first among the 50 in his mind.

“I choose to live in Florida,” said Sebile. “I’ve fished in 58 countries in my life. I’ve guided in 40 countries. When I discovered Florida in 1992, and fished Florida, I got it in mind ‘Florida is the place I want to live and the place I want to die and the place I want to, and do, raise my kids here.

“It’s a choice. You know, when you’re born in a country, any country, you didn’t choose. Your mom was there so you are. But when you choose, really choose, it is a big choice. I know what I want. There’s a reason for that.”

Sebile is also a part of the borderless community of anglers, hence, his choice to be involved with A Band of Anglers. “A band of anglers is a lifestyle, a band of anglers and friends. It’s the love of fishing that is everything.”

A Band of Anglers and, specifically, Sebile’s fertile mind, has kept their patent attorneys extremely busy. Look for more on their mind-expanding lures as we bring you more from the Florida Keys this week.

American Fishing Wire is aptly named. The makers of Hi Seas fishing line, as well as the wire used for leaders and Alabama rig frames, AFW does everything in Philadelphia, PA. “We extrude our own fluorocarbon in-house,” said Shawn Carpenter, Sales Executive. AFW also pulls all of its wire right here in the USA. They’ve even brought additional jobs to our shore. “We acquired Triple Fish from Germany and started making it right here,” noted Sales Director Steven Miller.

AFW also purchased C&H Lures, a stalwart in the salt community. In fact, AFW owns a great share of the orthodontic wire market. They must adhere to high standards of quality to be in that business.

Engel Coolers was founded in Florida. The company plans to expand its product line while expanding the US economy. The best part is AFW provides high quality, American-made products at reasonable prices. Again, we’ll bring you more about them in the near future.

Mike Dixon spoke of the company’s ambitious plan. “The rotomolded cooler is where the game started. Engel has the design patent. A lot of companies have followed. It gets hard to figure out how to improve that product. What we’re going to do on our next series of rotomolded coolers is one, we want to produce these coolers in the United States. We want some American-made products coming to our customers. So that’s going to be ‘A-number one’.

“The second thing is we really have endeavored to find or create the materials we need to have a fully recyclable rotomolded cooler. Not only the plastic we use in the outer shell, but also the foam we use to insulate – we want to make sure that we use 100% eco-friendly materials and that, ultimately, the product we’re putting out there, when it ever reaches the end of its life, it is fully recyclable and does not end up in the trash.”

It’s good to see the fishing industry doing what it can to Make America Great Again.