Canadian Fishing Brands

What Counts as a Canadian Brand Here

A brand counts as Canadian when the company is Canadian owned, when the gear is made in Canada, or both. Most of the ones we stock qualify on both counts.

That distinction matters more than it used to. A few well known names were founded in Canada and are now owned offshore, and others put a Canadian name on a package that was filled somewhere else. We check ownership and manufacturing before we call a brand Canadian, and if either one changes, we stop calling it Canadian.

Lures and Baits

The strongest Canadian showing is in lures, and it goes back a long way.

• Williams has been stamping spoons since 1916, and they are still made in Canada by Brecks International in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The genuine silver and 24 karat gold plating is not marketing language, it is what the blanks are actually finished with, and it is the reason a Whitefish or a Wabler still outfishes cheaper spoons in stained Great Lakes water. If you troll for lakers or salmon, you already own some.
• Lucky Strike Bait Works has been building lures and landing nets near Peterborough since 1929, four generations of the same family before the 2025 sale, with the factory staying in Ontario. Wooden plugs, spoons, spinners, nets. It is the closest thing Canadian tackle has to a heritage brand.
• Bondy Bait Company came out of the Detroit River musky and walleye scene, and the Original Bondy Bait is still the reference point for vertical jigging big fish in current. If you fish the St. Clair system or the Niagara, this is a local bait in the truest sense.
• Freedom Tackle rethought the jig by letting the hook swing independently of the head, which is why their Hydra and swim jigs shake loose from fish far less often. Worth a look if you are losing bass at the boat.
• X Zone Lures was started by Mark Kulik out of southwestern Ontario, and the Slammer, Swammer and Shiver Shad have all become tournament staples. Hand poured, high salt, and they hold up to more fish per bait than most soft plastics at the price.
• Lunkerhunt is the design-forward end of the Canadian lure world, best known for hollow body frogs and prop baits that fish cleaner through slop than they have any right to.

Reels

• Islander machines centrepin, fly and mooching reels in Victoria, BC, as a division of J.S. Foster Corporation, a working machine shop with over fifty people in it. That is why an Islander Steelheader spins the way it does and why it will still spin that way in fifteen years. If you float fish the Grand, the Saugeen or the Maitland, this is the buy-it-once reel.
• Raven Tackle out of Norwich, Ontario builds the rest of the float fishing system: rods, reels, floats, hooks, shot, swivels. The Matrix is the value benchmark in centrepin, and Raven is the reason a lot of Ontario steelheaders got into the pin at all.

Terminal Tackle and Roe

• Redwing Tackle in Ajax has been making spawn sac netting, scarving, hooks and float fishing terminal since the early eighties. If you tie your own roe, you have used their netting. It is one of those brands nobody thinks about until they run out on a Saturday morning in November.

Marine and Safety

• Scotty has been building downriggers, rod holders and mounts in Sidney, BC since 1952. Everything is engineered and made there. It is the standard on Great Lakes trolling boats for a reason: a Scotty rod holder that has been on a gunwale for a decade still works.
• Mustang has been making flotation and marine safety gear out of Burnaby, BC since 1967, starting with the Floater Coat. Their inflatables are what you actually wear rather than sit on.

Why it is Worth Buying Canadian Tackle

Beyond the obvious: a Canadian brand ships from a Canadian warehouse, so there is no cross-border duty, no brokerage surprise, and no three-week wait when a product goes on backorder. Warranty claims go through a Canadian distributor rather than a US phone tree.

There is also the plain fact that these companies design for the water you fish. Williams spoons were built for lake trout on the Shield. Raven and Islander exist because of Great Lakes steelhead. Bondy Bait exists because of the St. Clair. That is not a marketing angle, it is just where the products came from.

Complete Your Setup

• Musky Lures
• Float and Centerpin Reels
• Float and Centerpin Rods
• Trolling Spoons
• Downriggers
• Personal Flotation Devices
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