News from Kinetic / Fairpoint Outdoors
Continuing 130 years of lure making tradition
Fairpoint Outdoors is pleased to announce an agreement with one of the oldest and most renowned lure brands in the Scandinavian fishing tackle industry – Delfin.
The first Delfin lures dates 130 years back and were made by goldsmith and jeweler Arnulf Hoff. From the very beginning the lures have been known as innovative lures of extremely high quality. This also explains why old Delfin lures are in high esteem amongst collectors and fishing fanatics willing to pay a smaller fortune for these.
Marketing manager at Fairpoint Outdoors, Thomas Petersen Eldor says: “With Delfin we are strengthening our assortment of classical lures. Not only is Delfin a perfect match for our portfolio of brands and lures, it is also one of the oldest and most esteemed brands in our business. Several of their models and unique color combinations are used on lures sold as “originals” today. Still no one has managed to copy and match the quality and fish catching abilities of these lures. In particular in Norway, Delfin is a very strong brand known by generations of anglers. We are already well established in Norway and the fact that we will produce and distribute Delfin lures will strengthen our position even more”.
The sisters Vibeke Hay Wold and Cecilie Hay Wiig are the fourth generation descendants of Arnulf Hoff. With this latest agreement the Delfin brand steps into yet another era. To the family it has been very important to maintain the unique quality of the lures as Arnulf Hoff created them. Fairpoint Outdoors already has a lot of experience on genuine silver plating and high quality production of metal lures. This knowledge will be an important part of the new production of Delfin lures to be manufactured in solid copper with genuine silverplating on several models and colors.
“The quality is so convincing that we are very excited to let Fairpoint Outdoors continue over 130 years of proud Norwegian lure making traditions and take the Delfin brand into the future,” says Vibeke Hay Wold.
Starting with first deliveries winter/spring 2013 Fairpoint Outdors will be taking over the manufacturing and Distribution of Delfin Lures.
The history of Delfin lures
Back in 1882 Arnulf Hoff created the first Delfin lures, “Hoffsluk”, to be sold from his goldsmith and jeweler shop in Norway. Their quality and ability to catch fish soon became known and the order books filled up. In 1903 the skilled jeweler and goldsmith started experimenting with other lure models, and with a larger selection and a growing demand the shop soon became way too small. In 1904 – 22 years after the first lures were made – Arnulf Hoff founded “Slukfabrikken Delfin A/S”. This factory was situated in Trondheim near excellent trout waters, beautiful coastline and famous salmon rivers like Gaula and Stjørdal Rivers. No one could imagine a better place for Arnulff Hoff to experiment with new lures, shapes and sizes. As a jeweler and goldsmith he was always paying attention to details and his lures soon became a popular choice for anglers all over Scandinavia. To many they still rate as the best lures ever made.
With modern production taking over, attention to details is more important than ever. More than a century ago Arnulf Hoff understood how precious metals and other types of metals had a superior way of reflecting light in the water. He also understood how the different shapes and action patterns of a lure could trigger a bite. The Delfin manufactured today are based on the knowledge and craftsmanship of the man who created them so many years ago…
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This handmade Norwegian cabinet was used for various exhibitions in Europe and Canada. The company was rewarded its first medal (first prize) at an exhibition in Trondheim back in 1906. Several other first prizes have been won since then. Up until the 60’s a lot of Delfin lures were also exported to Canada.
Photo: Ulrik Fohrmann
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| A Delfin catalogue published 60 to 70 years ago |
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| From left to right – four popular Delfin lures that will be produced and distributed by Fairpoint Outdoors in the future: 159, Kulpkrokodill, Stikling and Åsenskjea. |