Calvin Vander Boon

Calvin is an avid hunter and angler with a particular passion for trolling the Great Lakes. At age seven he started fishing Lake Michigan with his uncle, which started a lifelong interest in the challenges and rewards of trolling.

Eventually a curiosity about why some fish were not getting hooked well led to watching underwater trolling videos. After watching fish striking repeatedly without getting hooked, he realized that the tension from the fishing line was preventing the fish from successfully suction feeding. When fish suction feed they expect the prey (lure) to get sucked into their mouth, so many fish that strike are not hooked at all or are hooked so poorly that they get off before being landed.

With his background in physics, he set out to design a product (Strike Assist) that would allow the lure to be sucked into the fish's mouth to hook and land more fish. Existing scientific research, physics, data collection and pro anglers all played significant roles in producing a functional end product. Part of this process involved watching many hours of underwater videos, which led to many interesting and applicable observations about how fish feed and other factors that influence whether fish end up getting hooked. In short, he has gained unique insight into what is actually happening on the other end of the line and what anglers can do with this knowledge to increase their catch rates.