AN ANGELIC VISIT ON THE ROAD TO KENTUCKY LAKE
By Greg McCain
OK, it wasn’t exactly the road to Damascus, but it was a chance encounter with an angel that prompted Mark Ridl’s moving Cornfield Fishing Gear to Kentucky. The “angel” was REALLY an angel- Angel Labs, a premier angel investing “bootcamp” for high-net-worth individuals all around the world with a goal of making an impact on the liquidity of entrepreneurs by connecting angel investors & limited partners with promising businesses needing a shot in the arm to grow to the next level. Mark and Paula Ridl and his wife Paula were on a trip to Kentucky Lake years ago when they had a chance meeting with Angel owner Terry Pool, at Big Bear Campground near the shores of Kentucky Lake.
The Ridls had traveled from their Illinois farm for a brief stay at the campground. Dog lovers both– Mark and Paula stopped to pet Terry’s dog, also Angel, and they struck up a conversation with her owner who was working on his boat- a fishing boat. This chance meeting began a transition that moved a tool-and-die business from the cornfields of Illinois to the shores of Kentucky Lake.
At the time, the Ridls’ business was starting a period of decline due to an Illinois’ economy that was causing various companies to flee the state. Mark had begun crafting fishing accessories as a side-product line, under the Cornfield Crappie Gear label. The meeting with Angel led to a fishing trip the next day which laid the foundation for a solid friendship. Mark asked what type of fishing Terry did, and on hearing the response of crappie fishing, Mark said he loved crappie fishing and wished he could go. To Which Terry responded, “What are you doing tomorrow? While they were fishing, Mark said it was his life-long dream to live on Kentucky Lake. That’s how meeting an Angel led to the Ridls moving here and changing the business over from industrial products to fishing boat mounts.
Dean McCoy is another local Kentucky Lake fisherman who quickly made a connection with Mark. They met at the first Kentucky Lake Crappie.com shindig that Dean and Terry organized. Mark cooked supper for the two prior to the shindig, and Mark and Dean have been friends ever since. Dean said in the early days of the move he would stop by and help Mark run machines and cut metal. Dean commented that from their first meeting, Mark’s mind never stopped, he was always thinking about new products.
To this day, Mark wonders if it were not for the dog whether they ever would have made the move. He precision machining business had built a great reputation with its automotive customers. But when the automotive economy hit the skids, Mark had more time for trips to Kentucky Lake. Those trips rekindled an interest in crappie fishing, and he bought a boat which he began to accessorize with products of his own design and manufacture. One such early design, a cable saver, was developed out of necessity. Mark cut the cable on his trolling motor and envisioned a need for a product to protect the various cables on a boat. The Cable Saver ultimately became one of the company’s best sellers.
One thing led to another, and he started building things for his friends and got the idea of trying to market some of this stuff. He built a website. He was trying to come up with a name. texting friends in Kentucky and looking out the window at a cornfield in Illinois. Cornfield Crappie Gear seemed like a natural name, but it took some persuading from Paula to get Mark to leave the setting and jump into fishing products.
From the beginning, Paula had run the office side of the operation. She updated the company’s business plan regularly and through the years, noted just how much the industrial customer portfolio was dwindling. By this time, the Ridls had bought a home on the Lake, and bought a building in Gilbertsville, both purchases with retirement in mind. After analyzing the books yet again, Paula asked Mark the tough question- “Why don’t we move the business to Kentucky?” Mark’s initial answer was a colorful version of “are you crazy?”, but by the summer of 2017, Cornfield Crappie Gear had a new home in Kentucky.
Fast forward 10 years after the meeting with Angel and Terry in the Kentucky Lake campground, the Cornfield name – now Cornfield Fishing Gear reflecting wider than crappie fishing applications- has evolved into a company known for its array of superior products both in terms of design and craftsmanship. Mark, with help from Paula and others, advanced the company to another level in a short period of time. The company is best known for its mounts. Mark first designed a single mount, which soon led to a double mount. The “live” electronics craze that started with Garmin Livescope technology in 2018 begged for even more specialized equipment, and now Cornfield’s telescopic, pivoting mount satisfies the need for an elevated model (Cornfield’s product line can be seen at https://cornfieldfishinggear.com).
Everything is made here in the USA, something that really appeals to Cornfield pro staff manager Joel Harris, who oversees a group of 20-plus competitive anglers on the pro staff- a group that makes sure that everything ready to hit the market is solid as a rock, by putting all products to the test and finding very few problems. Joel noted how impressed he is with Mark’s ability to run with an idea. Joel was a part of developing the telescopic mount and was amazed how Mark took it to another level.
The company emerged bigger and better out of the Covid pandemic. Mark and Paula were not sure what would happen, but Cornfield enjoyed unprecedented growth through 2020 and 2021. Not even Mark’s broken leg early in 2022 slowed the company’s progress. Mark noted that there were a lot more people going outside fishing, and just before the pandemic, the live-view transducers took off. Cornfield had the first mounts to put that on a trolling motor and “everybody seemed to be buying live transducers.”
The company did encounter a few challenges. Mark learned to buy supplies in bulk, so he had what he needed when he needed it. He makes sure he has a stockpile of aluminum on the shop floor because something as simple as lack of a bolt can delay production on certain products. Like with many businesses post COVID, the labor force is a serious concern, even more than the supply chain. Availability of workers is often at a minimum. The dearth of labor caused Paula to fully devote her time to the business. After moving to Kentucky, she put her nursing degree to use at two different jobs, but the lack of qualified, reliable workers added new dimensions to her work with Cornfield. She left her nursing position and took over shipping and customer service in addition to the office work. “Things had gotten out of control,” Mark said. Things as simple as answering the phone consumed much of his time and took away from the need to run machines and design products. “What she (Paula) brings to the shop is unbelievable. She runs the shipping department and answers 99% of the phone calls.
So, what’s the future for Cornfield Fishing Gear? Mark doesn’t make bold predictions but does
Suggest with confidence that the company will continue moving forward, changing as needed to serve the ever-evolving boating and technology worlds. “We’re going to keep coming up with new stuff. We get a lot of input from our customers and from our pro staff members.” As Dean McCoy says, “Mark is always thinking up new ideas. He doesn’t know how to quit. “
Note from the Editor:
iBass360 appreciates its partnership with Matt Foster, an expert crappie fisherman and law enforcement officer in Missouri. Matt is the man behind The Crappie Blog- a site that is all things crappie fishing
at www.thecrappieblog.com. Matt is behind the scenes doing a lot of social media for Brushpile Fishing, Cornfield Fishing Gear, Crappie Magnet and B n' M Rods. This article was written for The Crappie Blog by Greg McCain, a retired educator and freelance journalist from northwest Alabama. In addition to producing content for Cornfield Fishing Gear, other credits include the ACC Crappie Stix blog, CrappieNOW e-magazine, Georgia Outdoor News, and the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation website.
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