A living slice of fishing Americana, Dan Johnston embraces new title at St. Croix Rod
He’s been designated a franchise player and bestowed a new title – making him essentially unrecruitable to the competition. St. Croix Rod road-warrior Dan Johnston’s rank has been raised to National Accounts Manager, and the position fits him like a rod in a travel sleeve.
“Among other duties, Dan’s primary responsibility will be managing select key accounts while working closely with our field sales team,” said a jubilant Jeff Crockett, St. Croix’s Director of Sales. “Dan’s level of professionalism, extensive product knowledge and proven track record will be a tremendous benefit to the members of our team and our customers.”
Johnston’s new moniker goes live January 1, 2017, exactly 16-years, to the day, his journey with St. Croix began. His commitment to the fishing industry began much earlier, though. Back in high-school, the infinitely energetic Johnston hustled fishing gear and taught fly-fishing at Iowa City, Iowa’s Fin & Feather, a steadfast St. Croix dealer. This, while Johnston fished bass tournaments when he was off the clock. Higher learning called, and Johnston bid farewell to the sporting goods outlet to attend college, only to return as store manager, accentuating his lifelong hunger to be a positive force in the sport he cherishes.
“I’ve been stereotyped as a fly-guy, but I have equal passion for the entire spectrum of fishing,” said Johnston, who is similarly comfortable teaching the arts of ice fishing and skipping baits under docks for bass. “It’s my love for all things fishing that make me a perfect fit for St. Croix, a company that excels at building rods for all fishing pursuits.”
But what makes Johnston glow the most about St. Croix? The culture. “It’s a true family; totally unique in the fishing industry. We’re an extremely tightknit group.
“I like to say the only thing missing at St. Croix is the big black lab waiting to greet you at the door.” Be careful what you wish for, Johnston, because a kennel of lovable labs isn’t out of the question if St. Croix thinks it’ll make happy customers even happier.
St. Croix is driven by product development, and Johnston is a major contributor to that process as well. “The sales team is a conduit to the engineering department, bringing all kinds of ideas and needs from the field.” Valued St. Croix team players like the Southeast’s Randy Hamilton, Northeast’s Dave Colley and Midwest’s Dave Lofgren bring concepts from their territories, while internally, fishing-fanatics the likes of Rich Belanger and new Marketing Director Jesse Simpkins tap the minds of St. Croix’s skilled pro staff.
In short, nobody is left out of the product development process.
Johnston’s new role will also include amplified interaction with media outlets, like Lindner’s Angling Edge. Johnston has become instrumental on the promotional side as a key spokesperson for the St. Croix Rod brand. His expertise and passion are evident in scores of videos, like Johnston’s work on the new BASS X, SOLE fly rod, Legend Glass and Mojo Bass series’ promotional pieces.
Another 16 human years would make Johnston, well, extremely old in black lab years, but odds are St. Croix will be leaving the light on for a long, long time. And Johnston will always come home.
About St. Croix Rod
St. Croix Rod is a family-owned and managed manufacturer of high-performance fishing rods headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin with a 68-year heritage of USA manufacturing. Utilizing proprietary technologies, St. Croix controls every step of the rod-making process, from conception and design to manufacturing and inspection, in two company-owned facilities. The company offers a complete line of premium, American-made fly, spinning and casting rods under their Legend Elite®, Legend® Xtreme, Legend Tournament®, Avid Series®, Premier®, Wild River®, Tidemaster®, Imperial® and other trademarks through a global distribution network of full-service fishing tackle dealers. The company’s mid-priced Triumph®, Mojo Bass/Musky/Inshore/Surf, Eyecon® and Rio Santo series rods are designed and engineered in Park Falls, Wisconsin and built in a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fresnillo, Mexico. Founded in 1948 to manufacture jointed bamboo fishing poles for a Minneapolis hardware store chain, St. Croix has grown to become the largest manufacturer of fishing rods in North America.
By: Dena Vick, Traditions Media
