Novel Motorised fly fishing system works like a seat belt


15 Oct 2010

After tripping over loose fly line and falling into a local river while fly fishing, Patrick Tennyson literally stumbled over an age-old and growing problem that could be solved using today’s technology.

He invented a new motorised ‘Fly Line Management System’ that works like a car seat belt, allowing movement of the line in and out, under constant tension.

Feasibility study grant

Using a feasibility study grant from the Louth County Enterprise Board and mentoring under the Novation Enterprise Platform Program run by the RDC in Dundalk, Paten Innovations Ltd. was set up to commercialise this new invention.

Tennyson lives on the outskirts of Dundalk in the parish of Kilkerley. With a background is in tool making and design engineering, he worked in Ecco Ltd. for 10 years.

He owned and ran TT motorcycles for four years, followed by working in Micron Engineering for 11 years and Bellurgan Precision as design engineer for five years, all in the Dundalk region.

Fishing is the largest leisure sport in the world. Statistics from the US Outdoor Industry Association show that about 18 million people participate annually in fly fishing in the US, accounting for roughly 70pc of the global fly fishing market.

Lead customers for this system would be disabled anglers, saltwater fishermen, salmon and steel head anglers and eventually filtering down to other sectors of the sport.