In late 1999 whilst flicking through a magazine, I came across a Q & A section. One question asked the expert how to pop up a grain of sweetcorn above the bottom weed. The answer was to take yellow rig foam and cut it to resemble a grain of corn, and then hair rig it with a grain of real corn. To me this seemed rather fiddly and I knew that with my mould making experience and knowledge of plastics, I could produce a realistic looking buoyant imitation version, that could be used straight from the packet with no messing around. I soon had my first samples of
to test out and within months the product was added to our range. At first sales were a bit slow, I guess people thought why would fish want to eat a lump of plastic. Early results had however been very good and we knew that the additives we added during manufacture were obviously attractive to fish, so thought it was just a matter of time before it took off.
The breakthrough came when we were approached by Partridge of Redditch an established company in the tackle trade, who obviously saw the potential in our product, as they wanted to add it to their carp range under their own brand name. We agreed and a few months later a new British record carp was caught on a couple of grains of ‘their’ corn. Although we didn’t gain any recognition for the capture, it obviously made everyone aware of the potential of imitation baits, and gave me great personal satisfaction in knowing that a product I created had helped catch a British record. Sales took off and we continued to supply Partridge for another six months, until they decided to copy it and produce their own version, a trend that is still continuing today with many major brands now producing imitation baits (fake baits or plastic baits).
, we continued to add other popular baits to our range, and it wasn’t long before we were contacted by top carp angler Frank Warwick, who asked if we could make him some luminous corn samples to test out. Frank had a feeling that carp would be attracted to glowing hook baits, and he was proved right when the first batch of luminous green and blue baits resulted in some spectacular catches. It turned out that Frank was already a fan of our baits and he readily agreed when we asked him to become a consultant, to help further develop our range and promote them through his articles and media work. With his help and in later years that of our other consultants that have joined us, we have became firmly established as the leading brand for imitation baits throughout Europe and the U.K. offering the largest and best range of imitation baits. Britain’s top carp and specialist anglers choose our baits because they work, four separate British record species are testament to this fact. Many have tried imitation baits from other companies, mostly made in the far east, but a lack of results ensures they keep using Enterprise, the original and best.
‘, an alliance that continues to this day as Frank continues to use our baits and help develop new ones with us.
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Enterprise Tackle celebrates 15 years of imitation bait this year – having produced more than 20 million pieces of fake sweetcorn!
The Beds-based outfit, the brainchild of keen angler Chris Hornsby, has firmly established itself as the market-leader when it comes to plastic baits, largely thanks to an unerring attention to detail.
Now used by some of the UK’s leading anglers, including carp legend Frank Warwick and all-rounder Alan Stagg, Enterprise products have been responsible for FOUR record fish, along with countless other specimen fish every season.
But whatever Enterprise Tackle make, one thing remains consistent – attention to detail. And that’s thanks to owner Chris’ painstaking pursuit for absolute perfection, together with a deep-rooted knowledge of the plastics and moulding industry.
“It seems an awful long time ago that I first had the idea of making a buoyant piece of plastic corn and if someone had told me then we’d have made more than 20 million pieces, I’d never have believed it!” said Chris, who now sells to over 30 different countries across the world.
“I’m very proud that Enterprise Tackle is considered by the angling world to be the best in imitation baits and we are constantly striving to make all our products more life-like and effective.
Respected big carp angler Frank Warwick is well-known across Europe and has been using the Enterprise Tackle range for more than a decade. He’s in no doubt why it’s so good.
“As far as I’m concerned, Enterprise are the original and best at making imitation bait,” said Frank.
“I have 100% faith in the products and have watched them get better and better over the years. What I especially like is, as a consultant, I get to have a proper input and seeing the ideas come to fruition – and catch lots of fish – is extremely satisfying.
“The current market place might be increasingly full of companies making imitation bait, but no-one does it better than Enterprise.”
Enterprise Tackle – 15 years of imitation bait
*Enterprise Tackle corn is now available in 18 colours, 24 flavours and seven different sizes.
*Enterprise products are now sold into over 30 different countries, ranging from Canada to Russia.
*The top five best-selling Enterprise Tackle products are: Corn, maggots, bread, dog biscuits and tiger nuts.
*Four different record fish have fallen to either Enterprise Tackle baits either fished alone, or combined with real bait.
*Despite ET corn having the biggest impact, it’s the rod tip Nightlite Adapters and Adjuster-Stops that Chris rates as the most innovative products.
Enterprise 15mm Half Boilies help bridge the gap
Welcome to Enterprise Tackle
