Patrick Sébile Makes A Living Out Of His Passion For Fishing By Designing The Most Effective Lures
Patrick Sébile was in the lusty, pastoral environs of southwest France, a place renowned for its natural beauty and culture, when he dropped his first lure into the water. His uncle helped him hook bread from the family’s picnic to make a lure, and strung it to an old cane pole.
“I saw the float disappear, grab the rod and set the hook,” Sébile said of his first fishing memory. “I remember the fish was pulling so hard I almost lost the rod, so my uncle took it and finally landed a 6 pound carp. The most amazing thing is I was 3, but I remember it as if it was yesterday.”
It is remarkable that Sébile could recall his very first fish, as he has made a life of fishing across the globe and has literally pulled tens of thousands of swimmers from water ways, ponds, lakes, and sea lanes. On the other hand, perhaps it is not so strange.
Above all, Sébile is a man who fishes. It defines him. He keeps copious records of his catches around the globe. By 2014, he had pulled in his 734th species of fish. For 15 years he ran a sports fishing lodge in Africa, and he has authored seven books and hundreds of articles on the art of the catch. This is his life’s work, his passion, and everything about him bespeaks this essential truth.
“Like we breathe air which is vital to us without paying attention to the fact we inhale it constantly, fishes and fishing are part of my life on a daily basis,” Sébile reflected. “I live on the water so I can cast a lure when i wake up in the morning, before going to bed, or anytime. No need to think – I just do it. “
By now, Sébile has sold worldwide between 10 and 20 million fishing lures through various brands and his namesake company, Sébile Innovative Fishing, which was formed up in 2006. When MRV the Buzz caught up with him, Sebile had just landed in China, heading to – you guessed it – a fishing trip (with some lucky French anglers who had won a trip with him).
Sébile has been designing fishing lures for decades. His first lure, he said, was thought up when he was 8 years old, a little piece he hacked together to snag white perch. His modern lures are highly functional items, created in the moment many times or with inspiration from a very particular fishing challenge that he seeks to solve.
Once, Sébile was angling in an area where all the fish were congregating under the branches of a tree. He didn’t have a lure that could penetrate the heavy cover.
“So I had an idea, made a prototype which turned out to be the right solution, and I got so fired up from my success. I caught and landed fish without snagging - it opened my mind, fueling it with excitement and new perspective, growing my passion as nothing else in my life,” Sébile said. “Still today - you should see me when I got a new idea…I get excited like a kid and can’t wait to transform it into a real lure and to catch fish with it.”
His personal inventions have become a multi-million dollar business, selling lures internationally to anglers across the globe.
New lures from his company include the Sébile Flatt Shad, which “is silent with vibration created though the body rather than a ball or rattle,” according to promotional materials from the company. Due to the placement of hooks and a feather teaser on the tail, the lure can get in and out of heavy cover with little risk of getting snagged. Cost: $6.99 to $7.99.
The company is selling the Stick Shadd, the Vibrato, and the Magic Swimmer, the last of which undulates under water and mimics the natural movement of a bait fish with a double-jointed body. It’s good for saltwater species like Striped bass and California yellowtail, and retails for $12.99 to $19.99. The Soft Magic Swimmer is $9.99.
The sporting goods industry makes about $41 billion a year in the United States, with camping and fishing equipment making up about 7 percent of that number, according to industry reports. That segment has an income of just under $3 billion a year.
Obviously there is a lot of money to be made in sports fishing, but for Sébile the fishing, and the protection of the fish, are the most important thing. His work with IGFA [International Game Fish Association] has been focused on preserving fish habitats.
“I’m part of the ‘all’ thing. That’s why I've been so involved into protecting the fish, fighting for our rights to fish … the whole thing is me. And I’m a tiny part of the whole thing…I know that humbly. Fishing has helped me to find my way, to truly be myself.”
To be himself, Sébile must be on the water, casting lures, tempting one more fish to strike his lures.
David Irvin
A graduate with a Masters Of Science from the University Of North Texas, David has written on many beats including crime and business for such outlets as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Montgomery Advertiser & USA. He enjoys RVing and surfing the Internet.
Make Sure To Check Out:
Sébile Innovative Fishing, that combines love of fishing with a background in mechanical design principles such as turbulence and hydrodynamics to make lures more effectively replicate a real life baitfish.