Today we’d like to introduce you to Xao Xiong.
Hi Xao, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have always had an interest in fishing since a was little and my mom telling me stories of my great uncle taking me fishing for trout when I was about 3 years old and how I would come home telling my parents about fishing. I didn’t really get into fishing until 6th grade or so. My dad bought me my own fishing pole after he saw me with my makeshift fishing pole, fishing line on a flimsy twig. We would fish for trout, bluegills and bass using natural baits. I grew tired of using live bait and would always try to catch fish with different things that I can find around the house. I remember using cheese, marshmallows, bubble gum and gummy worms but never really caught any big fish when using big piece so I would end up pinching small little pieces and fish for bluegills. I knew these would work already since I ate them.
Eventually, I would start carving little wooden dowels into fish shape lures and tying hooks onto them. Took feathers I found and tied them onto hooks and jigs. Never caught anything with them back then. In middle school, I started taking my mother’s red beads to fish for salmon on the Feather River (Oroville, California) because they looked like salmon eggs and salmon eat salmon eggs.
Once we moved to Oregon and in high school, I would tie feathers to the back of my hooks on spinners when fishing for trout. It wasn’t until Winter Semester of 2004, Sophomore year at Oregon State University, that I started tying my own actual flies. I took an elective course, Steelhead Fishing. One of the projects is to tie a variety of flies and or jigs. That’s what I ended up doing. Some time went by, and I wasn’t tying until I moved to Minnesota in 2012. I just started fly fishing and I met a gentleman at a local creek while fishing for panfish. He saw that I was struggling and came over showed me a few tricks. He also introduced me to a Facebook group of fly fishermen and fly fisherwomen from all over the United States. Some of the locals would meet at someone’s house and would tie flies and share stories.
I would be fishing my bucktail jigs and people would be asking what I was using after seeing me catch fish. I would show them and give them one or two depending on how many I had. It started getting spendy, but I enjoy seeing other people use my jigs and catching fish. I also wrap my own fishing rods and enjoy using them what I make to catch fish. It’s a sense of accomplishment and challenge.
About 3 years ago, I decided that I would start a small business selling my bucktail jigs and flies. It was thinking of a name and couldn’t really think of any. There’s this saying that I take to heart, “I get to do all the things I am doing and it’s not because I have to. I get to.” I take this phrase to many things I do, if not everything and especially when it comes to work and my hobbies. I don’t have to work at the job I’m working, and I don’t have to have the hobbies I do. I wanted to incorporate this phrase into my business name but didn’t want it to be so long. I wanted a name that I can create an email and website for. I initially thought of Get To but that was taken. I wanted to open a tackle shop one day, so I tried Get To Tackles but that looked funny. I then thought about my brother because he ties his own jigs too and I hope to open up a tackle shop with him. So, I decided to go with Get2Tackles. After 3 years planning, Get2Tackles LLC became a registered MN Business in January 2022. I couldn’t have been where I am at today without the support of my family and friends. Especially my wife Mee Cha-Xiong, who have been the backbone to where I am today!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many struggles in the last three years as I put together Get2Tackles LLC and there are still room for improvements. Being a small business, cost has a big factor in how I price my products. I would need to compare with other similar products that are local as well as through the web. I would need to price my product accordingly so that I make enough to keep going and stay in business. Finding good quality materials to tie my jigs and lures is another struggle as I am competing with hobbyist that and other local tyers since I like to be able to touch and feel the quality of some of the materials. Buying wholesale would be great but there are no local wholesalers I know of and I don’t order online too often as I risk the chances of not getting quality materials. It was tough during the planning stages as I had a full time job, in graduate school, running extracurricular activities for the school I was working at, and balancing family in the midst of all this.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My name is Xao Xiong pronounced Saw Sh-own. I am the business owner of Get2Tackles LLC. We are a small business operating out of the basement and currently web-based through Facebook at www.facebook.com/get2tackles and www.Get2Tackles.com (currently under construction). You can also find our jigs and flies in mystery tackle boxes of Seasons Tackle, www.seasonstackle.com. We specialize in hair jigs for both open water and through the ice and hair flies. Majority of our jigs and flies are tied to order therefore that gives the customers an opportunity to customize their jigs and or flies to their liking. We use quality products to tie quality jigs and flies. Our jigs and flies are tied to target species such as White-bass, Walleye, Hybrid-Striped Bass, Striped Bass, Northern Pike, Musky, Crappie, Bluegill, Tullibee, Trout and many other fish species.
As Get2Tackles LLC was in its beginning stages, we needed a logo, something to represent what we do. I initially had a picture of a jig that I had tied many moons ago as the welcome picture of Get2Tackles on Facebook for a little while and needed a small change. My daughter 10 at the time volunteered to recreate the picture into a friendlier version since we had just bought her a new drawing tablet. She was able recreate the picture into PNG art file and we have been using it for the last two years. All three of my children, 5, 10 and 12 have taken part in suggesting color combinations for jigs and flies that had caught fish with.
We would love to get the opportunity to create and share our jigs and flies with everyone. We would love to be able to hear and read stories of the times you went fishing with a jig or fly that you customized through Get2Tackles. We would love to get these opportunities with you because it would great if we “Get2”.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Fishing has been part of me for as long as I can remember. Even if my parents and or other family members were not able to take me fishing, I would be down at the creek with my twig catching fish. As I got older, I focus on different types of fish and different ways to catch them. I took part in school athletics, school clubs and started working customer service at the age of 14. Even when I was taking part with extracurricular activities with school and working, I would still find time to put in a few casts here and there.
Contact Info:
- Email: get2tacklesllc@gmail.com
- Website: www.get2tackles.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/get2tackles
- TikTok: @get2tackles
Image Credits
Xao Xiong
