By Pete Robbins
Special to BassFan
Tim Reneau didn’t start fishing for bass until he was in his late 20s, but he’s spent the subsequent three decades trying to make up for lost time. The native of Seguin, Texas, who currently calls Del Rio home, has ridden a wave of impeccable timing and networking to develop a multifaceted career that shows no signs of slowing down.
In addition to being a founder of Power Tackle Rods and a noted lure designer for Strike King and other companies, he has also experienced success on the water. He fished 2 years on the Bassmaster Top 100 series (a predecessor of the Elite Series) and continues to fish some Bassmaster Opens and various levels of FLW events.
He won a 2013 Costa Series tournament on Texoma and he and frequent team partner Phil Marks of Strike King have won multiple derbies, including the 2014 Texas Team Trail Championship on Toledo Bend. He also regularly fishes team events with his wife Judy, an accomplished stick in her own right.
From Construction to Glitter
Reneau began working construction straight out of high school, which initially had him out of state 3 weeks out of each month, but as he gained seniority over the course of a decade the percentages reversed and he found himself home the for all but a week a month. With an increased amount of free time, and Seguin’s proximity to the Guadalupe River lakes, he joined a bass club and shortly thereafter met legendary Texas angler and lure designer Terry Oldham.
“I started working for him in my spare time, building jigs and spinnerbaits,” he said. “I was really into decorating – I liked the painting and the glitter.”
His work caught the attention of Norman Lures, which commissioned him to produce their sunshine gelcoat finishes, and for 2 years in the early 1990s all of those baits were painted in his Seguin workshop.
Meanwhile, he continued to fish, skipping over Red Mans and local events and moving directly into B.A.S.S. competition. After he moved the Norman painting process in-house, he suddenly had more time to travel and fish, and in 1993 and '94 he fished the Top 100 trail.
The Move to Del Rio
During the mid-'90s, Reneau lived in Lufkin, Texas, close to Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, at a time when both lakes were exceptionally fertile and productive. He and Marks frequently competed together and earned more than their share of wins in one of the most competitive regions in fishing.
“I fell in love with hydrilla,” he said. “And ever since then that’s the only way I want to fish.”
Family concerns led him back to Seguin temporarily, and he picked up work from Strike King at just about the time that the company entered the hard-bait market. At first he manufactured them in his hometown, but they were “growing pretty quick,” and when they built a plant in Mexico it made sense for him to move to the border, to a town that really wasn’t yet known in the bass fishing world – a place called Del Rio, hard on the shores of Lake Amistad.
If he thought that leaving Rayburn and Toledo Bend was going to be a letdown, he was in for a pleasant surprise, because Amistad was loaded with bass and no one really knew about it. He didn’t know a soul and that lack of a social life helped him as an angler.
“I’d work 4 days and fish 3 days every week,” he said. “It was so good for flipping grass, but no one even sold a 1-ounce jig back then. I’m embarrassed to tell anybody, but it was like my own private lake. You’d go out and catch 30 fish over 6 pounds in a day.”
The combination of big bass, thick grass and the rise of braided lines,caused one problem, though – rod breakage.
“I had days when I’d break six rods flipping. It’s just so vertical when you set the hook that they’d all break.”
Reneau often fishes team tournaments with his wife Judy, who's an accomplished anger herself.
Out of necessity he started building his own using G. Loomis saltwater blanks to withstand the stress he put them under. During a 6-month period of guiding for Ray Hanselman, he put them in the hands of enough clients that eventually word of mouth forced his hand into making it a business. His friend and client Chris James became his business partner.
He admitted that the Power Tackle rods, many of which retail for over $300, are not necessarily meant to appeal to every angler. While they hold a cult-like following among hardcore Texas anglers, they generally remain a high-end regional product, although exposure through Tackle Warehouse has given them traction in other parts of the country.
“I’ve never found a way to get it down to a price point where I can get it into every tackle store,” he said. “So I intend to keep it small and high-quality.”
Go Where the Green Grass Goes
Reneau continues to work in bait design for Strike King with his close friend Marks and the company’s deep pro staff. Power Tackle introduced the Lateral Perch in 2010 and it contributed to Keith Combs’ PAA win on Lake Tawakoni, but while it didn’t prove to be a lasting success, it nevertheless spurred Reneau’s lure-making abilities to new heights.
“I got a lot of training through that in making masters for silicone molds,” he said. “I do a whole bunch of that stuff for Strike King.”
He said that the thrill of his R&D efforts is the hunt for the next Alabama Rig, ChatterBait or Whopper Plopper.
“That’s what I’m always striving for when I’m tinkering and designing stuff. There are a million ideas trapped in there. It’s the same thing with the rods. You have to work to get it to do what you want it to do.”
He continues to fish tournaments with a “go big or go home” attitude.
“My goal is always to see a new lake and fish it the way I like to fish. I’ve never been real consistent. It’s got to be a big-fish deal. I can’t ever remember fishing a tournament to get points or to get a check. Grass fishing has been like a sickness to me and I’ve been blessed to be in the locations I’ve been in.”
In addition to being in the best places at the best times, he’s also had the opportunity to bounce ideas off the best in the business. He noted that he’s also been fortunate to collaborate with a variety of individuals from all facets of the industry. Oldham and Marks were two of them, and now he has tremendous experience and savvy in his pro staff, which includes not only Texas world-beater Combs (currently 2nd in the Elite Series Angler of the Year race) but also Hanselman, who won four consecutive Rayovac tournaments in 2015, including the championship. Both anglers are critical to his current efforts related to rod design and testing.
At 55 years of age, a time when most people start to think about slowing down, Reneau is digging deep for another gear. In addition to continuing to work on baits and rods, he maintains an ambitious tournament travel schedule. Just last week he competed in a Costa Series event on Oneida, a touch over 1,900 miles from Del Rio.
“I probably need all of those things to stay interested,” he said.
Notable
> Reneau and his wife Judy intend to relocate to central Texas in the near future. Nothing will change about how Power Tackle operates, but it’s a chance to be closer to family, and also closer to many of the tournament lakes. For example, it will cut his drive to Toledo Bend from 8 or 9 hours down to 4 or 5.
> Reneau said that before the Elite Series first visited Falcon in 2008, “it was better than El Salto.”
> While many of Power Tackle’s best-selling rods have historically retailed for over $300, last year the company introduced a Keith Combs Signature Series that retail in the $200 range.
> For more information about Power Tackle, click here.
