This month’s W2 Profile features one of the most humble, hard-working, kind folks we’ve met in our 30+ years. Dave Farrington, 62, hails from around Greensboro, NC and many of us see him only once a year but he is a very welcome site.
Farrington’s massive Dave’s Tournament Tackle booth at the Richmond Fishing Expo is full of every bass lure you’d ever want, soft plastic and hard and some made of metal. His fertile fishing mind is on full display.
One of his special talents is spinnerbaits. From the creation of his revolutionary, custom-made Tiger Shad spinnerbait to all the bladed baits that have come since, Farrington is the region’s dean of spinnerbaits.
At the show he’ll handcraft most of the baits per a customer’s specifications. All the components are at his fingertips and he’s on his feet assembling spinnerbaits over eight hours each day.
When he’s not building baits or running his North Carolina tackle shop (J&N Tackle), Dave enjoys tournament fishing and recreational fishing nearby Belews Creek Lake. His wife, Kim and two daughters have often accompanied him in his Richmond show booth.
We caught up with him recently for another W2 Profile.
W2: How did you start fishing?
Farrington: My Daddy took me fishing down to the Oakdale cotton mill dam when I was five years old and we sat out on a rock with worms and a bobber and caught fish. This is literally five minutes from where my shop is today.
When I turned seven or eight my Daddy bought me a Zebco 33 and I started fishing with lures and started catching bass. Back then that was a really big deal to have that kind of gear at eight.
W2: How you began in the tackle business?
Farrington: I was a painter by trade and in the winter I wasn’t too busy so I thought I’d try and make some lures. First lure I made was a spinnerbait with the basic bullet style head in green shad pattern. People liked them.
W2: Who the most influential person in your early days?
Farrington: I used to sell for Lionel Holingsworth who made the True Trex spinnerbaits. He just wasn’t able to keep up demand, and I asked him if I could start making stuff and he said, “Yes” and actually gave me a few of the contacts for materials.
W2: What is it about the tackle business that you were drawn to and continues to motivate you today?
Farrington: I think it’s the contact with the anglers, the relationships you built.
W2: Can you offer insight from your years of experience, as in on how tackle business has changed over the years?
Farrington: The older anglers were more about relationships and the younger anglers are not. The easy of obtaining gear online is why this has changed. The internet has made us less of a people society.
W2: What hasn’t changed for you, i.e. – service, a fair deal, selling cutting edge, desirable products, etc?
Farrington: Paying attention to detail hasn’t changed. Trying to make sure the angler has a good experience with the baits hasn’t changed.
W2: What do you think about shows these days?
Farrington: Shows are a tremendous amount of work but they keep us in front of anglers and let them know we are still there. We had 1,600 sq. ft. at the Richmond Fishing Expo. Moving over 400,000 items is like moving your house each weekend.
W2: How important is your pro staff to DTT?
Farrington: They’re extremely important. We couldn’t do what we do without them. The goal is that they help us with our designs and colors. The best ones do.
W2: What’s the best-selling lure you make?
Farrington: The Tiger Shad by far but we also make a Bullseye, a deep crankin’ spinnerbait, the TiTiger with a titanium arm, the Raptor with a titanium midsection, the River Special, the Assassin Shad and the Bladeroller.
W2: What events do you fish now?
Farrington: This year I’ll fish the BFL North Carolina Division. Might fish the Virginia Division of CATT.
W2: Where is your favorite place to fish and why?
Farrington: Buggs Island. I like it because it has a wide variety of fishing situations and most of the time you can get away from the people.
W2: What do you enjoy doing when not making lures?
Farrington: Sleeping and eating.
W2: If you weren’t in the tackle business what would you be doing now?
Farrington: Probably be fishing a lot more and in the painting business.
“When we started the club, we also decided that we had to give back to the community and get youth involved with fishing. To this end, we formed a Youth Foundation and proceeded to hold a Kid’s Fishing Derby each year, open to all kids under age 16, at no charge.”
“We held our first derby on the Virginia Free Fishing Day in June with 38 kids attending. We quickly learned that school sports were still going on at that time, keeping a lot of kids from attending. The following year, 1992, we decided to add an additional derby in July to capture the kids who were unable to attend the June derby. With the exception of 2020, we have held two derbies at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston each year since. We now plan for 150-325 kids at each event, still free for all.
