Our Story
Our company was born in a Texas garage. After Trey Kistler returned home from serving in the Gulf War, he went to work with his father building fishing rods. When his dad retired, Trey decided to blaze his own trail. He decided to make an exciting life for himself, his wife and four babies. He decided to create some solid American jobs. And he decided to try and catch as many fish as possible. So he set himself to the task of making the best bass fishing rod out there. We, and Trey, wouldn’t have it any other way. If his family name is going to be on it, it’s going to be the best. Kistler products are excellent. Period. They are the most sensitive, the most responsive, the most trustworthy. When you hold one of our rods, you know you’re holding something special.
We. Love. Bass. And we love fishing. And we love the strong community that is fishing. We make rods and reels for pros, for tournament anglers, and for obsessed anglers who live to catch the most and catch the biggest, because that’s our goal, too. We don’t sit on our laurels. We are restless. There’s always a bigger fish to catch. So we push ourselves to test, innovate, and make our products and your fishing experience the very best. We build our rods in America in a small building full of new ideas and full of our Kistler family. The best design, materials, and components. The best service. The best feel and strength. Your best day on the water. As we said before, Trey wouldn’t have it any other way.
Your Best Day on The Water
Kistler works each day so that every day you fish is your best day out on the water. We design products for our fishing family, handcrafted by experts. We always keep pushing ourselves to make our products better because we just plain love to catch big fish. And to catch big fish, you need to be fearless and show up and try new things every single day. Funny enough, it takes the same things to make the best, premium bass rod on the market. And we’re not afraid to say it: a Kistler rod is something special—it helps you feel more, so you can catch more, catch the biggest.
Featured Kistler Employees
Jordan S.
Jordan processes orders, Takes
customers calls and walk-ins,
Inspects all the reels, and
Does production manager duties.
Marion B.
Marion wraps the guides
to the rod with the respective
colors on stock and custom rods
and does guide repairs.
Reuben E.
Reuben takes care of all
of our warranties, takes
customers phone calls
and when they walk in.
Emily M.
Emily glues all the guides
on the rods w/ hot melt glue.
Kaden K.
Kaden hand picks the best
blanks for the custom rod
orders, fits up all the handles/butts
on the rods, glues up those parts,
and applies labels to the rods.
Emily B.
Emily puts finish on all the rods
and inspects them when they
dry to make sure they are up to
Kistler quality.
Mike S.
Mike straightens all the guides
to the reel seat and applies
the first pre-coat of finish
to the rods.
Jordan S.
Jordan processes orders, Takes
customers calls and walk-ins,
Inspects all the reels, and
Does production manager duties.
Marion B.
Marion wraps the guides
to the rod with the respective
colors on stock and custom rods
and does guide repairs.
Reuben E.
Reuben takes care of all
of our warranties, takes
customers phone calls
and when they walk in.
Emily M.
Emily glues all the guides
on the rods w/ hot melt glue.
Kaden K.
Kaden hand picks the best
blanks for the custom rod
orders, fits up all the handles/butts
on the rods, glues up those parts,
and applies labels to the rods.
Emily B.
Emily puts finish on all the rods
and inspects them when they
dry to make sure they are up to
Kistler quality.
Mike S.
Mike straightens all the guides
to the reel seat and applies
the first pre-coat of finish
to the rods.
Kistler Carbon.
Hold Something Special
KISTLER has partnered with multiple elite carbon factories across the globe. These well-established carbon experts have exceeded Trey Kistler’s demands for excellence in terms of quality control, consistent actions and power as well as durability.KISTLER is now providing carbon blanks that we believe are the best in the business, period. For KISTLER and for our customers, it is an evolution into a better technology than ever before.Trey Kistler’s 28 years of experience has enabled KISTLER to provide our customers with the most advanced designs and engineered carbon blanks that will certainly increase the cast to catch ratio for every level angler.
The proprietary 45 degree angle overlay construction using 100% Japanese carbon by Toray has enhanced the performance of KISTLER Carbon Blanks making them noticeably lighter weight and noticeably more sensitive.This is an evolution that offers our customers better rod technology, better fishing, and a better warranty – the KISTLER Bend Strong 5 Year Warranty on every rod series. KISTLER has made the choice to make the best rod on the market.
Side By Side Comparison
Kistler Reels
For Conservation
Since 1999, Kistler Rods has given over $765,000 toward conservation efforts nation wide. Every Rod or Reel purchase gets us closer to our goal of $1,000,000 given to conservation since 1999.
Testimonials