How it all began
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
My name’s Jeff Thompson, the creator and founder of the Fish ‘n Rail, a security and support railing system for boats. I am proud of my creation, and I’m excited about how the partnership with EPCO will help bring the excitement back to fishing to those who could benefit from it most.
This is my blog, Jeff’s Rail Tails. As I get back out on the road in 2012, visiting tournaments and events around the country and sharing the story of the Fish ‘n Rail system, this is where you can keep up. Until then, however, I want to share with you the story of the Fish ‘n Rail – how it came to be, and how it’s changed my life and impacted my love of fishing.
No CommentsBass Master Classic 2010
Posted on January 17th, 2012
Eight months after the initial drawings, with the support of Ranger’s senior management and engineering staff, the Fish’n Rail removable security system was born. The first production unit was unveiled at the February 2010 Bassmaster Classic in Birmingham, Alabama.
Although you seldom see the likes of a Forrest Wood or Bill Dance to stop by your booth, but The Fish’n Rail folks had a pleasant surprise. (Click here to see the photos.) Additionally, Hank Parker introduced us to and is the spokesman for Outdoors Without Limits (OWL). OWL reports that nearly 250,000 people each year stop pursuing outdoor passions due to illness or accident. This does not even include the number of servicemen who become injured each year.
My hope was that The Fish’n Rail system could extend fishing opportunities to disabled vets, seniors and physically handicapped anglers. There are a lot of vets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan missing limbs and suffering from other injuries caused by roadside bombs. This system gives them an opportunity to get back into a boat and enjoy fishing the way they did before the war. The first sale at the Bass Master Classic was to an Army Ranger who had basically parked his bass boat and given up fishing after multiple surgeries from a spinal cord injury. To quote him, “returning service members can drive their boat themselves, pull themselves up, support themselves, fish again and have a life again.”
The greatest asset of the rail system is that it provides anglers who have trouble getting around the chance to go fishing again. Aging anglers suffering from physical ailments or balance issues may find the rail allows them to fish from a boat more safely. They are no longer hand-cuffed by their physical impairment and are not reliant on someone else to take them.
In general, The Fish’n Rail Removable Security System, a series of rails that someday can be installed on all kinds of boats (bass, pleasure, bay, offshore, pontoon) to help anglers or everyday people with disabilities, the ability to move about their vessel and continue to enjoy the water, despite their physical impairments.
THE FISH’N RAIL SYSTEM IS AFTER-MARKET AND DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONFIGURATION OF A BOAT!
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For the love of fishing
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
I love my country. I love fishing, too. In an earlier life, I proudly served my country as a Marine Corps pilot flying fixed wing aircraft. Touching down on carriers as they pitched and yawed in rolling seas, although exhilarating, became almost routine.
Then in 1979, pain in the lower spine, later diagnosed as deteriorating disc disease, was the start of the use of prescription drugs to reduce swelling and relieve my almost constant pain. And yet, with the opportunity to fly the AV8B Harrier, I continued to fly for an additional 14 years, making the Marine Corps Team with Military BASS in 1988/1989. I finally retired in 1993.
After retirement, prescription Motrin 800 from the VA became my mainstay. In 2007, the VA recommended spinal injections in order to stop the Motrin. During the next two years, 24 injections and 8 ablations (laser burning of the nerves), the pain continued to worsen. By now, the VA built me a hardened fiberglass torso brace to support the spine. Through all of this, I still refused to give up fishing, although I would find myself fishing from my knees and the trips were getting shorter. Up to now, I had rejected any type of invasive surgery.
There had to be another way, I told myself. Another way to do what I love – fishing – without the pain and inconvience…
No CommentsThe need for a handicap rail on a bassboat
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
Through shear determination, I refused to give up on my love of being on the water. I figured there had to be something I could do, especially after two years of crawling around the boat and fishing off my knees. Then, last summer, with pencil and paper I began sketching details of a rail system that could be adapted to boats to allow those with disabilities accessibility to the water. If there was nothing out there already to help me and others like me, I figured, I’ll do it myself. Literally.
After several weeks of designing and building PVC mockups, I contacted Ranger boats to see if my ideas were even possible. Two months after that initial call, a local engineering team began installing the first prototype of a removable rail system on my Ranger Z521 Comanche bass boat.
For the first time, this new invention allowed me to pull myself into the boat without hurting my back. Once on the water, I also found I could move myself from the driver’s seat to the bow in relative comfort. It also gave me enough support that I never had to stop fishing because of unbearable pain. Better yet was the stainless steel rail system didn’t block my view while motoring across the lake and still offered access to every compartment. The additional bonus was it could be removed at any time for any reason.
The first time I tested it out on the water, one of the engineers with me was told to count how many times I touched the rail while fishing. I found out later he quit counting after 200.
It seems I had stumbled on something that worked – really, really worked. And something that could work for others going through the same issues I was.
No CommentsFLW Outdoors
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
It was September 2009 when I went to Kentucky Lake with my local Bass Club. I called the FLW in nearby Benton to discuss the rail system to see if there might be any interest. I was surprised to hear that the President of Ranger Boats had discussed the rail with Charlie Evans, President & CEO of the FLW, asking that they investigate the claims of the rail strength. I was asked to bring the Ranger 521 with its rail system to the FLW Headquarters to enable Charlie Evans, his Executive Staff, and Editorial Staff to view.
As a side note, up until this point I hadn’t even begun to think about what to call this. While sitting one evening in a cabin with the rest of the club members, I was being questioned and harassed about the use of the rails. Then someone made the comments that since it allowed me the ability to come back to fishing, why not call it The Fish’n Rail.
After arriving at the FLW Headquarters, it was to their surprise The Fish’n Rail surpassed their expectations, taking photos and notes to publish the first full page story. The expected release was slated to be the February 2010 edition of the FLW Outdoors, prior to the Bass Master Classic.
Remember, there have been many individuals who have made their own support rails out of PVC and water pipe for their own use, but nobody has produced anything close to meeting the standards of a handicap railing as you see in an office building – IN A BOAT.
No CommentsAccessibility/Adaptability
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
Stories, emails and phone calls began to circulate between friends, family, fishermen and Ranger, as to the versatility of the rail system. It became apparent that the front rail system could allow an arm, hand or leg amputee the ability to drive his/her own boat, pull themselves up and balance their way to the front/butt seat. Additionally, the front rail system provided support for lifting the trolling motor, plus balance and support when accessing a compartment and changing rods.
Similarly, a single port rear rail not only provides stability to the rear seat area, but also provided and upper hand hold for access to the boat in an overboard situation, or climbing onto the boat from land with the use of the boarding ladder and the upper rear “P” rail.
A suggested back rail across the rear deck above the engine cowling, providing a hand-hold for the loss of balance from the rear deck, proved safer than putting a hand on the cowling to catch oneself from falling overboard. Finally, a starboard rear rail completed an enclosure for a wheelchair, or the security of a child.
The list of uses and those who could benefit from this product was growing before our eyes. It was exciting to think about all those who could use the Fish ‘n Rail to make a positive impact on their life.
No CommentsThe business plan
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
By October 2009, we had decided to move forward to investigate the possibilities of forming a company to provide the rail to returning vets, elderly fishermen, or anyone with medical issues or challenged with balance problems. Our investigations realized that a handicap rail system had never been manufactured for public use that had met the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) specifications. The Fish’n Rail system met all ADA specifications and fell within the guidelines of all boat manufacturing requirements.
Since retirement, I had been involved with a number of fishing / boat related ventures, forming along the way a DVOSB, Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, called Extreme Technologies, registered in the State of Indiana. Extreme Technologies was transferred to a Minority Owned (Women) Small Business, formed with family members, utilizing the engineering expertise of an Industrial Contracting Firm and an Equipment / Welding Company noted for their experience in safety rails and handicap rails for public use.
Meanwhile:
- The name The Fish’n Rail was Trademarked, and the original drawings were dated, notarized and recorded.
- Continued work with Ranger engineers to better understand reliable mounting practices proved extremely valuable.
- Extreme Technologies engineers worked with packagers to determine modifications required to ease packaging difficulties and shipping costs.
- Combined efforts continued with improvements/modifications of the original rail design.
We were off and running!
No CommentsThe Fish’n Rail
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
The result of all these combined efforts produced The Fish’n Rail Handrail / Railing System, manufactured from Schedule 40 Stainless Steel Tubing, meeting all ADA accessibility standards. “Maintenance free, these railings are the perfect solution for the handicap, elderly and those with balance related problems who enjoy the sport of fishing”. A handrail designed to allow for handicap individuals to freely move about the boat and provide for a firm, secure, reliable handhold.
I talked to a lot of people about my belief to give something back, but it wasn’t until I talked to a mother with a son who had a bass boat parked in the back yard, but after returning from Iraq with the loss of his right hand and left thumb, had turned into a couch potato, embarrassed to be seen in public because of his deformity. That’s when I lost it and told her to tell him to get off his ass and go fishing! We have the cure….which became the company’s slogan…
Welcome Back To Fishing
Since Indiana fishing ceases during the winter, unless you like ice fishing, my 521 was sent to Ranger for refurbishment. The stage was set for the unveiling of the first production security system available on a boat at the 2010 Bass Master Classic in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Jeff Thompson, a retired Marine Corps major, fighter pilot and test pilot, suffers from a deteriorating disc disease, aggravated by years of exposure to excessive G-forces. After multiple surgeries, he was faced with abandoning his passion for bass fishing. Not willing to give up the sport he loved, Thompson put his NASA experience and master's degree in aerospace engineering to work designing and developing the Fish'n Rail system.
