MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – “For thirty years, I’ve been running a Lund,” Al Linder tells Saturday morning fishing show viewers in popular Lund boat advertisements. Move over Uncle Al, you ain’t seen nothing yet. On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, celebrating sixty years in the business, Lund boats officially unveiled their new GL line of fiberglass boats at the Minneapolis Boat Show in front of a small crowd of Lund executives, professional anglers, and media reporters.

Lund’s announcement early last year that they would be producing fiberglass boats was a surprise to many, but a pleasant one at that.

“It started with our voice of the customer and focus group work and we started building boats from there, and to be honest with you, we didn’t get it right the first time out of the hopper. We went out…and ran them and what we thought were good ideas on paper and on the CAD drawing didn’t necessarily pan out on the water… Do you go with good enough or do you go with right?” Lund vice president of sales and marketing Tom MacNair explained.

For a boat company known for leading the industry, they choose to do it right, and the extra time in product development over the past year was evident at the boat show but can only be experienced on the water. With so many fiberglass boats on the market, I asked MacNair what he felt Lund’s new fiberglass boats would bring to the market.

“It brings the Lund DNA into the fiberglass world. It’s a boat that forward trolls, side drifts, and most importantly, if you’re a walleye guy, it backtrolls. It allows you to maintain that spot on the spot, stay on your structure…We built it with a wide chine like an aluminum boat and a hard chine like an aluminum boat, so when you’re going backwards, you go backwards straight, not wander aimlessly around. We made sure a Lund is a Lund, whether its glass or aluminum.”

So significant was the day’s unveiling of the new fiberglass line that Lund Pro-Staffers and Minnesota fishing personalities Ted Takasaki and Marty Glorvigen hadn’t even seen the boats. Takasaki and Glorvigen could only grin and gush on about the new boats.

“One thing that was very important to myself when they came out with the fiberglass project was to make sure that it still matched up to the fishability of the aluminum boat. In most glass boats, you see more of a rounded, Euro-type feel to them, and Lund painstakingly made sure they had the sharper edges that catch the water when you’re backtrolling, or trying to hold onto a spot on the spot in heavy winds, or even if you’re forward trolling or contour trolling; it needed to maintain the integrity that they put into the aluminum hull and without a doubt they’ve accomplished that,” Glorvigen said.

Takasaki spent a good twenty minutes examining his new boat with a huge grin and the enthusiasm of a child opening gifts at Christmas.

“The one thing that sticks out right away with me is the amount of floor space that’s in this boat. They did a great job on the layout on the inside. I really like the clean lines that I can see on this boat on the sides…The distance on the bow to where its going to hit the water is very impressive. I’ll be able to run big water and big waves and not get any water in the boat. That’s always a good thing when you’re fishing in early spring and late fall.”

In the inaugural year of production, seven Dealerships are carrying the Lund Fiberglass boats. Jake Jacobson of Rapid Sport Marine talks about his expectations for Lund’s new GL line:

“It’s a great shot in the arm for our business, something that I think we really needed. The fiberglass fishing boat is a big part of the business nowadays. The Lund customer that we had lost in the past to another fiberglass brand, I think we probably hold ‘em now. It’s a small line right now, but it’s the main line that there’s a lot sold in the eighteen, nineteen, and twenty foot boats. I think it’s great; we’re enthused.”

Besides Rapid Sport, R&R Marine in Shakopee, Hoots Sports in Perham, Nelson Marine in White Bear Lake, Corner Sports in Bemidji, RJ Sport and Cycle in Duluth, Ray’s Sport and Marine in Grand Rapids, and Staples Sports in Cushing will carry the new Lund fiberglass line.

So what is next for the New York Mills, Minnesota based company?

“We’re going to continue to progress in this industry, always trying to bring new innovative ideas that are the forefront of fishing and boating. We’re very focused on our product, supporting anglers, and becoming better fisherman. That’s what we really need to do, we need to continue to evolve the business. Look for a lot of things that are unique, that you don’t see today, in the future, that are going to make anglers better anglers,” Lund President Andrew Klopak told me.

As the saying in business goes, “if you’re not growing and changing, you’re dying.” Lund has launched into uncharted waters, but with their name, reputation, and sixty years of experience, they will provide the highest quality fiberglass boat to help you put more fish in your boat.

To see the new 208 Pro-V GL, 186 Tyee GL, and 186 Fisherman GL, including floor plans, special features and options, specifications, and competitive comparison highlights, visit www.lundboats.com.