For the past half century, necessity has been the mother of invention at T-H Marine, which from humble beginnings grew to be a major player in the boating and fishing industry.
Avid angler Bill Huntley, who had a bait business, tinkered with solutions for on-the-water issues he encountered. His first fix came in 1975, a switch on the boat throttle to adjust motor trim.
Naming his startup with initials from that Trim Handle, Huntley began T-H Marine. Continuing to develop products and improvements, Huntley built his company into a household name that’s thrived through three generations.
“When you realize how long that is, it’s kind of surreal,” said Jeffrey Huntley, who a few years ago took over as president just as his father, Jeff, did in the 1990s. “It’s been an awesome ride to make it to 50 years with the company my granddad started in 1975.
“Being able to service the bass fishing world has always been the heart of the organization. All the parts granddad invented, and those we came up with over the years, have been bass-fishing centric. It’s always been about helping create a better product to make time on the water better for the fisherman.”
Just in jack plate offerings, T-H boasts from A to Z (ATLAS to Z-LOCK), and with acquisitions its lines range from cleats to cull clips and cleaners to kayak carts. Most every boat in the U.S. has at least some T-H parts.
“We’ve got between 5,000 and 6,000 finished goods,” Huntley said. “We sell to every single one of the 500 boat builders in the U.S. Anything we can value add to builders, that’s been our lifeblood.”
Located in Huntsville, Ala., T-H has two facilities — a 68,000-square-foot combo office/warehouse and a new 108,000-square-foot distribution center. Many of the 200 or so employees have been with the company for decades, enjoying a work schedule that started with Bill.
“Granddad put his entire life, not just into the company, but into fishing, so it was one giant happy life,” Jeffrey said. “That’s why we work four days a week — so he could fish his tournaments. And we still have that same schedule, working four 10-hour days.”
Bumble origins
In the late 1960s, Bill started Bumble Bee Bait Company. In their kitchen, he and wife, Pat, assembled spinnerbaits, the first to use a ball-bearing swivel. Two years after the Trim Handle switch, Bill introduced the Hot Foot, the first commercial gas pedal for a boat.
“Both of those are basically what we consider flagship items,” Jeffrey said. “Now the Hot Foot is standard on every boat — that’s one we wish we had patented.”
Bill continued his innovations with products from stem to stern, and a major focus of his was improving livewell function, especially aeration. The company became so respected, in 2015 Bill was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, where he had served as a board member. He passed away in 2022, just two months shy of his 90th birthday.
“He was a very avid angler until the day he died,” Jeffrey said. “It was his passion.”
After Bill retired, he would come by the office to keep a pulse on things and end up talking about fishing with visitors. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gerald Swindle was among those, and those two sure could talk.
G-Force propels G-Man
Swindle, the two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year, is among the 75 or so T-H Marine pro staff anglers. He first connected on the water with Bill, who aided Swindle early in his career and later helped develop his ideas.
“People might know T-H from all the boat manufacturers, because all these parts, it’s all T-H, T-H. When I see T-H, I think Bill Huntley, then Jeff Huntley,” Swindle said. “They see the brand; I see the man.
“Bill talked a lot like my dad, treated me like he was my dad … straightened me out when I did wrong. When I did right, tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘Good job.’
Along with that personal touch, Swindle said it takes an angler to know what tweaks to make, and Bill was that guy. Swindle first came to know him from night fishing at Wheeler and Pickwick lakes, where they hit it off.
“You think about how a fisherman thinks, and that’s how you come up with the Hot Foot and all these neat things in a boat, because he was a guy who was out there all the time,” Swindle said. “The dude was a hammer in his time. He could catch ‘em, catch ‘em. He built stuff out of necessity to make his day better, make a better experience.”
Soon, Swindle received some of his first sponsorship checks from Bill, and that relationship helped mold part of his career. Often making the short drive from Guntersville to Huntsville, Swindle learned what companies looked for in an angler partnership. A snapped trolling motor rope sent Swindle into inventor mode, and he came to Bill with the idea of using cable.
“Swindle is always tinkering and coming up with new cool ideas, that was one of the biggest hits we ever had,” Jeffrey said. “Most manufacturers of trolling motors switched over to what we innovated. That’s the kind of innovation that grew this company. Ideas like that, how do we make it easier?”
Now there is a line of G-Force products inspired or endorsed by Swindle, and he’s appreciative Bill gave him a chance.
“That was kind of a cool experience,” Swindle said. “Then my relationship with Jeff started growing. It’s just a family that’s been in fishing and knows boating, knows aerators, knows bilge pumps.
“I could go sit down in Bill’s office. Of course, Jeff would always get on to us. ‘You can’t just come in here and sit down. You and daddy are going to talk fishing the whole time.’ And we did. When you walked in there, he was going to talk a little fishing. That’s the old business school.”
It wasn’t simply a sponsorship, Swindle said, it was a family relationship and an angling connection, one he’ll never forget.
“To me, it’s like an epic moment in my career, growing up with a guy who has the ability to sponsor me, take me in,” he said. “When you’re young and you need a little ol’ check and a company believes in you, man that’s something else.
“You take that for granted now. Back the day, it wasn’t easy to get somebody to write you a check each month.”
Swindle also holds great respect for Bill’s products, especially the Hot Foot. It not only allowed boaters to keep both hands on the wheel, but if the operator is ever thrown, the boat simply idles.
“Think about how many lives that saved over the years from having bad boat wrecks,” Swindle said. “That’s really good ingenuity. If you fell out, she just kept going. Now, the gas goes back to idle and doesn’t keep running over you. And it saved lives.
“He really changed tournament fishing because everybody out there runs one because it’s so safe.”
50 and growing
T-H began internal celebrations at the Bassmaster Classic with giveaways and branded gear. They also sent pro staffers and partners swag boxes to commemorate 50 years. It made Swindle reminisce some and realize how fortunate he was to connect with Bill and his company.
“When I see that 50th anniversary, I start thinking back about how my relationship with this man grew and come full circle into letting me have a part in building products, helping innovation,” he said. “It’s just a cool company.”
Jeffrey Huntley is guiding T-H full steam ahead with help from his staff, especially Greg Buie. He’s VP of sales and marketing and has been the brain behind product development for the past 35 years.
The company is always working on more products as they try to stay on the cutting edge with more lines and looking into other markets, Jeffrey said.
“We have something special coming up at ICAST,” Jeffrey said. “It’s exciting. I can’t tell you; you’ll have to come and see it yourself.”
