ArcticSilver Innovation AS

In this Exhibitor Spotlight we’ll hear from Katharina Fugger, CEO of ArcticSilver Innovation AS in Norway, about the history of ArcticSilver, how they developed a rod that makes casting possible with radically less force, and what she’s most excited about Confluence 2023.

Introduce yourself - What is your role at ArcticSilver?

Katharina Fugger: My name is Katharina Fugger and I am the CEO of ArcticSilver Innovation AS from Norway. I took over as CEO from the founder Robert Selfors in 2018.

How did you find yourself working in the fishing industry? Do you fish yourself?

Katharina: I have been fishing since I was a little girl and started with fly fishing in 2016. I met the founder of ArcticSilver (Robert Selfors) through the first crowd funding campaign for ArcticSilver, which was the start of the company. I invested into the company myself in 2014. In 2017 I met Robert again at a demo and started as the agent for ArcticSilver in Germany (I am a German native). Only one year after, I joined the company as the new CEO.

What is the history behind ArcticSilver?

Katharina: ArcticSilver is the story of how the combination of chronic tenovaginitis (acute or chronic inflammation of the tendon sheath, occurring in the region of the hand, the wrist joint, and forearm) and a passion for design became the start of a creative process – one that turned into a genuine fly-fishing innovation. The combination of tireless MAC-work and long stints of fly-fishing resulted in two years of agonizing chronic tenovaginitis, for the founder of the Free-Flex System, Robert Selfors. It did something to him! Many questions arose, like can a rod be developed that makes casting possible with radically less force?

Listening to fly fishing instructors around the world Robert understood that the essentials of fly casting with minimum effort is a good fly casting technique and a loose grip on the fly rod handle. So, he needed a fly rod, that would assist the caster in timing his fly casting strokes, that would be forgiving when making small mistakes and that would provide a grip, that lies so firmly in the hand, that the fly caster could hold the fly rod with an as loose grip as possible. The result was a fly rod, with a hollow handle, where the fly rod blank is attached to the grip just above the reel seat, letting the blank bend deep down inside the handle. In addition, the handle was shaped oval and over molded with a rubber material, that guaranteed the fly rod handle to lay in the fly casters hand so firmly, that no “squeezing” of the handle was necessary to keep the fly rod on a straight line when casting. Having many expert casters, new beginners and scientists testing the first prototypes Robert was convinced the concept worked. And not only did it make fly casting easier, but fighting that fish with the Free-Flex handle… Whooohoooo…. Robert started a crowd funding campaign to realize his idea. And with the success of the campaign and a highly recognized product design company from Norway as a partner the development of the first fly rods took shape. Arctic Silver Innovation AS applied for international patents for the innovation and called it the Free-Flex System.

In 2014 the first Free-Flex fly rods hit the European fly fishing market and have since been considered the greatest innovation in decades. Helping fly fishers around the world to minimize the use of force and power when fly casting. But we would not stop there! In 2021 we started a process to redesign our fly rod handles once more. We wanted to provide the fly fisher with even more flexibility in his fly fishing: make traveling with fly rods more convenient, provide more affordable products and lower our environmental impact. And after 2 years of development, we succeeded. The Switch-Flex System was born.