MUSTAD

Norwegian Pioneering Since 1832

During the mid-1800’s recession, Mathias Topp had an idea. After having produced nails and wire for twenty years, the Mustad factory near Gjøvik would start manufacturing fishing hooks, and they were going to do it better than anyone else.

Topp began drawing a machine where steel wire went in on one side and high quality hooks came out the other. In 1877, “The Hook Maker” was ready. To avoid having their innovation imitated by competitors, Mustad came up with advanced ways to encrypt the blueprints and keep the location of the machine secret to the public.

Employees were therefore hired to travel across the globe and find out which hooks were used in different areas. More than 60.000 hooks were collected and sent back to Gjøvik, and “The Hook Maker” returned stronger and cheaper versions to all regions of the world.

The quality and pioneer spirit of the company soon made Mustad the biggest fishing hooks producer in the world, representing 50% of global production in the 1950’s. This might explain why to this day, the word “mustad” simply translates into “fishing hook” in many corners of the world.

Mustad remains the number one producer of fishing hooks worldwide.

Over the years we have expanded our product range to satisfy every need of the modern fisherman and -woman. Times change, but our own history teaches us that new innovation and some good old Norwegian stubbornness is the best recipe for quality.

Our Role in the Future of Our Oceans

The fishing gear industry is directly linked to the welfare of our planet’s oceans, lakes, and rivers. As fishermen and general admirers of the natural world, we want to be a part of solving these issues rather than contributing to them.

We have decided to make strides towards becoming a more sustainable fishing products company.

To reach these goals, we've been working on some sustainability projects as well as work to reduce our impact on the environment in general as a fishing gear supplier and as fishermen.

To start, we have launched a series of tools and knives packaged safely with only recycled paper, not plastic.

Our new weights are also aligned with these goals, produced in Tungsten rather than lead.