The Birth of The Vibetribe and Nomad’s First Vibemaster
Nomad Design Tackle started in Australia. Maybe you knew that, maybe you didn't. Before Nomad became a premier tackle company, Nomad’s Brain Trust, Damon Olsen, started running charters in the Coral Sea on the good ship Nomad in the early 2000’s. One of the people that helped Damon start his adventure in guiding was a certain Mr. Boshammer.
Fast forward to 2021 and Mr. Boshammer’s son Jarad, also known as “Dingo”, had fished the world over on the competitive Big Game Tournament Trail. He mated on the best boats under the highest of stakes before he met his wife and settled in her native state of Florida. Dingo never missed a beat and immediately began exploring, guiding, and unlocking the water around his new home in Jupiter Florida. He quickly became a familiar feature in the area and established a reputation as a distinguished top guide in a region chock full of guides.
One day he called Damon about Nomad’s Vertrex Vibe which was introduced to the USA earlier in the year to luke-warm reception. While the Vertrex type lure was a staple in other parts of the world, catching the biggest baddest pelagic and trophy fish around, it was unknown in the States. Damon and the Nomad Team knew the lure would work in the USA and introduced the lure earlier in 2021. A few shops bought in, but the look and technique was unknown and sales came slow but that all changed when Dingo saw the Vertrex in a local tackle shop. Overjoyed, he bought the stock out....and then came the pictures.
By August Damon had seen enough and dispatched his promotions department down to Florida to see just how Dingo was fishing the Vertrex to get these amazing pictures of Snook and Redfish. We arrived to perfect weather and moon conditions. Dingo took us out on his gorgeous Chittum Carbon Skiff (no shoes please) and started talking about the Vertrex Vibe. It was Vibe this, Vibe that, Vibe here, Vibe the rod and on and on about Vibes. Anglers finally asked Dingo "Why do you keep saying Vibe?" Dingo looked confused. “Vibe. The Bait. The style of fishing. You know, Vibing.” Our staffer’s blank stare made everyone realize that Vibing was completely off the radar for most USA saltwater anglers. They had never heard of it.
What followed was nothing less than a miraculous day of fishing. Dingo spent a few minutes explaining the technique and showing even the slow guy how to fish a vibe properly. Then Dingo took us to the twisting, turning backwaters of Jupiter Florida. After some trial and error, everyone was up to speed and fish started coming into the boat. Then bigger and meaner fish started falling to the Vibe and then Trophy fish started to eat that Vibe. And we mean Trophies. In just a few short hours we had a dozen 42” plus Snook caught and released. All on film. We even let the camera guy, a past resident of Jupiter, catch his PB and then break that 10 minutes later with a fat 45” Snook. By 1pm we were done. The amazing video you see here is the product of those few hours, and it started a revolution.
We knew Vibing was going to be a thing. What followed was Dingo’s promise that Snook were just the beginning. And he was right. We christened ourselves to the all-inclusive Nomad Vibe Tribe and of course Dingo would be the OG Vibemaster. In true Nomad fashion we hit the road with Dingo very soon after and the species and sales of the Vertrex Vibe started racking up impressive numbers. Stay tuned for further exploits of the Vibe Tribe. The next trip was for big Redfish!
