Hamden Man Launches New Fly-Fishing Business Amid Coronavirus

HAMDEN, CT — When Paul McConnell suffered personal and financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic, he turned to one of his passions to help pull him through it.

McConnell, a Hamden resident, recently launched Reel Adventure Outfitters – a new fly-fishing guide company – just months after COVID-19 turned his life upside down. Before the pandemic, McConnell was a football coach for Fairfield Youth and team director for Connecticut at Football University. He had coached several Division I athletes from middle school for private one-on-one coaching.

In early January, McConnell started to pivot his career focus and began interviewing for sales and marketing positions in Connecticut. After two months, he said he landed a great job with a company in the food sales arena after his fourth round of interviews. He had a start date of mid-to-end of March.

“I remember getting the call on March 20 that my position was eliminated,” McConnell said. “There was a hiring freeze and instead of hiring new employees, they were in the process of downsizing. I was devastated, which was only worsened by the fact that my football and personal coaching job was also nonexistent during the time of social distancing. I was left with no choices.

“Just as I thought it would not get worse, it did as I lost a lifelong friend to the pandemic and a huge toll was taken on my personal relationship with my fiancée. With little to no money, and a record-high unemployment and missing the two people I turned to when things got bad…. I was in a bad position.”

When McConnell was taking stock of his talents and skill sets, he thought about what he could do in a coronavirus environment. Then, when he was on a solo fishing trip to the Farmington River in early May… it hit him.

McConnell circled back to his days of fishing as a child, along with his days of working as a fishing guide, and the idea for Reel Adventure Outfitters was born.

“I was a fishing guide for 15 years and fishing was my passion in life,” McConnell said. “I fished and seasonal guided all over the West, Colorado, Montana and more. I was a Cheeky Reel Sponsored guide and held several endorsements from national brands. I never looked at it as a business and just worried about spreading the principles of nature conservation and catch and release. I always guided for the love of the sport and tried to instill that same passion in my guests.”

On that solo trip on the Farmington River, McConnell said he realized that providing guests with an escape that met all social distance requirements might work. It would also provide him with a business that “would be sustainable and ahead of the curve given the current environment and people’s need to get outside and do something.”

McConnell opened Reel Adventure Outfitters on May 12.

“As a child, I would always turn to fishing and the water as a way to escape and get away from everything,” McConnell said. “It was ironic that it would be the thing to save me again.”

Getting the business started

McConnell said he had never started a business before and didn’t have the financial means to do it.

“Luckily for me, I made some great contacts over the years and I felt I needed to make it work,” he said. “With grit and determination, I used the 10 days between the idea and the reality to enlist some people I knew that could help. Luckily for me, they had free time seeing they were at home, a belief in my ideas and the expertise to get it done.”

Within one week, McConnell had the logos, websites, social media, insurance, equipment, business cards, flyers and “some of the best corporate sponsors in the country.”

“I oversaw everything and built a first-in-class business that changed the game in guided fishing,” he said. “I learned more about business and how to do things right in those days than I would have in a lifetime. I am humbled by the support both financial and business support I have received to make my dream a reality.”

Reel Adventure Outfitters offers float and wade guided fishing tours down the Housatonic River and Farmington River. McConnell said they customize trips for clients either in fresh or saltwater, on land or in the water, and provide all equipment and food to make sure they have an enjoyable time.

Soon after launching the website, McConnell said they began receiving clients from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. They are also booking corporate outings, according to McConnell.

“We have enough equipment to handle 15 people at a time on the water and every attention to detail is analyzed to produce the best experience for my clients,” he said. “My goal is to provide the best experience at a reasonable price to attract newcomers and avid anglers, all the while instilling the values and passion in the sport that have helped me through so much. I want Reel Adventure outfitters to be first in class, it is my livelihood and my passion.”

Along with talking to many newcomers to the sport, McConnell said he’s seen the popularity of fly-fishing grow during the pandemic. He’s also had to quickly adapt to the demand by investing in more gear, rafts and boats.

“I consider myself blessed to have overcome so much loss and to have come out the other side with drive and hope for the future,” McConnell said. “I can’t take all the credit as I have some amazing friends who have helped me weather the storm.”

For more information about Reel Adventure Outfitters, visit its website here.