mechanic the next Monday . Working as a mechanic kept him content for a few years , but the tournament fishing bug continued to gnaw at him . In 1984 , he left his auto mechanic job , bought a bass boat and hit the Bassmaster Invitationals circuit to try his hand at professional fishing . While fishing tournaments , Clouse befriended fishing legends such as Charlie Campbell , Stacey King and the great Guido Hibdon . In doing so , Clouse became a sponge , not just in absorbing new fishing techniques but in learning the role of the bass boat as a fishing tool .
In order to support his pro fishing venture , he began rigging boats at a boat dealership in Branson , Missouri , during the summers .
“ Back then , boats were mostly rigged at the dealer level ,” Clouse recalls . “ The hulls and motors were shipped to the dealer and the dealer put it all together – controls , gauges , trolling motor , electronics , everything – to make it run and fish right . I really
Phoenix founder Gary Clouse immersed himself in bass fishing in 1984 .
enjoyed that process of assembling boats and tweaking them for the best performance and fishability .”
Over the next four years , Clouse fostered two things he loved : his affinity for rigging boats and his love for fishing bass tournaments .
In 1988 , Clouse put his pro fishing career on hold to take a job rigging boats at Stratos Boats in Nashville . At that point , OMC owned Stratos and had begun rigging boats in the factory to consolidate the manufacturing process . Over the years , Clouse worked his way from the rigging department into customer service and then to sales . He eventually worked his way to president of Stratos in 2001 . By that time , Clouse had experienced the process of bass boat manufacturing , sales and delivery from every possible angle .
PHOTO BY DON WIRTH
SYNERGY AND BELIEF
Clouse has a passion for the concept of taking raw materials like fiberglass , resin , wire , carpet and flake and combining them in such a way as to get the most speed , efficiency , balance and fishability from a boat .
He also has a gift for identifying good people , recognizing their talents and combining them in such a way to create synergy in a company . Though Clouse will claim no credit for such an ability , he ’ s candid when it comes to giving credit where credit is due in creating Phoenix Boats .
“ We can ’ t really continue a conversation about the success of Phoenix Boats without including some of the people who laid their futures on the line to make this whole thing work ,” he says . “ These people believed in me , and I believed in them . That ’ s the only reason we ’ re here building boats today – because of them .”
Specifically , he ’ s referring to Teresa Johnson , Hank Baker and Greg Strahm , Clouse ’ s original team who all joined him in leaving corporate comforts in 2006 to start a new boat brand from scratch . Today , Johnson is still the Chief Operating Officer at Phoenix Boats and Strahm is the Engineering Director .
“ They assumed a tremendous risk in leaving the security of their jobs to follow my dream of building a new boat company ,” Clouse recalls . “ That ’ s not an easy thing to do .”
Johnson remembers the day Clouse asked her if she would be willing to leave her job to help him build a new boat company .
“ Zero time elapsed between the time he asked me the question and I answered it ,” Johnson says . “ I said ‘ yes ’ without even thinking about it . At that moment there were no , ‘ what ifs .’ I gave him my word that we would make it work . That ’ s how much I believed in Gary .”
“ Phoenix Boats would not be where it is today without Teresa being there from day one ,” Clouse adds . “ We know each other ’ s strengths and weaknesses and we balance each other out . For instance , she ’ s more of a people person than I am . We ’ re on the same page about most things , and if we ’ re not , we listen to each other because we respect each other ’ s thoughts and ideas .
“ When I get something in my head I want to accomplish , she puts a plan together , executes it and it ’ s completed .
50 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023