Our Story

Carbon Marine was founded by Joe Welbourn after he tried to buy a good tiller extension for his small inshore fishing boat. Joe quickly discovered there were not many tiller extensions to choose from. Joe posted a few surveys on fishing forums to research what other fishermen felt was a fair price for a quality tiller extension. With the survey data, Joe began experimenting with carbon fiber. Soon, Joe discovered he could build a great tiller extension then sell it at a fair price. Joe began Carbon Marine as a hobby experimenting with carbon fiber then later turned in Carbon Marine in May of 2007.

Joe has expanded the Carbon Marine accessory line to include: casting platforms (CastingPillar), push-poles (Mangrove/Magnum/G2LR/G3LR), and the tiller extensions (TillerPillar). 

Interestingly, Carbon Marine has entered the fly line management space.  Joe recognized that no company has ever treated fly line management as a product category.  Now, Carbon Marine specializes in providing fly line management tools for each unique fly fishing scenario. Carbon Marine offers an array of fly line management products for every fly line control challenge.  Carbon Marine has become synonymous with fly line management worldwide with their products:  LineLair mats, LineTack Light spikes, and LineHut buckets.   

In January of 2009 Joe was recognized by the American Composite Manufacturers Association as the “innovator” in the boating accessory industry by bringing carbon fiber technology to inshore fishing boat accessories. Today, the TillerPillar is viewed as the best tiller extension available in the World. Most skiff builders buy the TillerPillar for their new tiller-based skiffs. The CastingPillar became popular because a fisherman can shave 15-20 pound of weight from their boat by substituting a CastingPillar for the aluminum style casting platform.

Joe's philosophy for bring carbon fiber to inshore fishing skiffs is the same as engineers for aerospace and race cars; carbon fiber is light and strong. Carbon fiber is the future material for the shallow-water of sight-fishing.