How the Rednecks Made it to Shark Tank

Where It All Started

Chill-N-Reel didn’t start in a boardroom. It started in waist-high water in Destin, Florida, with a cold drink in hand and fish swimming around our founder, Jake. He wanted to keep fishing without putting his beer down… so he did what any self-respecting firefighter would do: invented something ridiculous that actually worked!

The First Prototype

He teamed up with a friend who had a 3D printer, came back to the beach a year later with the first prototype, and people immediately wanted to buy it. That very first version eventually turned into the Original Chill-N-Reel® — the same patented can cooler + hand-line combo we still sell today.

Family-Built and Sold by Hand

So Jake kept at it — even after getting rejected by every plastics company he talked to — until another firefighter buddy introduced him to someone who could manufacture it locally. The Rutledge family assembled everything by hand, and Jake and his son Chase literally sold Chill-N-Reels out of their backpacks on vacation the following year.

From there, they started selling at shows and festivals… and Chase turned out to be a selling machine.

Early Days in Photos

The 2020 Turning Point

Then 2020 hit, everything shut down, and the little website crashed from local press. That’s when the family realized they had something real — and it was time to get serious online, which is when Jake's brother-in-law (Uncle Chris) also got involved.

As Seen on Local News

Before Shark Tank, the Tulsa News On 6 crew ran a story on Jake’s “fishing koozie” idea. Here’s the clip:

The Drunken Shark Tank Application

Sales started to significantly climb with the ecommerce business, and then one night, Chase might have had a few too many and went online to apply to Shark Tank.

There were more than 30,000 applicants that year. Chase loves to point out it’s easier to get into Harvard than get onto Shark Tank. But the producers started watching our social media, saw the fun, the ridiculousness, and the community behind this thing — and reached out.

The Grueling Casting Process

What followed was an arduous months-long process full of hoops, forms, interviews, and a pitch we practiced about a zillion times. The producers loved it. We hit it off. And eventually we headed to Los Angeles to tape.

Taping the Episode

We had an absolute blast on set — drinking beer, laughing with the Sharks, and watching them react to this “ridiculous piece of crap” that somehow had real sales. We left feeling great, but started to worry the episode might never air, since it was the second-to-last episode of Season 13.

The 10-Month Wait

We waited ten months, not knowing a thing. They only gave a three-week heads up if you make it on air.

We got the email. And it aired.

What Happened Next

After that?

MASSIVE orders.

And a whole lot of new fans joining the fun.

Where We Are Today

Today, 400,000 units later, Chill-N-Reel is still proudly Made in the USA and we're still a family-run business that never forgot how this started — with a simple idea, a cold drink, and a good time. We love our customers, we love our community, and we genuinely have fun doing this every single day.

And yes… just like our customers, we still love going out Rippin' Lips and Takin' Sips while we Reel ’em in Cold!