Whatever Happened To Shell Bobbers After Shark Tank?
In "Shark Tank" Season 4, Episode 22, business owners Jeff Stafford and Dusty Holloway pitch the Sharks on a product called the Shell Bobber. As its name indicates, the Shell Bobber is a fishing bobber in the shape of a shotgun shell designed to appeal to customers interested in both hunting and fishing. By the episode's end, Stafford and Holloway agree to a deal with Mark Cuban for $80,000 in exchange for 33% equity in their company.
While the Sharks oftentimes change the terms of deals off-camera, Staffard and Holloway ultimately closed the very deal Cuban proposed on-air. During their "Shark Tank" appearance, the duo mention that their production scale is limited, resulting in just about $1,000 in profit prior to presenting in front of the Sharks. Fortunately for Cuban and his sizable investment in the brand's future, a brief update in Season 5, Episode 6 about the Shell Bobber reveals that, just months later, sales were projected to exceed $1 million thanks to distribution at major retailers like 7-Eleven and Walmart.
However, while Shell Bobbers seem to have become plenty widespread at these and other outlets following the company's 2013 "Shark Tank" debut, they're no longer available today following a vague and unceremonious end.
Shell Bobbers thrived for a few years before disappearing completely
In an October interview with Shark Tank Blog published around the same time the company's Season 5 update aired, co-founder Jeff Stafford shared that the Shell Bobber benefitted from the so-called "Shark Tank" bump, amassing 50,000 visitors to its official website in a single night and $100,000 in sales in just about six months. At that time Stafford also mentioned that a deal with Walmart was in the works. That deal ultimately materialized, leading to Walmart stocking the Shell Bobber. Since then, though, the company has ceased producing its flagship product, leaving it out of stock at Walmart and virtually all other retailers.
Currently, an official website for Stafford's company Fishing Ammo remains online and even appears to sell Shell Bobbers through a webstore. Whether this is backstock or simply an error, however, is unclear — this same website also links to social media accounts that haven't posted updates about the company since 2017.
So, while "Shark Tank" did effectively help Shell Bobbers balloon into a success, their trajectory was unsustainable, and the product is no longer on store shelves for reasons that were never clarified to the general public.