Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
What started as a passion turned into a lifelong career and successful business for Stephen Navarre, the mastermind behind an extremely specialized business and the owner and operator of Wetumpka Marine Electronics.
Coming from a career in truck productions, most work came to a halt for Navarre when the heart of the covid lock-down era hit. Navarre started doing boat rigging on the side to make ends meet while the world was shut down. One thing led to another, and his part time business soon turned to full time and started to boom four years ago.
“I come from a kind of a corporate world and I’m very picky in how I do things. When we first opened this up, we decided that we were going to do one thing and try to do it really well, and that was rigging. No other shop just did rigging and nobody really wanted to cater to those guys,” Navarre said.
Boat rigging involves configuring a boat in a way that is going to best suit the owner and can involve everything from wiring, configuration and programming of electronics.
However, Navarre focuses on rigging or installation of marine electronics and training for those respective products, something that sets Wetumpka Marine Electronics apart from other marine shops.
“We don’t just throw them the keys and say hey here’s your boat, it’s completed, have a great day. We actually get them in the boat, we go through and give them a tutorial on how to operate it (the newly rigged electronics) and we do on the water training as well. We’re only five minutes from the boat ramp right here,” Navarre said.
But before Navarre was associated in the professional realm of anglers here locally, growing up in Eclectic, his first fishing buddy was his most memorable. The woman who taught Navarre how to fish and brought him to make a career from something she loved.
“I grew up fishing with my grandmother, she was the first one that showed me how to fish. From the time I was able to walk all the way ‘till I was a young adult, when she passed away, she had always been and was my first fishing buddy. I didn’t know many women that liked to fish, much less women that would get up before daylight and take their grandkids to go fishing,” Navarre said.
At 15 Navarre’s dad would drop him off at the lake before he went to work, and would pick him up on his way home, that is when he wasn’t fishing with his grandmother before the birds woke up. Navarre stated that his whole family fished, and in high school when everyone was out partying, he was on the lake.
“When I first started out, I had a boat that was probably worth $250 that my granddaddy gave me, you couldn’t have given me a million dollar boat and made me any happier than when I had that boat,” Navarre said.
Among all the bells and whistles Wetumpka Marine Electronics can install, they also sell new and used boats and service boats as well.
But above all else, Navarre and Wetumpka Marine Electronics are partnered with some of the best anglers in the country, and some world renowned anglers that live right in Elmore County.
“We’ve got probably five or six pros that live right here in this area. So that has helped business tremendously, and I have built really good friendships with all these guys. It’s super cool. You know, once our name got out there, it pretty much just took off with those guys,” Navarre said.
Among the pro’s that Navarre is not only friends with but in partnership as well are Dustin Connell with the MLF Bass Pro Tour, Ryan Salzman with the MLF Bass Pro Tour and Alabama Bass Guide, Scott Canterbury with Bassmaster Elite, Brandon Perkins with the National Professional Fishing League, Eric Cagle a number one in the world, for anglers and a Crappie Pro Angler as well as John Pollard with Bama Spots Guide Service.
“I’m humbled. I’m so amazed at how we’ve grown over the years but I couldn’t have done it without word of mouth. When you do somebody right, they’re going to tell people and then it piggybacks off that. I’m not saying that everybody has left here with a smile on their face, but the ones that don’t, I’ve lost sleep over,” Navarre said.
But among the pro anglers that keep Navarre’s company and helped spread the word about the uniqueness of what Wetumpka Marine Electronics does, Navarre contributes most of his success to his wife, his family and his team.
“My business is my life. My family is my life, but this business is also my family. We’re all a big team. My wife, even though she’s not here (at the business) physically, she’s mentally a part of this as well. I couldn’t do it without her,” Navarre said.
Among his family, he attributes his team as his family as well and stated they had just as much a hand in his success as his true family has.
“We’ve got a good team, they love their job, they enjoy being here, they come in on time and they’re very OCD and as picky as I am about stuff. There’s a lot of camaraderie that we have here at WME. I’m proud of our team because as a business owner it’s been tough to manage this on my own. When I first started, I was the guy, I did everything. I’m proud of our team and our reputation. Our reputation I think has done pretty well, but our team is how we got that reputation,” Navarre said.
Navarre did state some of his favorite fishing spots in the area, and specific spots he’s learned about from old-timers in the area where he grew up fishing and so forth. But with an unnamed angler’s rule, maybe pay Wetumpka Marine Electronics a visit to ask Navarre and other professionals personally where the best and least known fishing spots are.
“Go fishing. The biggest thing is to go fishing. If you don’t have a boat, go fishing off the bank. Go to a pond. Get out there if fishing is your passion, then there will be opportunities for you to get out on the water,” Navarre said.
