Behind The Scenes At Icast 2012

Tom Ashby has sent an email to his suscribers about what goes on behind the scenes at ICAST. I did not include his email address or name of his company as I do not believe he is a Forum advertiser. If you want it please send me a PM and I will send it to you so you can read the entire newsletter. Here is the part about Tom's experience about this year's ICAST. Enjoy!

Hi Folks,

Sometime you get so close to something you assume everyone else shares your knowledge about the subject. And you unintentionally leave a lot of "blank spots" for those who are not as familiar with that subject. I think that's probably the case with the ICAST show.

Last issue we filled you in on all of the new products from most of the lines we represent, but "just assumed" everyone knew how ICAST worked, what happens those 2 1/2 days of the show, how it's formatted, etc. And I'm guessing you probably don't. So in this issue we thought we would give you a true "insider's perspective" on ICAST and just what goes on at this annual fishing tackle trade show.

ICAST is organized by ASA which stands for American Sportfishing Association. This is a trade organization headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia USA that is comprised of mostly fishing tackle manufacturer members. Basically every well known name that makes fishing tackle here in North America is typically a member. There are also some independent sales representative agencies - people who are the salesman to distributors and dealers on behalf of the manufacturers - who are members. Even though much fishing gear is sold from the manufacturer to distributors who then sell it to dealers, almost none of these distributors belong to ASA. That's really a shame and I'll get to why later on. Dealers seldom belong to ASA, although we here along with Cabela's and some other larger dealers do belong. But overall ASA is comprised mostly of manufacture members. So that's the member profile if you will.

ICAST is an annual trade show almost always held sometime in July, usually about the middle of the month. In the last few years it has been alternating between Las Vegas and Orlando as show locations. Last year was Las Vegas, this year it was Orlando. Next year is Las Vegas again and then the next two years (2014, 2015) will be Orlando. Typically Orlando has more attendees which makes perfect sense as Florida has a lot bigger fishing industry than Nevada (no kidding).

Only fishing tackle dealers, distributors, manufacturers, their representatives, and the trade press are issued credentials for the trade show. How well this is controlled is unknown, but our experience has been that most attendees fit the appropriate profile. This year's show started off with an "Industry Breakfast" that all attendees were welcome to attend as long as they ponied up the $40 bucks per person for a ticket. This opens at 7:30 AM opening day (this year it was Wednesday July 11, 2012). At this opening breakfast we had (ta da) your typical "banquet" food which amazingly was pretty good this year. After breakfast we were given a "state of the industry" report by ASA President Mike Nussman and then had a talk by none other than Coach Bob Knight (a very avid fisherman) who, safe to say, was simply hilarious with lots of stories to relate and regale.

Every ICAST show has a New Product Showcase where manufacturers are welcome to submit new products that attendees will vote on for "Best of Show" as well as appropriate product classification. This is how those products you hear touted "Best of ICAST" are determined. Each attending company (not each attendee) gets one ballot and can vote for one product in each classification. There are 21 product classifications as well as an overall "Best of ICAST 2012" winner. The New Product Showcase is only set up for voting after the industry breakfast through noon that opening day, so most attendees will proceed directly from the breakfast to the showcase to vote. This year's overall Best of Show was Hobie Cat's Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 12 kayak/boat.

The ICAST trade show opens at 9:00 AM and goes until 6:00 PM Wednesday and Thursday. Friday it opens at 9:00 AM but closes for good at 3:00 PM which allows exhibitors to break down their exhibits and pack up for home. According to ASA there were almost 9,000 attendees at this year's show which, as I understand it, was a record attendance. According to ASA 3,000 of those attendees were buyers. That means that buyers were outnumbered by 2 to 1 by exhibitor personnel. Our estimate is about 500+ exhibitors. The exhibit hall was about 375,000 square feet and obviously set up for trade shows such as the ICAST show. At the show there was a casting pool where various manufacturers could demonstrate new products, whether they be rods, reels, line, or lures and terminal tackle.

One thing that is a "gimme" is that everyone who is anyone in fishing is usually at the show. This includes industry executives such as our friend Dave Pfeifer, President of Shimano North America, Yuki Ito of Megabass, and almost any well known pro such as Kevin Van Dam, Mike Iaconelli, our Touring Pro Jacob Wheeler, as well as fishing legends such as Jerry McGinnis, Skeet Reese, Roland Martin, etc. You name it and most likely they were there one or more show days.

Walking a trade show from 9 AM until 6 PM will wear you out. There are meetings with manufacturers, dialogs about new products, inspections of gear that are possible additions our offerings, and lots of social interactions every day. From our perspective 2 1/2 days is barely enough time to accomplish all we have on our "to do" list. One thing we noticed about this show is that you can come in with shorts and a t-shirt or a 3 piece suit. Doesn't matter as long as you have something to do with fishing and have the accompanying requisite enthusiasm.

Many manufacturers offer a "show special" although in recent years these offerings have become less attractive and less compelling in terms of price, invoice terms, etc. But there are some we try to take advantage of if the product and situation dictate. Our take is anymore most of these deals are from newer products or manufacturers who are trying to introduce new stuff at the show. We did find some great new apparel as well as a dynamite line of tackle bags that we are really excited about (more on this in a future issue). Each ICAST show has scads of new lures, baits, plastics, etc. as well as new lines, terminal tackle, and many, many "gimmick" products that are lots more "show" than "go". We are always amazed not only by some fishermen's, but by dealers gullibility as well. Obviously we try and avoid this stuff.

A few observations - with obvious bias: This year's show can best be described as an OK show. There was not an overwhelming display of lots of "gee whiz" stuff, but there were some products that did get our attention and surely offer fishermen a potential advantage in the pursuit of elusive fish. Favorite product: The new G. Loomis GLX rods, which include 11 models that have never previously been offered in the GLX material. They're simply awesome. No other words are appropriate. We liked the new Costa clear frame sunglasses. They look fantastic and it's hard to imagine anyone not wanting a pair or two of these beautiful sunglasses. They will make anyone look better! We found some new Koppers Live Target lures that we plan on putting in stock when they become available (probably November) and we are very excited to be able to soon offer our customers what we think is a line of the best soft tackle bags we have ever seen. That will happen most likely in late October. We like some of the new Daiwa Steez casting and spinning reels, but they're not cheap at between $500 to almost $800 apiece. Shimano has some great new apparel as well as some redesigned middle-line spinning reels that we think are the best currently available from any manufacturer. Oh, an there is the new Shimano Orca lures that any saltwater fisherman will surely have to have. They rock!

If we have one criticism it would be that ASA needs to really make a serious outreach effort to all fishing tackle dealers, distributors, and fishermen to get them to join either ASA (dealers and distributors) or Keep America Fishing (anglers - see: http://www.keepamericafishing.org/). Our rights as fishermen are coming under constant threat every day and only by organizing as a cohesive group will all of us who enjoy the wonderful sport of fishing be able to protect that right in future years. We encourage every one of you to seriously consider membership.

We hope this article gives you some insights about our trade show and just what goes on for those 2 1/2 days in July. As we said, it was a good show and offered us a chance to talk directly with decision makers in the fishing industry. We may have worn ourselves out, but it was certainly worth it. Both for all here as well as all of our great friends and customers. After all, you are why we are here - and why we go to this show!

Lots of featured stuff this issue. We've just received some Shimano Orca lures, Strike King 6XD's, Reaction Innovation's Big Units, and lots more. Additionally we have expanded our Buff Headwear line which offers some good lookin' gear and portects you from the sun. All details below. The hot Shimano Calcutta "D" reels are finally here along with lots of new Costa Del Mar sunglasses (which we think are simply THE BEST). Again, details are below. Terez rods, Live Target Hollow Mouse, New ALFC hats...all below.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed us lately thanking us for the ICAST update. As always we appreciate your compliments as well as your feedback and suggestions. You, my dear friends, are why we are here and we thank each and every one of you for your great friendship, partonage, and trust. Stay cool and enjoy what promises to be one fantastic mid-summer fishing season.

Tight Lines.