Glimpses of ICAST

When you're working the show, the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) can be a whirlwind. A lot happens over just four days. There are lots of people to see, lots of new products to look at, lots of press releases to read, lots of conferences to attend and lots of dinners to eat. Since it's practically impossible to wrap it up in a single column, I thought I'd share some of my most salient moments from ICAST 2009.

Here they are, in no particular order.

Chris Brown and Tommy Akin of Strike King have not only assembled the finest pro staff in the industry (Kevin VanDam, Denny Brauer, Mark Davis, Shaw Grigsby, Mark Menendez, Greg Hackney and too many other great anglers to mention) but they're off the map nice and work flawlessly with the media. It's an honor to call them each "friend."

If you want to know what it's like to be a celebrity, just walk the floor amidst the booths with KVD or Alton Jones. I was working with these two legends, trying to shoot video in their sponsor booths, and we had to traverse the floor to do it. I was in a bit of a hurry (it's a big show), but those guys can't walk more than 10 or 15 feet without being stopped by a friend, sponsor or member of the media who wants a piece of them.

And this is a trade show, not a consumer show! If it were a consumer show, I could understand it better since the fans all want autographs or to have their photos taken with the legends. But these were industry insiders looking for photos and autographs.

Alton told me that the attention he gets at shows like ICAST or the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo has increased tenfold since his Classic win in 2008. He and KVD have to be masters of time management just to get through the day.

At ICAST, everyone is excited about their new offering ... so I have to pretend to be excited, too. Sometimes it's easy ... like when Patrick Sebile shows how he's turned his Magic Swimmer into a soft plastic lure. Sometimes it's not ... like when a manufacturer is essentially retreading an idea that failed 20 or 30 years ago.

I learned that Jeff Martin and Chris Dutton of Vicious (they make a terrific group of fishing lines) are not to be toyed with, and I always want to stay on their good side. At dinner one night I learned that they're wicked practical jokers. They kept me laughing all through the meal. Try their line (it's outstanding), but keep your car keys out of their reach!

I've mentioned what a great guy Bill Dance is in earlier editions of this column, but I have to say it again. If there's a more accommodating, gracious or enjoyable gentleman in the fishing industry, I've yet to meet him. It's absolutely no wonder that he was our sport's first superstar and is still its most popular figure. If you ever get the chance to meet him, don't pass it up.

As usual, the biggest, most diverse booth belonged to Pure Fishing. There's just nothing that company doesn't make. And the folks at Blue Heron Communications do an amazing job of keeping it all straight. Ron, Gary, Josh, Kevin and Tonya define great public relations and do everything in their power to make my job easy. I really appreciate them.

Does anyone outside Hollywood have a better on-camera presence than Hank Parker? Not for my money. For the second or third straight year I've managed to steal a few minutes of his time to shoot videos for Bassmaster.com and BASS Insider. I'm certain it adds up to more than an hour's worth of video, but he has yet to need a second take on anything.

If I had to pick one area where I saw the most development in the world of fishing equipment, it would have to be kayaks. These things have gotten bigger and better and more bass-friendly every year. If you're on a budget or fish a lot of small waters, you should definitely consider a kayak. Check out the Hobie Cat that took Best of Show honors in our Day 2 video on Bassmaster.com. I think you'll be impressed.

Of course ICAST wasn't all sunshine and flowers. There was some annoying stuff.

I love Orlando. I was born here, choose to live here (even after having lived lots of other places) and plan to die right here, but the Orange County Convention Center has the worst parking arrangement in all of North America. Each day I had to walk more than a half mile from my truck to the show floor. It might actually be easier to park at Orlando International Airport, fly to Las Vegas and drive a rental car to the ICAST show than it is to get to the show when it's held in Orlando. I hope someone will do something about this or I doubt that the show will come back.

And while I'm griping about the Orlando show, for some reason the temperature inside the New Products Showcase area on Tuesday evening was about 100 degrees. Then, on the other days of the show, it was still too hot for this fat boy to handle.

On the plus side, ICAST was a nice chance for us Orlando residents to show off the parks and fine restaurants to the tackle industry types who don't get here very often. I ate a lot of good food (thank you Ocean Prime, Maggiano's Little Italy and Moon Fish) and heard a lot of compliments about "The City Beautiful."

I'll be back soon with more observations on the world's greatest sport. In the meantime, feel free to e-mail me with your comments, suggestions and the like. I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Kenneth.Duke@espn.com.

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