Fred Hall Show 2020 – Day 2

Since I quickly breezed past most of the exhibitor booths the day before, I wanted to spend some time with folks I had met at previous shows.

I started with the crew at Promar – Ahi USA who always take care of me at the Show. Owner Ben Hong and do-everything guys Steve and Joaquin filled me in on their new products including the Live Deception Flash Jigs which uses the proven Live Deception body but now incorporates the highly reflective 3D print used on the Assault Diamond jigs. I forgot to take photos of the crew and the jigs but you can see the jigs here. You might want to use these when fishing low visibility conditions.

When Joaquin heard that I was interested in fishing Cedros Island on a kayak, he took me over to his friends at Cedros Island Outdoor Adventures whom he and his dad fished with in the past. Owner Jose is a Marine Biologist who has been taking folks on land and sea tours for years. He and his wife have an 8-room lodge built in 2012 that overlooks the water. They specialize in panga fishing but can take you and a kayak to any spot on the island that’s holding fish. Kayaks are Ocean Kayak Tridents and Jackson Kayaks that you paddle not pedal. My comfort zone. 🙂

What really sets them apart is their Premium Guide Service that flies you from San Diego on their private American plane directly to Cedros Island. With this service you can fish every day of your stay there (see package pricing photo). Pricing includes transportation, lodging, food/drink, fishing, fish cleaning/processing. They even provide free use of Seeker rods to target the trophy calico bass and yellowtail, so you can leave your oversized rods at home. Mexican destination fishing is very affordable when you consider the quality of fishing you’ll get for your US dollar. I much rather sleep in a lodge on land than in a bunk on a multi-day boat!

I appreciated the time Jose and his guide Carlos spent explaining the offerings to me, and if Joaquin endorses them I’m a believer!

I then made it over to my buddy Rick Carr who was working the Johnson Outdoors (Humminbird, Minn Kota, Cannon). As much of an icon he is in the fishing industry, Rick always has time to try to help everyone who stops by. I forgot to snap a pic of him in his booth but he did recommend I check out the new Bioenno Power Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) which can take 10 times more charges than a standard sealed lead acid (SLA) battery and and last for 10 years.

The Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery only needs to be rated at half the amp hours of your SLA battery to provide equivalent duration of power. I use a small 9 amp hour SLA for my kayak fish finder. It costs about $22 and weighs more than 5lb. I could get by with a LiFePO4 4.5 amp hour battery weighing one pound! That would cost $65 but last for 10 yrs. Something to consider when I need to replace that little SLA brick. These Bioenno Power batteries are sold at Battery Bills.

I then looked up my Rapala/VMC/Sufix rep, Duke Smith, who has been helping me get the products I’ve been selling in the Store.

Duke was working the Savage Arms gun booth at the show. I wasn’t familiar with the brand and soon realized Savage is a very long standing, well respected American rifle maker. Duke wasn’t repping fishing tackle at the show but took the time to introduce me to the other members of his marketing team who also rep Rapala, and walked me over to meet Ben Frazier, who’s been repping Avet Reels for decades.

I was honored that an industry icon like Ben spent so much time explaining the history, components and functionality of the Avet Reels. My takeaway was that one piece reel frames were machined out of aluminum and anodized for corrosion resistance. The gears and other components were made out of stainless steel. The goal was to make very strong, corrosion resistant reels with strong drags in very small form factors. The reels come in 1-speed, 2-speed, and 3-speed, with various max drags, optional cast controls and many colors and finishes.

I explained to Ben that I kayak fish with a small star drag reel (original Trindad 14) and have been getting rocked by big fish because I fish with very light drag to let the fish eat and run, and by the time I tighten the star drag on a big fish it has built up a head of steam and found something to rub against.

He recommended a 2-speed lever drag SX (the “S” signifies Small) reel in the Raptor line. With a lever drag I’d be able to fish in free spool, and when the fish is hooked and running I can slide the lever drag up to set the hook and visually see exactly how much drag is being applied. There’s a stopper that will prevent me from going past the amount of drag I set it to, but if later in the fight I want to increase the drag, I can push in a button to allow the lever drag to go past that stopper.

The Raptor line has all their bells and whistles. It has double the drag output of the base line and adds a magnetic cast control to remove backlashes. In the lever drag strike setting, there’s a max 17lb, and the full setting max is an astounding 26lb. That will definitely stop the big fish from running to the rocks, or will catapult me out of the kayak seat.

The high gear at 6.3:1 is retrieving 36″ per crank and the low gear at 3.8:1 is retrieving 21″ per crank. I like a high retrieve to reel in my line from the depths but the low gear will definitely help winching heavy sharks. Ben who I believe said he’s past 75 yrs old, has landed big bluefin on this tiny reel that only weighs 17 ounces!

Compared to other brands of similar quality and features, Avet is very reasonably priced. I’m gonna get the SX 2-speed Raptor, which lists for $395, to test on the kayak and if it does what it’s supposed to do, I hope to sell them and other Avets. Stay tuned for that product review.

Fred Hall Show wrap-up coming soon!