Fred Hall Show 2020 – Day 2

March 10, 2020 By Scott 2 Comments

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.

Owner Jose, guide Carlos and Promar-Ahi USA Do-It-All Joaquin

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!

Fred Hall Show 2019 – Part I

March 11, 2019 By Scott Leave a Comment

Being able to talk with the major fishing brands in one setting was too hard to pass up. The crew who provide reviews for this website couldn’t make the trip so I went solo and opted to use Lyft to get around.

I hit up the vendors on the first two days of the show, Wednesday and Thursday, while they were still fresh. Last year, when Erik and I hit the show on the weekend, the guys in the booths were swamped and glassy eyed.

A lot of the guys we met last year weren’t there this year, but I did meet some new folks and learned a lot about the products we use and hope to use. The show focuses on Southern California fishing and Alaskan / Mexican destination fishing lodges, but I was able to see a bunch of products and services that would interest us back home in Hawaii.

I had been tracking the Bixpy electric “jet” motor that mounts to a kayak’s rudder for a while. The jet motor has such a compact footprint on the rudder and the lithium ion battery is so small and light, that someone could paddle around without running the motor and not be negatively impacted.

My concern was how long the jet motor and lithium battery would last in the salt since together they cost $1000. The Bixpy rep said the motor should be able to run maintenance free for a few years, and then would be easily repairable at the factory. The lithium battery, however, would need to be replaced after about 3 years of normal use, and a replacement battery would cost about $500. That’s still cheaper than the $1800 plus Torqueedo kayak motor.

Since one of my favorite sales guys, Rick Carr, was repping Minn Kota electric motors at the show, I stopped by to understand how much it would cost to mount a salt water trolling motor on my new Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.3. Rick recommended the Minn Kota Riptide Transom Mount 45lb thrust with “Digital Maximizer” that efficiently conserves battery power. List price is about $320, and it would be mounted off the right side of the kayak, behind my seat, and I’d control it with an extended tiller. Sounds like I know what I’m talking about huh? I’m not a boat/motor guy so it took a while for me to understand the terminology. This would be the least expensive way to add a motor to my yak but the downside would be the added weight of an SLA battery and the weight/size of the electric motor hanging off the side of the kayak.

Steve and Peter Oropeza working hard and having fun in the Promar booth

Steve Oropeza, of Promar / Ahi USA, helped me get situated with the locations of the 500 plus exhibitors, and told me that Chase Baits and Hookup Baits were two of the hot lure makers this year.

Chase Baits makes very realistic swimming soft plastic squids that look like they would be effective to fish vertically. The squids were about the size of our Hawaiian cuttlefish and could be killer in low light but I opted not to get any since I still have a few lures I haven’t tested from last year!

At first glance the Hookup Baits just looked like beefed up freshwater tube baits with better hardware. But the owner Chad explained how the lures were properly weighted with Owner jig hooks to swim optimally and the durable plastic bodies were infused with fish attracting scent. Their photos of the saltwater bass, yellowtail, and tuna with Hookup Baits hanging out of their mouths spoke to the effectiveness of the easy-to-fish lure. The lures could be cast and retrieved like you’d retrieve a weighted soft plastic, or fished off the bottom in a hopping manner. The silhouettes really replicated the bait fish they were imitating. I picked up some 3/8 oz jig head versions to whip with, and some 1 oz jig head versions to fish vertically.

A friend wanted me to pick up a Nomad Design DTX Minnow in the 6.5 inch, 3.75 oz size to troll fast and deep for pelagics. They are the hot offshore brand of lures from Australia that are encased in hard plastic, wired throughout the body, and rigged with heavy duty inline single BKK hooks. I can’t troll a lure faster than 3 mph so I decided to try the Nomad Design Maverick, in the 5.5 inch, 1.5 oz size. The Maverick is a very versatile lure that floats, and can be popped, walked or retrieved so it swims underwater in a gurgling S-shaped pattern. I’m thinking I can put the Maverick out as I paddle around, and retrieve it on the surface when I get to a fishy spot.

Stay tuned for Part II covering a Mexican destination bucket list trip, UV protection leggings for kayak fishing, dogs jumping into frigid water on command and more!

Fred Hall Show – More of Saturday’s action

March 13, 2018 By Scott Leave a Comment

Saturday was the busiest day of the show. Unfortunately it rained both Saturday and Sunday so testing the Hobie pedal kayaks in my non-fishing clothes was out. I apologize in advance for so many photos with me in it; Erik thought it would be good to prove that we were really talking to folks instead of just looking for killer deals.

We focused on booths relating to fishing in Hawaii and started by visiting my friend Jackie in the Alaska Reel Adventures booth. Represented were the very popular Shelter Lodge and Anchor Point resorts made famous on the original Let’s Go Fishing and Hawaii Goes Fishing tv shows. The two lodges are so popular that spots fill up a year in advance. The majority of their clientele are Hawaii based, or have ties to Hawaii since the big draw is the Hawaiian hospitality, local gourmet meals and ohana-style partying.

We stopped by the Promar – Ahi USA booth and visited with owners Ben and Zooey, whom I took torching in January, and our buddy Steve, who was busily pricing damashi at show prices in this photo. These guys made sure we were fed, knew our way around the massive show, and introduced us to other industry folk. Gotta love a small business that treats their customers like family. I planned to purchase a gaff for Frank and wooden bat for me to subdue our deep water catches, and asked Steve to hold those for me.

The Shimano Service booth was nearby, and the technicians were teaching customers how to take apart and maintain their own reels. Erik posed the question often asked by our local Facebook fishing groups “will you service a reel with an aftermarket power knob?” and I asked “what is the recommended grease for drags and gears?”. Stay tuned for a video of their answers.

It looks like Erik is really making them sweat but it was all good in the end.

We stumbled upon the Lumica glow light booth where Jason and Ikeda-san were displaying their deep drop jigs that take a glow stick insert, and their Iki Jime kits. Iki Jime or Ike Jime, is the practice of humanely killing fish with a spike to the spinal cord, thereby preventing lactic acid build up from ruining the fish’s flavor. Erik video’d Ikeda-san, on the right, describing how to use the Iki Jime kit. Most of the show goers just took free stickers from their table because they didn’t understand the concept of Iki Jime, so Jason and Mr. Ikeda appreciated our interest. They gave us a few glow sticks, jigs and a small, medium and large Iki Jime kit on the condition that we try it on the fish in HI and provide a review. Great guys.

Next up was the Pacific Lures booth where they print actual Pacific fish photos on SoCal style surface irons and heavy yo-yo jigs.

Gary, owner of Pacific Lures, wanted us to test the Hawaiian printed designs created by Brad Titus, and gave this set to test. The orange-red yo-yo jig in the center is their kale kale pattern and has been deadly on the deep predators. The others look yummy also.

Then we tracked down J.D., whom I’ve met when he was repping Rapala lures, Sufix 832 braid and VMC hooks in Hawaii. He had generously given me the Sufix 832 that Frank and I have been using to fish deep off the watercraft, and a set of Rapala Coastal lip-less plugs that I plan to fish when the papio move in. I wanted to let him know we started using VMC Tournament circle hooks on our big chunks of baits and was surprised to find him working the 13 Fishing booth. 13 Fishing is a relatively new tackle company that made a big splash in the freshwater bass segment with affordable, innovative rods / reels sporting eye catching designs and ergonomics geared to the open minded younger angler. J.D. explained the key features their largest salt water approved bait caster had over reels in a higher class range, and Erik video’d our conversation. I promised to dialog with J.D. over email when I returned home, to set up a stress test of a couple bait casters.

Lastly, we chatted with the Maui-based Major Craft reps, Brandon and Lee who are famous on social media. Erik follows both on Instagram and immediately connected with them. The boys openly shared their boat and kayak jigging secrets and entertained us with their larger than life personalities. Erik bought some hard to get Jigpara jigs at show pricing and we made an agreement with the boys to keep in touch so we’d be able to provide product feedback on social media and this website.

Whew… if you made it this far, thanks for hanging in there. There were a few other vendors of significance that we spoke with but may have to include them in a later post.

Stay tuned for the dramatic final Sunday summary. I think you’ll be as surprised as I was.