By: Will Korte
The International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, better known as ICAST just wrapped up July 14th in Orlando.
ICAST is an industry only event that brings fishing professionals together from all over the world. At ICAST you can meet people from all over the United States to places as far away as Europe, Japan and Australia.
From Shimano to Nautilus, Bonefish and Tarpon Trust to Captains for Clean Water and pretty much any television personality you can imagine, ICAST has it all. You can tryout the new fly rods a year before they’re released, they have a lure tank and of course the new product showcase isn’t one to be missed! The showroom floor is 650,000 square feet, it’s the place to be for industry business.
Our booth this year was a Florida “cracker shack” that gave a total 70’s and early 80’s look and feel representative of founders Jenn (who is also head of marketing) and Vince’s (also the brand visionary) roots. The booth had a bar serving dark and stormies made with Papa’s Pilar rum (thanks to Jeff Harrell at Bar Fly), a shag rug and contemporary furniture, record player, a foosball table and a back drop of a dock leading out to the water. The outside of the booth and the paneling were the actual colors of Jenn’s childhood home, it also symbolizes our brand colors (blue skies or grey, night (black) or day (white).
This ICAST we debuted our new product lines which included pants, shorts, a hooded performance shirt, a vented microfiber shirt, a rain jacket, a button down, pima cotton tees, new stalker mask and hats. All of these products will be available in October for the holiday season. It was a home run.
“The reception was amazing, I had really high expectations going in but also some fears because what we are bringing to market is different from the graphic tees and hats that we’re known for,” said Vince. “I feel like it’s a big accomplishment for us that every new product we brought to ICAST was so well received, the new collection has been something that we’ve been dreaming about for almost 10 years now.”
We had Captains CA Richardson, Blair Wiggins and Mike Anderson come by the booth as well as the folks from Casting for Cats, Herman Lucerne, 13 Fishing , Saltwater Fishing Connection, Motiv Fishing and so many other great people.
A fun (and very successful) time was had by all, and we want to thank everyone who helped us at the booth for the duration of the show; Dan Decible of Headwake Media and SWC Collective, Capt. Chase Hancock our art director, pilot and partner and collective member, Ron Bachmann (SWC Collective and Mossy Oak Pro Staff) , Capt. Court Douthit who is a collective member and his wife Meredith, our reps Chance Knight and Bruce Rabon, brand director Orlando Garcia and his wife Sonia Bentancourt – Garcia our designer and Brian O’ Connor our master builder who helped construct the booth!
It was great seeing so many people at the booth and we can’t wait for next year!