Fred Hall Long Beach Highlights

I just got back from Long Beach... had a great time in toyland and enjoyed palling around with PAL for part of the day.  Had the pleasure of meeting some new but familiar faces from the so.cal scene including John Pawlak and Jeff Krieger among other numerous industry folks that PAL introduced me to.  That guy is really plugged in down there and good company to boot.

Anyhoo... here were a few highlights for me and new products that you all might find interesting.

1.  Anglers Caucus: 
I sat through the whole thing and it was a good turnout... good discussion... good question and answer.  Mostly stuff that we all are already aware of.  Bottom line... get involved... speak up...  and do so in a constructive, factual, and science based way. 

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Bob Franko after the Caucus as well.  I mentioned I was an NCKA'er and he expressed a great deal of respect and appreciation for us as a group... he just thinks were a little bit crazy, but he has been very impressed with the presence we've been able to build. 

I was proud to see NCKA as a member of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans along with Coastside, UASC and other groups.  If you don't know about this organization, look it up and get familiar with it.  It's purpose, in my own words, is to provide a formal platform for recreational fishermen to promote Conservation of the fisheries... breaking the non-conservationist stereotypes that the enviros would like to pin on us.  I think this is a good move as the MLPA process moves forward.
www.keepamericafishing.org

2.  Sand Dab imitation swim baits:

I bought 5 of these awesome 7-inch sanddab imitation swimbaits from a company called Kustom Kraft Plastics (see first photo below).  This guy makes some awesome swimbaits including some really big ones in some really nice rockfish/ling colors.  He couldn't sell some of them that I wanted (he wanted to sell them as a set), but he said he can make custom color combinations as well.  These sand dabs were just too good to pass up.  He'll be retailing these through www.jigstop.com and can take custom orders as well.   His contact is:  [email protected]  phone: 805-489-5034.  Owner Stefan Worth. 

3.  Iron Clads Soft Plastics

This outfit from Wisconsin (yep... gotta love those cheeseheads) has developed a new technology to create the toughest soft plastic lures imagineable, while still preserving the soft life like qualities of these lures.  The secret is a woven tube of what looks like some sort of polymer or spectra material the runs the length of the bait.  Nothing in the great big variety that we like for rockfishing... at least not yet, but he said they will be adding new varieties continuously as they move forward.  Looks very promising in terms of having a soft plastic that actually lasts more than a couple fish.  They are yet to establish much of a web presence, but here is their site right now... more info can be found by googling "ironclad lures".  www.lakeresourcesgroup.com

4.  Hurricane Kayaks

I think Hurricane's sit on top kayaks made from a thermoformed "trylon" polymer may just be the next big thing for the SOT market.  They look and feel like fiberglass, but are supposed to be as durable and repairable as polyethylene with substantial weight savings and pricing that is competitive with the rest of the SOT market.  Hopefully they'll come up with some designs that offer more of the amenities that West Coast anglers enjoy, but I definitely thought that this looked lilke a very promising technology.  www.hurricaneaquasports.com

5.  The new Malibu X-Factor 13

This boat looks like it will be a serious competitor to the Marauder and Trident... very nice boat... see comments under the X-13 thread that already has been started.

6.  New Calstar Blanks:
Calstar has just introduced a new line of blanks called the BTG series.  These are composite blannks with actions that are a little softer than the Graphiter but not as moderate as the GFX series.  These come in the conventional 196, 270, 870 etc. designiations and might be the perfect fit for someone looking for a little more give than a graphiter, but not a totally parabolic rod like the GFX's.   It looks like the BTG=870 will be the choice for PAL's new kelp cutter rig that I'll be building.  They'll be available in April.

7.  I learned some new knots:

I took a knot tying seminar at the Shimano booth and can now say that I know how to tie a bimini twist to albright special connection to join spectra to mono.  I gotta say, the bimini twist is really not that hard once you have someone show you how to do it... but there's no way you could read the directions and figure it out on your own... unless you're really really smart or really really lucky or something. 

Thanks for the update KZ. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Z

Thanks Eric! Someday I'll make it back down to the show.

That Hurricane Phoenix 160 looks a lot like a Tarpon 160i....hmmmm maybe lighter and stiffer!
 
 We should have a knot-fest at one of our get together's.

It almost looks like they took an old school T160 and put a tankwell in the back. If WS did that from the get-go they would have had the #1 kayak on the market at that time.
What material is the Phoenix 160 made from? I couldn't find that info.
I went to Jig Stop Tackle and searched Kustom Kraft Plastics and there were no matches found. Is he selling them now or will he be selling them through that outfit??
They sure looked like a winner.

It almost looks like they took an old school T160 and put a tankwell in the back. If WS did that from the get-go they would have had the #1 kayak on the market at that time.
What material is the Phoenix 160 made from? I couldn't find that info.
I went to Jig Stop Tackle and searched Kustom Kraft Plastics and there were no matches found. Is he selling them now or will he be selling them through that outfit??
They sure looked like a winner.

The Hurricane kayaks are made from thermoformed plastic... they call the polymer "Trylon" and I'm told it's a type of ABS plastic.  I'm sure they won't say exactly what the polymer is... only the trade name.  It is two piece sandwich construction.  Another interesting thing... there are several scupper holes up top, but only one exit hole underneath.  All of the scuppers are plumbed to one exit port with flexible hose inside the deck.  Not sure if I like this or not... but it's different.

Yeah, I didn't see the Kustom Kraft plastics up on the Jig Stop site either, he told me that's where you could buy them... not sure if they are adding them to the site soon or not.

EK

I bought some of those plastic sanddabs in Santa Cruz last year. I think it was at the angler store on 41st avenue.

Another interesting thing... there are several scupper holes up top, but only one exit hole underneath.  All of the scuppers are plumbed to one exit port with flexible hose inside the deck.

Wow. Seems that if one of the flex hoses was knocked loose or severed by something sliding inside the hull the boat would take on water in a hurry. I would definitely have to see this in person to to make a judgement call.

Another great show, slow for some but the OEX Kayak booth I was helping at was busy both Sat and Sun, the only two days I could make the show. Good to meet you KZ, but it is Jeff Krieger alias the Rhyno, unless you met someone else .  Stay tuned for some good mothership trips and Catalina kayak and camp adventures, 2008 is shaping up nicely. TL Rhyno

Oops... yep... sorry bout that Jeff.  Good meeting ya.  The OEX booth was definitely hopping. 

EK

Another great show, slow for some but the OEX Kayak booth I was helping at was busy both Sat and Sun, the only two days I could make the show. Good to meet you KZ, but it is Jeff Krieger alias the Rhyno, unless you met someone else .  Stay tuned for some good mothership trips and Catalina kayak and camp adventures, 2008 is shaping up nicely. TL Rhyno

I see it's your first post. Welcome to the board Rhyno.

Z

I just got back to the Bay Area from the show.

I couldn't resist the sand dab lures either.   
Bought one of the small ones just cause it looked cool.  Checked them out at the jigstop booth - they also have a pretty cool flat lead-head jig that they'll be introducing for the sand dab lures.

Erik, you should have entered the knot testing competition.   



I was "working" in the OEX booth for parts of Fri/Sat/Sun... but my short attention span caused me to wander off continuously.   

Busy, busy, busy...

EK, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. The Long Beach show is something to see, isn't it? Most of the major players in sportfishing are there. More business gets done behind the scenes than in the aisles.

Thanks for the gaff! Beautiful work. I can't wait to put it to use.

That new Calstar blank was news. Very good timing!

There was a lot of MLPA talk in and around the caucus. I wonder what Bob Franko thought of ASA's message, given recent developments and Coastside's talk about walking away from the process.

Now it's on to Del Mar, where the slower pace will be welcome.

It almost looks like they took an old school T160 and put a tankwell in the back. If WS did that from the get-go they would have had the #1 kayak on the market at that time.
What material is the Phoenix 160 made from? I couldn't find that info.
I went to Jig Stop Tackle and searched Kustom Kraft Plastics and there were no matches found. Is he selling them now or will he be selling them through that outfit??
They sure looked like a winner.

The Hurricane kayaks are made from thermoformed plastic... they call the polymer "Trylon" and I'm told it's a type of ABS plastic.  I'm sure they won't say exactly what the polymer is... only the trade name.  It is two piece sandwich construction.  Another interesting thing... there are several scupper holes up top, but only one exit hole underneath.  All of the scuppers are plumbed to one exit port with flexible hose inside the deck.  Not sure if I like this or not... but it's different.

Yeah, I didn't see the Kustom Kraft plastics up on the Jig Stop site either, he told me that's where you could buy them... not sure if they are adding them to the site soon or not.

EK

I paddled a Hurricane Phoenix 160 last year and found it slow and hard to turn, and a bit top heavy.  I heard they may have tweaked the design since last year, but haven't been able to confirm that.

There's another thermoformed SOT that is supposed to enter the market this year.  I'll let you know if it happens ...

-Allen

Erik -

Bummer about the Calstar BTG series. I probably would have bought the BTG 196 instead of the Lamiglas CG Inshore rod that I am working on right now. BTW, let us know if those sand dab baits work. They look pretty odd to me.

Scott

Wasn't PapaBill making sand dab plastics in his early pioneering days of lure making?

-Allen