Fred Hall Long Beach Highlights

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

-Allen

Yep. I searched for the image but couldn't find it. I think the thing that makes Bill's prototype superior is the paddle tail. I can't tell for sure but it seems the above swimbaits would be good for dragging but not really jigging since they'd most likely just flip around. Can't tell until that special jig head is put in though. But for sure the tail wouldn't have much action.

Z

The sand dab plastic is beginning to appear on the Jigstop website.

Erik, sorry I missed you on my pass at Fred Hall, it was a full day Saturday.  I hope it was a great show for you.  Unfortunately, I don't get much of a chance to read the forum and didn't know you were exhibiting.  Please let me know in the future, there's always room for good promotions.
Over the years, I've been largely underwhelmed at the offerings to kayak anglers at shows around the country.  This year was different and a few products really stood out.
I'm hot on the Hurricane kayaks too.  First seeing them last Fall at a shop in Dana Point, I began my research by contacting dealers around the U.S. that sell them and anglers who own them.  With several hundred kayak dealers who sell my DVD, I'm in a unique position to obtain quality info.  I should preface this by adding my intentions, to see first if this kayak line is worthy of adding to my list of referrals and then, persuing a possible relationship with the manufacturer.  It all worked out.
Anyway, the testimony of oyster bar fishermen in Florida is usually the benchmark of durability for a fishing kayak and Hurricane owners claim they are tougher than the poly boats that preceeded their Hurricanes.  Comments from owners never mentioned turning or stability issues on the 160 and their impressions on improved performance and fishability (a combination of factors not limited to speed, deck mobility and rigging applications) were highly favorable and spanned all the models....the Pheonix 140 and 160 were the models most referrenced.  Of all the shops I contacted, only one reported a return.   That's huge to me!  The Scupper Classic by OK (long ago discontinued) has always been among my very favorite fishing models....and I'm at the peak weight range for that boat.  The Classic was a touring model designed in a big way for tank diving, without excess width and before "stability and dryness" were factors in selling kayaks to anglers, qualities taht often sacrifice traditional kayak performance.   My experience with fishing kayaks is well rounded and in my working day, I recommend what I believe to be all the best models for fishing with little bias to my advertisors.  With all the feedback from Hurricane dealers and owners and no personal experience (soon), I only have one concern remaining about the Hurricanes and that's particular to our fishery.  How will the clamshell construction hold up in bad surf conditions?   The first indication is that it will hold up since their display at the industry show in Utah had them dropping boats on their nose.  The final evaluation will come through experience OTW.

The other product I was smitten with is the C-TUG kayak wheel set from New Zealand.  This is a brilliantly designed cart that will portage any kayak.  It has a high weight load rating, pnuematic wheels that will cover sand and a lifetime warranty.  The cart breaks down into a small block and can easily be stowed onboard with the wheels.  They retail for about $150 ($125 at the shows) a heck of a lot less $ than the best carts and I like them LOTS!   www.C-Tug.com

We passed a FJ Cruiser driving north on the I-5 with 3 kayaks strapped to the roof, labeled Dennis Spike.   

Erik,
Great to see you at the show, wish I could of spent more time talking with you. Two seminars a day and a very busy booth kept me from seeing much of the show myself. I basically saw the booths down the aisle to the seminar area. So it is great to see what others thought of the show and what they found.
Del Mar is just around the corner and I am looking forward to it. I get to sleep in my own bed every night and the slower paced show allows for more time with each person, you rarely feel rushed to get to the next customer. Plus I have my own booth, so not so much boat selling, I just get to talk about fishing and our trips.