The "New England Saltwater Show 2013" was a huge success!

     A year ago, I joined a fishing club in RI called the "Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association" (RISAA) after attending a saltwater show at the Providence Convention Center. It was a huge show that encompassed everything saltwater - baits, jigs, flies, saltwater plug kits, fishing rods, reels, charter boats, boats, trucks, jet skis, kayaks, navigation equipment, maps, trophy catches, and more!

     I picked up a magazine that turned out to be the club's newsletter. Inside, I found out that they had their own kayak fishing-based club called, the "Kayak Committee".  I met up with the group at Goddard Memorial Park in East Greenwich,RI . I was approached by the chairman of the committee, David Pollack *, and was asked if I'd want to join. Of course, I said, "yes", since none of my friends would join me on a fishing outing.  * David Pollack is also the chairman for the Fly Fishing Committee and the Surfcasters Committee, too. 

     Here in this pic, this is David, in the blue shirt with red suspenders, working the Fly Fishing Committee booth at the show teaching a young boy how to tie his own fly. Our Kayak Committee booth is on the right.

     After being in the club for a year, I have attended some of the free seminars on the last Monday of every month. I've also gotten more involved with the club's activities. One of which was the "New England Saltwater Show at the Providence Convention Center, Mar.8-10, 2013.

     What made this show extra special this year is that for the first time in the show's 10 year run, this was the first time the "Kayak Committee" was offered a booth within this massive show. Two of our members provided their own kayaks, so the public could come and get a close up look what each kayak could do once it's outfitted with the right components to get the job done.
     One kayak was a yellow Ocean Kayak "Torque" (owned by Dave Guilliano) with the motor in the stern, gear basket, lighted safety flag, GPS/Sonar, trailer/dolly, and multiple Scotty mounts. The other was a orange Wilderness Systems "Tarpon 120" (owned by David Pollack) that was set up for saltwater fly fishing, which also had a GPS/Sonar, several Scotty mounts, anchor trolley, trailer/dolly, and a lighted mast.

     Dave Guilliano, owner of the Ocean Kayak "Torque" was also doing free seminars with another Committee member, Bob Oberg, on "Targeting big Striped Bass off Block Island,RI." at the main stage at the opposite end of the show. So periodically, we had to move the tables, so he could lug his kayak to the main stage area.

     There was myself and two other members of the club manning the booth during our selected weekend shifts. Mo brought her laptop with a Power Point Presentation of all the selected Kayak Committee Outings that we ventured on. David Pollack & Wade Diehl brought their LCD Photo Frames to showcase past outing successes too. Although, I opted to stay 4 - 5, I ended up staying 8 -10 hours - long after my shift was over - including the break down portion of the show on late Sunday afternoon.

     During the show on Saturday, I was starting to lose my voice trying to explain to people what a "Gear Basket" looked like. So, on Sunday, committee member, Mo brought her gear basket and lighted safety mast with flag that I made for her, as a demo piece. Several people commented on it stating that I should "sell" the idea online. I noted that the initial idea was borrowed online from a forum site, and could also be found on this blog page on Google's Blogger.

     Here in this pic, I'm demonstrating the storage space within the gear basket, and the reasons why I made the modifications - including what key items I carry inside the lower gear basket portion.

     I just incorporated my own ideas into making it better, such as: reflective tape on the upper "Go-To Lure Box", the holster for the floating fish pliers (with recoil cord so the pliers don't get lost), bungee attachment cover system, and the Homemade Lighted Safety Mast with Flag (which costs less than $30 to make).    Others were blown away at how many items could be nestled into such a small space. Although I referred to it as a "Gear Basket with the Go-To Lure Box", by the end of the show, I was calling it the "All-in-One Tackle Station".

     Here in this pic, I'm showing a potential new member the added benefit of having a lighted safety mast with flag and a removable mast light when it's not needed. 

     In the end, we managed to garner 15 new people who were interested in joining our committee, which would bring the committee membership from 35 members, to a total of 50+ members! It was a great show and I'm hoping we can bring more kayaks and more members to next year's show to help participate. This will go to show the people that you don't need a big boat to catch big fish. We, too, can get the same results by doing it from a kayak!!!

New shirts for people that fish out of kayaks!

     I have an insane passion for kayak fishing. And, it's a little more insane than the usual kayak angler. For one, I have 2 Facebook accounts. One is for myself, and the other is for my fan page, "CORE 860", which is a site that highlights my adventures outdoors. I used to do a lot of 4 wheeling when I was younger, but between vehicle breakdowns, land closures and developmental building, those fundamentals alone have pretty much ruined that hobby.
   
     So, I turned back to my original passion for fishing. I wanted to fish, but not from shore. All the good fish don't hang out near the shore. They're in hiding amongst the lily pads, or under docks or mooring points, places you can only get to if you have a boat or a kayak.
   
     I sold 2 vehicles and purchased my first kayak (that's me pictured on the right inset picture), a Hobie Outback with the Mirage-Drive pedal system. It is 12 feet long, can hold up to 400 lbs of gear, and can be used on ponds, lakes, and inshore fishing. Though, I prefer to use mine in saltwater, I also use it on freshwater ponds and lakes close to home. I often carry a digital camera with me and take photographs of what I see and then post the photos in a special album on my fan page on Facebook.

     At one time I had an online store where I sold outdoor equipment. I had it up and running for a little over 5 years. After no sales were made, I wisely closed the shop. The wholesale vendor I was using ended up being a total waste of time.  I eventually closed the shop portion, but kept the site open as a personal outdoor blog, until about October 2010, then I discontinued the website altogether.

     But, I had always envisioned myself selling decals and shirts. I had loads of ideas of what I wanted to sell, and most of the ideas were sport-related niche ideas - fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, 4 wheeling, and kayaking.

     So, I turned to Cafe Press, an online designer of all things tangible that can be printed on. Shirts, mugs, clocks, cell phone cases, etc.. I opened up my first premium shop in 2007, "CORE 860", and have had over 2000 sales - all with no returns ever. People from all over the world can buy my merchandise because Cafe Press does the inventory stocking, printing, shipping, and credit card transactions. All I have to do is provide the ideas. I have a very goofy mind, almost child-like in a way, at coming up with the most bizarre concepts, and oddly enough, the people who buy my products are mostly women! I guess I'm not the only one who thinks like this either!!!  I try to keep most of my focus on products that are family friendly.

     Just out of curiosity, I entered into the search box at the top of the screen, "kayak fishing", just to see if anybody made shirts or decals relating to this subject. A moment later, the search results turned up products that had to do with either kayaking, or fishing, but rarely a product turned up for "Kayak Fishing" . I mean, there were a few (well, very few) that were somewhat about kayak fishing.

     So, I had an idea. There are many people around the world that kayak fish in the country that they live in. So, I figured, why not place a custom design on the front of the shirt, and then place an all new country-based design on the back of the shirt. I had 8 countries, and 2 sub-regions, already written down, so I set out to my favorite online font generator, and proceeded to design some new font styles to use on my shirts.
     Now, Cafe Press already has a myriad of different fonts at their disposal, but the fonts I use are, in my opinion, better than what Cafe Press has to offer. Although, there are a few designs that do incorporate their font styles like: Garamond, Futura, and Ticonderoga, that are already in use on some of my designs.

     I have 5 designs that I use on my shirts: "Gut Fish?", "Master Baiter", "Saltwater Soldier", "Walkin' the Dog!", and "Fish or Die!". All of these come in Long Sleeve Shirts & Short Sleeve Shirts for both Men & Women - in your choice of Black or White shirts.

     The countries that have available for "Kayak Fishing" are:

     American Kayak Angler
     Australian Kayak Angler
     British Kayak Angler
     Canadian Kayak Angler
     Irish Kayak Angler
     New Zealand Kayak Angler
     Scottish Kayak Angler
     Puerto Rican Kayak Angler

     And, 2 sub-regions - one for the southern folks, and one for the New Englanders:

     North East Kayak Anglers (New England-based)
     Rebel Kayak Anglers
     
     I also have an extensive array decals for kayak fishing, 4 wheeling, kayaking, fishing, and other outdoor-related activities.

     To visit my store on Cafe Press, please click the link here:
http://www.cafepress.com/core860_store