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
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