By Ryan Kennedy
ICAST. Is it an overrated fishing expo that gets too much press? Is it everything that is right with the fishing industry? I could go on and on with questions about the most talked about show in the fishing industry known as ICAST, but instead I’ll let you think of the questions as we go along. If you’ve been to ICAST before, you know that when you walk through the doors of the expo your excitement can hardly contain itself. If you haven’t experienced entering ICAST before, allow me to explain the feeling in a quick scenario. If a young child loves to fish, when Christmas rolls around, what are they going to ask for? Are they going to be reasonable and ask for a rod and maybe a couple of baits? NO! They are going to have their wish list decked out with everything they’ve ever seen inside a tackle store. Obviously when they wake up on Christmas morning it will be nothing but sheer disappointment when they realize that not only did Santa eat all of their cookies, but he only managed to haul in a little bit of what was on the list too.
Now completely forget that feeling and imagine staring at a room filled with everything on that list and yes, you get to play with it ALL! I know, I know, some of you still don’t see the big deal. Look, I get it; you’re still a little stuck on the fact that the misses got on you enough to take her out to a nice meal and YOU had to pick where to go despite the millions of options that no matter where you choose is wrong. C’mon, was it worth taking your one week of vacation at work and spending every day fishing instead of with the lady friend? OF COURSE, IT WAS! But the difficulty you faced by trying to pick a restaurant with no true direction for which was the right choice gives you a slight glimpse at where to start at ICAST.
Now that you are back on track, you are starting to see the whole picture. We’ve just about narrowed it down to a few words; Fishing, Getaway, Christmas, AND COOKIES!
Ehh, I guess we’ll just stick to the first three. Got a little hungry after that talk about cookies. Back to the point! ICAST is an opportunity like no other. This year was my third year attending the massive show. With no exaggeration at all, I can honestly tell you that it is my favorite week of the year. It’s not just about the possible connections and the lights and the shiny new products. To me it’s all about going to see a physical representation of everything I’ve dreamed about and walking away with a motivation and drive like no other to make that dream a reality.
To sum up my thoughts on ICAST, if it’s something you’ve never been to before, then it needs to be on your bucket list, and for everyone out there that has been, we can look at the experience with gratitude and patiently await the next opportunity.
By this time your credit card is already hurting from that MUST HAVE new product that came out at the show, but don’t worry; you have plenty of time to get it all payed off before the next big thing to spend even more on comes out. To my fellow anglers, stay humble, stay hungry, and stay determined. The dream is out there. Tight Lines.