db's best of ICAST - Bassmaster

Welcome …

… to …

… ICAST 2013 …

… and the glitz of the show …

… and Las …

… Vegas.

<p>For Barb and I the show began with meeting my roommate, Paul Elias and his wife Kristy under this thing at the Benihana restaurant<wbr>...had a great time meeting Kristy and Paul and...</wbr></p>

For Barb and I the show began with meeting my roommate, Paul Elias and his wife Kristy under this thing at the Benihana restaurant…had a great time meeting Kristy and Paul and…

…all the Elite anglers, past and present, at the show including…

…hide and go Pink…

…Brandon Palaniuk explaining his new Storm Arashi crankbait…

<p>...and this lady, Tyler, who works at B.A.S.S. and who has been in charge of trying to teach me how to use Twitter...<wbr>Tyler, thank you for your patience in our so far three lessons and BTW if you have some time.</wbr></p>

…and this lady, Tyler, who works at B.A.S.S. and who has been in charge of trying to teach me how to use Twitter…Tyler, thank you for your patience in our so far three lessons and BTW if you have some time.

<p>I love ICAST, to me it is dreamCast.<wbr>..where the entreprene<wbr>urial spirit...</wbr></wbr></p>

I love ICAST, to me it is dreamCast…where the entrepreneurial spirit…

…is found everywhere including…

<p>...this guy, Anthony Hunt, who works for Advantage Bait Company but who also works as a fishing guide for his own company called Boat Appetit..<wbr>.takes you fishing and cooks you a meal...</wbr></p>

…this guy, Anthony Hunt, who works for Advantage Bait Company but who also works as a fishing guide for his own company called Boat Appetit…takes you fishing and cooks you a meal…

…yeah, yeah, yeah…I was at 55, but not anymore thank you…

<p>...dudes who make this thing...ca<wbr>ll me...I have done exactly what you are showing there...BT<wbr>W...any of you dudes fishing West Point Lake down there in Georgia if you hook anything that looks like what is in this photo...ca<wbr>ll me, too.</wbr></wbr></wbr></p>

…dudes who make this thing…call me…I have done exactly what you are showing there…BTW…any of you dudes fishing West Point Lake down there in Georgia if you hook anything that looks like what is in this photo…call me, too.

<p>You see all those pretty photos of the stuff of ICAST on Bassmaster<wbr>-dot-com..<wbr>.this is how it is done...som<wbr>e companies bring there own light box contraptio<wbr>n...</wbr></wbr></wbr></wbr></p>

You see all those pretty photos of the stuff of ICAST on Bassmaster-dot-com…this is how it is done…some companies bring there own light box contraption…

<p>...but this is how Bassmaster<wbr>-dot-com shoots some of the stuff...oh<wbr>...and BTW that box being shot...</wbr></wbr></p>

…but this is how Bassmaster-dot-com shoots some of the stuff…oh…and BTW that box being shot…

…that box brought tears to my eyes. In the corner down there on the box is the Tackle The Storm logo and that means that with every box sold of that line…

<p>...this dude, great friend of mine, Jeff Martin, the owner dude of Vicious Fishing and board member of Tackle The Storm Foundation<wbr>, will donate money to help Tackle The Storm buy fishing rods for kids. I can't even type that sentence without tearing up...BTW..<wbr>.props to Barb for the photo.</wbr></wbr></p>

…this dude, great friend of mine, Jeff Martin, the owner dude of Vicious Fishing and board member of Tackle The Storm Foundation, will donate money to help Tackle The Storm buy fishing rods for kids. I can’t even type that sentence without tearing up…BTW…props to Barb for the photo.

<p>This dude, my buddy Alan "Guck" McGuckin, of Dynamic Sponsorshi<wbr>ps, deep in thought working the Zebco booth somehow talks me into this...</wbr></p>

This dude, my buddy Alan “Guck” McGuckin, of Dynamic Sponsorships, deep in thought working the Zebco booth somehow talks me into this…

<p>...a casting contest where I use a Zebco reel and try and hit a target about 7 miles away. Dudes, I'm CASTING inside a building with lots of people walking around, steel beams in the ceiling, food booths, small children...</p>

…a casting contest where I use a Zebco reel and try and hit a target about 7 miles away. Dudes, I’m CASTING inside a building with lots of people walking around, steel beams in the ceiling, food booths, small children…

<p>...BUT after bouncing the lure off a pole, the backdrop of the Zebco booth, and quite possibly Guck's head...I managed to almost make a bullseye..<wbr>.LaTeeDa..<wbr>.BTW, Barb called this photo...db<wbr>Cast.</wbr></wbr></wbr></p>

…BUT after bouncing the lure off a pole, the backdrop of the Zebco booth, and quite possibly Guck’s head…I managed to almost make a bullseye…LaTeeDa…BTW, Barb called this photo…dbCast.

<p>ICAST is all about new products and getting that informatio<wbr>n out to you through...</wbr></p>

ICAST is all about new products and getting that information out to you through…

…the media…

<p>...who were all over the place interviewi<wbr>ng the pros who use the stuff.</wbr></p>

…who were all over the place interviewing the pros who use the stuff.

<p>I have no idea if there were 2,300 exhibitors or not, but there were a TON of them. I've been to 5 or 6 of these ICAST things now, and to tell you the truth, ICAST 2013 had the most positive feeling from the exhibitors of any of these things that I have been to, and I think that is great...gr<wbr>eat for the industry, but especially great for you.</wbr></p>

I have no idea if there were 2,300 exhibitors or not, but there were a TON of them. I’ve been to 5 or 6 of these ICAST things now, and to tell you the truth, ICAST 2013 had the most positive feeling from the exhibitors of any of these things that I have been to, and I think that is great…great for the industry, but especially great for you.

<p>But hey, check out what's OUTSIDE of the exhibit hall. Got this shot of the smoke coming from the fires in the foothills around Las Vegas...pa<wbr>use a bit here to give a shout out to all those brave folks who fight these kind of fires...an<wbr>d take a second to say a prayer for those who give their lives while fighting forest fires.</wbr></wbr></p>

But hey, check out what’s OUTSIDE of the exhibit hall. Got this shot of the smoke coming from the fires in the foothills around Las Vegas…pause a bit here to give a shout out to all those brave folks who fight these kind of fires…and take a second to say a prayer for those who give their lives while fighting forest fires.

<p>Barb and I stayed at the hotel joint connected to the convention center and while ICAST was happening over in the convention center, this was happening at our hotel...</p>

Barb and I stayed at the hotel joint connected to the convention center and while ICAST was happening over in the convention center, this was happening at our hotel…

…an Elvis festival and contest…

<p>...how many Elvises (or Elvi?) can you spot in this photo. One quick story... very early one morning, I went to get into an elevator to go down to ICAST; when the elevator door opened, there were four Elvises standing in the elevator. I just stood there for a moment hoping it wasn't some sort of flashback until one of them said, "Come on in..." I did but it took about a day and a half to get over the initial shock.</p>

…how many Elvises (or Elvi?) can you spot in this photo. One quick story… very early one morning, I went to get into an elevator to go down to ICAST; when the elevator door opened, there were four Elvises standing in the elevator. I just stood there for a moment hoping it wasn’t some sort of flashback until one of them said, “Come on in…” I did but it took about a day and a half to get over the initial shock.

Welcome to…

…Las Vegas…

The sights…

…and sounds.

<p>This is why when they give you VIP seats...YO<wbr>U DON'T TAKE THEM... I became part of the show when musical impression<wbr>ist, Gordie Brown, came down from the stage while doing an impression of Ray Charles singing a romantic song to a lady...me! Afterwards I looked at Barb and said, "Balcony" from now on.</wbr></wbr></p>

This is why when they give you VIP seats…YOU DON’T TAKE THEM… I became part of the show when musical impressionist, Gordie Brown, came down from the stage while doing an impression of Ray Charles singing a romantic song to a lady…me! Afterwards I looked at Barb and said, “Balcony” from now on.

But if you have the chance, head out of town…

…to elsewhere in Nevada…

…and our great friends and life-long residents, Rich, Liz and daughter Lili, picked us up at the hotel and took us…

…to the small town of Boulder…

…near the Hoover Dam.

In town we found some cool antique shops filled with some characters…

…like these guys…

<p>...and this dude...a statute that some said had a remarkable resemblanc<wbr>e to someone?</wbr></p>

…and this dude…a statute that some said had a remarkable resemblance to someone?

All throughout the town were statues like this one, very cool little artistic community but…

…the main reason for the junket was to come here, to Lake Mead and the…

…Hoover…

…Dam.

This was a statute to honor the people who built the dam, and I have to tell you they must have huge you know what…

<p>...because I could barely look over the edge of the railing... look way down there at the bottom, you can hardly see it but way down there is a set of stairs and a doorway...<wbr>that will give you a perspectiv<wbr>e on how enormous this dam is.</wbr></wbr></p>

…because I could barely look over the edge of the railing… look way down there at the bottom, you can hardly see it but way down there is a set of stairs and a doorway…that will give you a perspective on how enormous this dam is.

<p>That's the new bridge that crosses the river, it's 840 feet above the Colorado, the 2nd highest bridge in America and when Rich asked if I wanted to drive across it I said, "Ah, no thanks."</p>

That’s the new bridge that crosses the river, it’s 840 feet above the Colorado, the 2nd highest bridge in America and when Rich asked if I wanted to drive across it I said, “Ah, no thanks.”

<p>...blocked it up and made this, Lake Mead... site of the first Bassmaster Classic in 1971. Huge shout out to the people who constructe<wbr>d it and prayers out to the 112 people associated with its constructi<wbr>on who died.</wbr></wbr></p>

…blocked it up and made this, Lake Mead… site of the first Bassmaster Classic in 1971. Huge shout out to the people who constructed it and prayers out to the 112 people associated with its construction who died.

<p>To me, this is my favorite shot of the entire week of ICAST. For me, it symbolizes grit, the ability to survive against all odds. For whatever reasons, for many people, for many industries<wbr>, especially in our biz, the last few years have been tough, but this ICAST showed me that new thinking, entreprene<wbr>urial thinking, and pure old fashion working stiff grit, can persevere.<wbr>..and that, in fact, may be the real Best of Show.</wbr></wbr></wbr></p>

To me, this is my favorite shot of the entire week of ICAST. For me, it symbolizes grit, the ability to survive against all odds. For whatever reasons, for many people, for many industries, especially in our biz, the last few years have been tough, but this ICAST showed me that new thinking, entrepreneurial thinking, and pure old fashion working stiff grit, can persevere…and that, in fact, may be the real Best of Show.

db’s best of ICAST

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