Hi, I just wanted to share my recent adventure;
One week ago to the day, we concluded the most unreal week I’ve ever experienced! Now that ICAST and post-show fishing is over and all guests have gone home, I can reflect back on what I have just experienced and it was amazing.
ICAST is always an incredible experience with 4 days hanging out and partying with rod builders, industry friends and the team but this one was especially fun for me. It was the largest show I can remember with the most exhibitors and new products as well.
We connected with a lot of rod builders and rod designers from all over the world including SoCal builders which was awesome to see them attend. Many might not know that ICAST/ASA moved rod components out of the general Best New Product Competition categories into a specific “Custom Tackle and Components” category. Which sounds great but at the same time rod builders' badge status was also changed to “Custom Tackle Manufacturer”, without voting rights. In my opinion this is a bit odd that there’s a special category where typically the only interested parties cannot vote…. But despite this we were still able reach enough industry voters to consider our product the best in category winner which was awesome.
First time in 15 awards have we been able to get the attending team on stage!
Then we were at dinner celebrating with some SoCal folks to later catch up with some of the team still celebrating at an industry event. Got there just in time for me to read a message on a mirror behind the band saying "shout out to American Tackle for winning ICAST” and I told the guys that’s not entirely accurate, we only won the category when one guy said that well maybe it will happen tomorrow. I said yeah am I supposed to believe some drunken Nostradamus prediction? Well lo and behold, he was right… the next day we were fortunate enough to be voted "Best Of Show" at ICAST 2023 out of all the other category winners. Finally fishing rod components are getting the respect they deserve for all component companies and rod builders. As I put it, with out them there's no fishing... Super fun experience that I’ll never forget!
Alex my son and Jordan - our product development team.
Accepting the top honors for the show I took the opportunity to thank the team for a job well done!
It's cool to have all the visitors stop by the showroom to see the awards. They are actually the 2nd & 3rd in a few weeks since we brought another one home from EFTTEX in Budapest in June!
I just wanted to share my experience and post a thank you to all who stopped by the booth and voted for our product(if you were able to vote that is..). And I apologize to all who came by saying that they didn’t get a tumbler full of beer during our social hours
. We went through hundreds with 3 kegs of beer but they went quickly, so next year we’ll have a whole lot more….
Darrin Heim
American Tackle Company
And because I am a fisherman, another highlight was a new species in the boat caught by Austin in after-show fishing. It’s a Speckled Hind and was an incredible looking fish!
One week ago to the day, we concluded the most unreal week I’ve ever experienced! Now that ICAST and post-show fishing is over and all guests have gone home, I can reflect back on what I have just experienced and it was amazing.
ICAST is always an incredible experience with 4 days hanging out and partying with rod builders, industry friends and the team but this one was especially fun for me. It was the largest show I can remember with the most exhibitors and new products as well.
We connected with a lot of rod builders and rod designers from all over the world including SoCal builders which was awesome to see them attend. Many might not know that ICAST/ASA moved rod components out of the general Best New Product Competition categories into a specific “Custom Tackle and Components” category. Which sounds great but at the same time rod builders' badge status was also changed to “Custom Tackle Manufacturer”, without voting rights. In my opinion this is a bit odd that there’s a special category where typically the only interested parties cannot vote…. But despite this we were still able reach enough industry voters to consider our product the best in category winner which was awesome.
First time in 15 awards have we been able to get the attending team on stage!
Then we were at dinner celebrating with some SoCal folks to later catch up with some of the team still celebrating at an industry event. Got there just in time for me to read a message on a mirror behind the band saying "shout out to American Tackle for winning ICAST” and I told the guys that’s not entirely accurate, we only won the category when one guy said that well maybe it will happen tomorrow. I said yeah am I supposed to believe some drunken Nostradamus prediction? Well lo and behold, he was right… the next day we were fortunate enough to be voted "Best Of Show" at ICAST 2023 out of all the other category winners. Finally fishing rod components are getting the respect they deserve for all component companies and rod builders. As I put it, with out them there's no fishing... Super fun experience that I’ll never forget!
Alex my son and Jordan - our product development team.
Accepting the top honors for the show I took the opportunity to thank the team for a job well done!
It's cool to have all the visitors stop by the showroom to see the awards. They are actually the 2nd & 3rd in a few weeks since we brought another one home from EFTTEX in Budapest in June!
I just wanted to share my experience and post a thank you to all who stopped by the booth and voted for our product(if you were able to vote that is..). And I apologize to all who came by saying that they didn’t get a tumbler full of beer during our social hours
. We went through hundreds with 3 kegs of beer but they went quickly, so next year we’ll have a whole lot more….Darrin Heim
American Tackle Company
And because I am a fisherman, another highlight was a new species in the boat caught by Austin in after-show fishing. It’s a Speckled Hind and was an incredible looking fish!
Upvote
0
