A Canadian lure maker is making a big splash this week down in Las Vegas at the 53rd annual International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, or ICAST, the world’s biggest trade show for all things angling. St Catharines, Ontario-based Koppers Fishing and Tackle Corporation has just received the New Product Showcase Award for best soft lure with its new LIVETARGET Hollow Body Frog (pictured here).

Rounding out the roster of award recipients were the usual suspects, including industry giants Rapala, Pure Fishing, Shimano, Frabill and Minn Kota. Upstart French lure maker Sébile also made it once again to the winners’ circle. In all, 14 companies took top honours in the annual Best of Show competition, selected from 210 different manufacturers exhibiting some 750 new products.

The overall star of the show, though, is undoubtedly G.Loomis with its NRX series of rods, earning the both the Best of Show distinction and the most innovative product in the freshwater rod category.

Outdoor Canada Fishing Editor Gord Pyzer is currently at ICAST surveying the myriad new offerings to find the top gear suited for Canadian anglers. His roundup will appear in the magazine’s 30th anniversary Fishing annual, to be published in January 2011.

Here is the complete list of the 2010 ICAST New Product Showcase Award winners:

• Overall Best of Show - G.Loomis - NRX
• Apparel - Frabill, Inc. - FXE Stormsuit
• Combo - Ardent/Lamiglas - C400/XC704 Fishouflage Bass
• Electronics - Lowrance-Navico - Lowrance Elite-5 DSI
• Eyewear - Maui Jim Sunglasses - Guy Harvey Collection
• Fishing Accessory - Adventure Products, Inc. - EGO S2 Slider Landing Net
• Giftware - Boating Expressions, Inc. - Fishfenders
• Kids Tackle - Pure Fishing - Pflueger-Spinning Combo-Apprentice
• Line - Rapala - Sufix 832 Advanced Superline
• Soft Lure - Koppers Fishing & Tackle Corporation - Live Target Hollow Body Frog
• Hard Lure - Shimano American Corporation - Waxwing Sub-Surface Swimming Jig
• Marine - Minn Kota-Johnson Outdoors, Inc. - Talon-Shallow Water Anchor
• Freshwater Reel - Shimano American Corporation - Stella FE
• Saltwater Reel - Shimano American Corporation - Trinidad A
• Freshwater Rod - G.Loomis - NRX
• Saltwater Rod - Shimano American Corporation - Terez
• Tackle Management - HYI, Inc. - Openwater Tackle Backpack
• Terminal Tackle - Sébile Innovative Fishing - Soft Weight System

Honoured: Bob Izumi is the public face of Izumi Outdoors

The folks at Izumi Outdoors Inc., along with Normark Canada’s retired head honcho, Roger Cannon, were honoured this morning at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show during the annual general meeting of the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association.

Bob and Wayne Izumi and their crew at Izumi Outdoors, along with Cannon, were this year’s recipients of the CSIA’s Chairman’s Awards for their contributions to the Canadian angling scene. Cannon, who spent 33 years putting Rapalas into the nation’s tackleboxes, is a champion of sportfishing in Canada and continues to serve on the CSIA board.

Izumi Outdoors, meanwhile, produces TV’s Real Fishing Show starring angling icon Bob Izumi, as well as Real Fishing magazine. The company is also the driving force behind the Fish For Ever Foundation, which raises funds for fisheries conservation projects in Ontario, and the popular Kids, Cops & Canadian Tire Fishing Days, a grassroots program designed to get children interested in fishing. Congratulations, folks! Well deserved.

Also during this morning’s AGM, Shimano Canada executive Phil Morlock brought CSIA members up to speed on the controversial plans in the U.S. to potentially ban  sportfishing in so-called Marine Protected Areas—giant swathes of ocean and inland waters—under the guise of conservation. Morlock wrote about the issue in the Fishing 2010 edition of Outdoor Canada; he was also interviewed about it on ESPN (click here for that story).

Finally at this morning’s meeting, the slate of directors for the next year was formally approved. Set to serve one more year in their current two-year terms are:

• Kim Rhodes (President), Lucky Strike Baitworks, Manufacturer
• Tom Brooke (Chair), Shimano Canada, Manufacturer
• Steve Dorey (Vice-President), Maurice Sporting Goods, Distributor
• Ray Sriubiskis (Sect/Treasurer), Cnd National Sportsmen’s Shows, Media
• Roger Cannon, Normark Inc Manufacturer
• Cam Thomson, Pure Fishing Canada Ltd., Manufacturer
• Shawn Glowka, KTL Canada Ltd Distributor
• Nelson Murakami, Natural Sports, Retailer
• Jim Estabrooks, Fishing World, Retailer
• Mark Harrison, Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., Retailer
• David Johnson, The Fishin’ Hole, Retailer
• Jim Gourlay, Eastern Woods & Waters, Media
• Mark Stiffel, Brecks International Inc., Manufacturer
• Brent McCallum, Redl Sports, Distributor
• Salim Sachedina, Canadian-Sportfishing, Media
• Steve Sherman, Shimano Canada, Manufacturer

Father and son: Shawn and Chase Galea

At the recent Spring Fishing and Boat Show’s Conservation Dinner, among the folks sharing my table was Shawn Galea from Advanced Taxidermy & Wildlife Design. I’d certainly been aware of Shawn’s reputation as a masterful artisan when it comes to replica fish mounts. In 2002, in fact, we here at Outdoor Canada magazine named Shawn and his business partner, James McGregor, among the 33 most influential people in the Canadian outdoors (click here for the article).

The way we continue to see it, their incredibly lifelike mounts have no doubt played a significant and positive role in the catch-and-release movement. I’d never spoken to Shawn personally, however, so it was great to finally get to meet him.

You can learn a lot about a guy just by the way he talks about his kids, and sure enough conversation turned to children, and in particular Shawn’s two-year-old boy, Chase (he turns three later this month). Like any good father, Shawn speaks of his son with immense admiration. But what really struck me was how proud he was of his little boy, in particular his determination.

You see, Chase was born with quad cerebral palsy, as well as auditory neuropathy, a condition whereby the signal from the inner ear to the brain is impaired. But even at age two, Chase has shown a remarkable capacity to make the most of his life, his physical impediments notwithstanding—and Shawn’s admiration is palpable. “He does therapy five hours a day without one complaint,” Shawn told me, his eyes welling up at the thought of what his son must endure. “He’s amazing.”

Of course, it’s not cheap to properly care for kids with such disabilities—the therapy alone costs $1,000 a week, and then there’s the specialized and expensive medical equipment, such as walkers, hearing ads, bath chairs and so on. So, to help raise funds for Chase and others like him, as well as raise awareness about CP and the attendant financial burdens, Shawn and his family launched the Chase Galea Fund.

Among other things, they’ll be holding a gala fundraiser event—“Chase” the Dream—on March 27 at La Primavera in Woodbridge. Tickets are just $125, which includes giveaways, live entertainment, a four-course dinner and open bar. There will also be live and silent auctions.

So far, the response has been overwhelming. “I’ve been doing taxidermy for 25 years, but I didn’t realized how many people knew us—and were willing to help,” says Shawn. “I really didn’t expect it.”

Visit www.thechasegaleafund.com for complete details regarding tickets and donations.

The only thing I can think of that would beat going fishing this weekend is taking a trip to the International Centre out on Airport Road in Mississauga for the third annual Spring Fishing & Boat Show. Actually, the best scenario for this weekend would be to go fishing and go to the show.

Yeah, I’m banging our own drum a tad here—Outdoor Canada has a booth at the show, and our very own Fishing Editor, Gord Pyzer, is hosting the Master Angler seminar series. And let’s not forget the $50 Outdoor Canada Show Bucks, handed out hourly to lucky visitors. But seriously, if you’re into fishing, boats and some smokin’ deals, you can’t miss this show.

I was talking to show organizer Andy Pallotta this morning, and he was even more excited than he usually is. “It’s going to blow your mind,” he promised, described the various bells and whistles he has in place to great the public. Click here for a sneak preview.

And when you do go to the show, be sure to stop by the Outdoor Canada booth. Gord Pyzer himself will be on hand at appointed times on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to provide one-on-one angling advice and sign autographs.

Plus, we have a great contest going: if you subscribe to the magazine (or renew your subscription) at the show, your name will go into a draw to win one of four Rapala rod, reel and tackle kits. Each kit will include a Rapala TS2 fishing rod, Rapala Volt fishing reel. Sufix Fuse fishing line and an assortment of Rapala, Storm, TriggerX, Terminator, BlueFox and Luhr-Jensen lures. Many thanks to our good friends at Rapala Canada/Normark for providing these great prizes.

Watch this space for reports from the show over the course of the weekend. I hope to see you down there.

Honoured: The NRA's Scott Olmsted (left) accepts the first annual Ian McMurchy award from Glen and Darlene McMurchy

Well, that’s yet another SHOT Show finished for me; I fly back to Toronto tomorrow. I put a lot of miles on my soles, met lots of people, did some networking, saw plenty of cool new gear and caught up with some old friends—just what SHOT is all about from my perspective in the media.

The highlight today was the presentation of the first annual Ian McMurchy Award from Nikon. If you are an avid reader of Canadian outdoor magazines, including Outdoor Canada, you’ve surely read at least one of Ian’s articles over the years. The widely published writer and photographer was also an accomplished marksman and expert on firearms, as well as a member of Nikon’s pro staff. Sadly, Ian passed away in late 2008. To honour Ian and his contributions—and to award outdoor writers who exemplify his passion for the outdoors—Nikon presented the inaugural award today to Scott Olmsted, editor of the National Rifle Association’s American Hunter magazine. Congrats, Scott.

On hand for the ceremony was Ian’s widow, Darlene, as well as his children Glen, Joey and Katie. It was nice to finally meet Darlene, as she was extremely helpful late last year in digging up photos of Ian from his last African hunting safari (a piece Ian wrote for Outdoor Canada before he passed away was finally published in the recent Winter 2010 issue).

You know you’re at the SHOT Show when:

A. Your dogs are dead tired and sore from walking the show floor.

B. You run into fellow Canucks from the outdoor media industry.

C. You find yet another new product (and then some) well worth telling folks back home about.

D. You can drink that first end-of-day beer in less than 10 seconds.

E. All of the above.

The answer, of course, is E. Yes, the beer part is true. I ran into Outdoor Canada Field Editor Brad Fenson around 4:30 and we made our way up to the Sportsman’s Lounge, a private oasis set up by Field & Stream and Outdoor Life magazines at the SHOT Show. There we found F&S Editor Anthony Licata and a tub of ice-cold beer. I recommend the Fat Tire brew out of Colorado. But I digress. We had a good chat with Anthony before finally calling it a day and heading back to the hotel.

And yes, I saw lots of cool new products today. One thing I can safely bet will be included in Ken Bailey’s roundup of the best new gear for 2010 (due out in the May issue of Outdoor Canada) is the new Omni-Heat outerwear lining from Columbia Sportswear Company. Put in their wigeon and big-game jackets for 2010, Omni-Heat promises 20 per cent more heat retention, a real boon to guys sitting for hours on end in the duck blind or treestand. As Columbia General Merchandise Manager Joe Boyle put it, Omni-Heat is a “game changer for the industry.”

Also somewhat revolutionary in the outdoor garment category is the new Scent-A-Way technology from Hunter’s Specialties. Without getting into too much detail, HS says the new silver antimicrobial fabric yarn will remain active for the lifetime of the garment (wash it as much as you like) and keep the human stink at bay. For 2010, they’re offering Scent-A-Way socks, gloves, toques, caps, travel bags and base layers. The way the techies at HS see it, this new scent eliminator will take over where carbon scent reduction systems left off.

There was piles more great stuff, of course, and I expect much of it to be included in Ken’s May roundup (for example, I thought Quaker Boy’s new, smaller diaphragm turkey calls designed just for females—with pink foam, no less—were a great idea). Stay tuned for more.

My apologies to regular readers of this blog; I haven’t posted in a while due to the Christmas break and the fact we’ve been extremely busy at the office. Or, more to the point, I haven’t had much to say of late in terms of outdoor-related pursuits. Things are about to change, though.

This Sunday, for starters, I’m heading down to Las Vegas for the massive Shooting, Hunting and Outoor Technologies Show. Joining me will be Outdoor Canada’s Hunting Editor, Ken Bailey, and our crack sales team of Rose and Randy. Things kick off early Monday, when Ken and I head out to the desert for the annual Media Day at the Range to try out the last hunting firearms. Oh yeah.

So, be sure to watch this space for updates. I’ll also be Tweeting from my brand new Twitter account. Please visit my Twitter page and sign up for an RSS feed of my Tweets. Talk to you next from Vegas.

Sweet ride: The Hobie Mirage Pro Angler is ICAST's 2009 Best of Show product

For the die-hard angler, this is heaven on earth—at least when it comes to checking out new tackle. Our Fishing Editor, Gord Pyzer, is currently down in Orlando, Florida, attending the mammoth International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades—the world’s largest annual sportfishing trade show—and we can’t wait to find out what cool new angling goodies he’s discovered. (Watch for our special Fishing 2010 issue for a complete roundup of Gord’s top picks.)

In the meantime, the 2,200 buyer’s and 500 media reps attending the convention this year have once again settled on their Best of Show honours in 17 categories, selecting their favourite new products from among 600 candidates. Interestingly, the most entries were in the hard lure category. Also selected was the overall Best of Show winner.

Here are the winners from the 52nd annual ICAST show, as revealed this morning in a press release. Congrats to all.

• Overall Best of Show: Hobie Cat’s Hobie Mirage Pro Angler (which also won in the Marine category)
• Apparel: Cablz, Inc.’s Cablz
• Electronics: Lowrance-Navico’s Lowrance HDS-10
• Eyewear: Costa Del Mar Sunglasses’ Zane
• Fishing Accessory: Durasafe’s Codeable Locks
• Giftware: Master Vision’s Mini Lantern
• Kids Tackle: Ross Reels USA/Ross Worldwide Outdoors’ Journey Youth Fly Fishing Outfit
• Line: Pure Fishing’s Berkley Trilene TransOptic
• Soft Lure: Sebile USA’s Magic Swimmer Soft Pro Model
• Hard Lure: Sebile USA’s Spin Shad
• Marine: Hobie Cat’s Hobie Mirage Pro Angler
• Freshwater Reel: Shimano’s Stradic CI4
• Saltwater Reel: Daiwa’s Saltist Lever Drag
• Freshwater Rod: USA Custom Rods’ Camo Stix
• Saltwater Rod: G. Loomis’ Pro Green 882S
• Tackle Management: Plano Molding Company’s Liqua-Bait Locker System
• Terminal Tackle: Better Bait Systems’ Circle Hook Rig

Thumbs up: Fish'n Canada's Angelo Viola has good reason to smile

The folks over at TV’s Fish’n Canada show have been sitting on this little nugget since mid-April, but decided to cast it out to the larger angling community just yesterday (or at least that’s when I received their brief press release). In what Fish’n Canada is terming “a pleasant surprise for the fishing industry,” the show had a heckuva good audience for its 8 a.m. episode on April 11.

How good? According to BBM Nielsen’s Average Minute Audience (AMA) numbers, Fish’n Canada’s viewership on Global was on par with the popular prime time shows Family Guy and Entertainment Tonight Canada, with only Saturday Night Live and The Masters (featuring the return of Tiger Woods) faring better.

As show co-host Angelo Viola said to me via e-mail: “Marketing and advertising people need to know that the fishing media business is alive, and some are doing well.” Here, here.

Of particular interest to those watching the horse race that is the crowded Canuck fishing TV scene: over the same period, Fish’n Canada more than doubled the AMA numbers of most of its competitive set, including Adventures North, Angler & Hunter, Fishful Thinking, Going Fishing, Real Fishing Show and What a Catch. Only Fishing the Flats fared slightly better than the others, capturing 69,000 viewers compared with Fish’n Canada’s 109,000.

Trouble waters: Ranger and other Genmar boat brands are feeling the economic pinch

Oh dear—yet another recession casualty. Yesterday, U.S. boat giant Genmar Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming a lack of credit for hamstringing its operations. Genmar is perhaps best known among anglers for its Ranger Boats, but it also counts Champion, Triumph, Seaswirl, Hydra-Sports, Stratos, FinCraft, Larson, Wellcraft, Marquis, Windsor Craft, Carver Yachts, Glastron and Four Wins among its boat brands.

I’m not sure what the ramifications are, if any, for you folks currently running Rangers (or other Genmar boats), but here’s what Ranger president Randy Hopper had to say about the move:

“Unprecedented global economic conditions, unequaled by any seen in my personal experience, continue to affect people in all industries and walks of life. For some time now, the credit-shortage epidemic at the consumer, dealer and manufacturer levels has been a huge issue. Despite good demand for Ranger products and the strength of the brand within Genmar’s portfolio and the market as a whole, the lack of available credit forced Genmar Holdings Inc. to file for Chapter 11 reorganization on Monday, June 1.

“Genmar’s reorganization is designed to allow Ranger to uphold its commitments to its outstanding dealer network and loyal customers while fulfilling the 41-year-old reputation of its product line and business operations. Going forward, Ranger has no plans to relinquish its leadership position. Our commitment to quality construction, technological innovation and service at all levels will not wane. Likewise, we remain dedicated to our long-standing involvement with so many great tournament anglers, organizations and friends throughout the industry.

“While the fishing segment has not been immune to adverse economic conditions, it has not been affected to the same degree as other boating categories. I believe that our segment has hit bottom and we are seeing recent evidence of improvement. Therefore, I expect normal business operations today and throughout the course of Genmar’s reorganization process. While these types of circumstances are sometimes subject to rampant speculation and rumors, we encourage specific questions be emailed to info@rangerboats.com so we can provide a timely response. And remember that regardless of the market conditions, Ranger boats are still built, sold and serviced one at a time. It’s who we are and we remain firmly committed to that legendary legacy of leadership.”