Demo Days Report

Being a new member of the Wilderness Systems Pro Staff has been a blast for me. I've had the opportunity to promote both kayak fishing and Wilderness in many ways. I have had the great pleasure to speak on the "Advantages of Fishing Texas bays from a Kayak" to several different angler groups including local chapters of the CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) & the FFF (Fly Fishing Federation). The past two weekends I spent at the Austin Canoe & Kayak Demo Days. Two weeks ago, it was in Austin and this past weekend, it was held on the San Marcos River in San Marcos, TX. Our first weekend we had great weather and pretty good turn out. Unfortunately, last weekend we had lots of rain and it kept most folks away from the demo in San Marcos. But we hung out with the die-hards who braved the bad weather to check out the yaks.

I had such a great time talking fishing and fishing boats with all of the people who came out. I met so many nice folks. I met tons of fellow yak-anglers from our local kayak-fishing forums such as TexasKayakFisherman.com and AustinKayakFishing.com that I knew just online. That's cool!

I took my Tarpon 160 and set it up on display rigged for the water. I had my stick anchor deployed. My crate loaded and my rods in the holders. My AT paddle in the holder. I do not think there was a single angler that didn't spend some time checking out my Tarpon including pro staff from OK and Malibu. LOL!!! And the attendees weren't shy about asking questions about the boat, the rigging, and the tackle. I answered their questions and I enjoyed it.

I can tell you that the Commander 12 is a HIT!!!!! Every angler that looked at the boat was impressed with the thought and detail put into the boat. Whether the boat was right for their kind of fishing or not, they were impressed!!! And I can't tell you how many times I heard the question...." Is there going to be a 14' or 16' version?" Folks are already thinking of long coastal paddles in a Commander hybrid. And I can't blame them, I thought the exact same thing the minute I saw the boat's press release. Once again... designer guys... Great Job on the Commander!!!

I was so busy at the Austin demo that I failed to take many pics. However, with the slow days in San Marcos, I was able to take some photos. The cool thing about San Marcos is that they built a white water park in the middle of town on the San Marcos River. And with Texas State University at the headwaters just several city blocks up stream, the white water park gets lots of use. I was able to get some nice pics of the white water guys playing in our sister brand boats, Dagger and Wave Sport.

Overall it was just a whole lotta fun the past 2 weekends. This weekend I gotta do the yard and some other household chores. But the next weekend, it will definitely be time for me to be "GoinCoastal"!!!!

Check out my photo album entitled ACK DEMOs. I will be putting it up later today.

Peace, Love, and Happiness....... or translated to angling terms......

Calm Seas and Tight Lines!!!

Joe "GoinCoastal" Poole