As I mentioned in my last blog post, the highlight of my second week was getting the opportunity to travel with TFO to ICAST, the largest tradeshow in the fishing industry. For many, it is a long-time dream to attend this show, and so it was such a privilege to get to see this event at such a young age. The adventure began with travelling down to Orlando, where the show is held. Upon arrival, I met my dad, as he had to check me into a hotel since I was not able to stay with the company. We immediately began the setup process, which took a day and a half, and included dodging wild forklift drivers, and other forms of construction crews.
On Wednesday the actual show started, with hundreds of exhibitors spread over 650,000 square feet, with around 30,000 people attending. The environment was completely overwhelming, but awe-inspiring at the same time. Every company in the fishing market 
I’d ever heard of was there, plus hundreds of ones I hadn’t heard of. The decorations were extravagant, with salt-water class boats everywhere, tanks of 5 pound bass, 2 casting ponds for rod demos, and even a booth that was a two-story log cabin! My favorite booth was probably a fishing simulator which allowed you to feel just like you were fighting a 60-pound tuna in real life. Our booth was constantly busy, and since many of the most influential figures in the industry like Bob Clouser, Flip Pallot, and Lefty Kreh, who are advisors for TFO and I got to talk to them all. My main job for the event was conducting video interviews for TFO, which included advisors, employees, and reps. On Wednesday night, the Drake Magazine hosted it’s annual film awards, which are essentially Academy Awards for fly-fishing movies. It was a great time getting to watch many of my heroes on the big screen and then getting to talk to them in person after the awards. Over the course of the show, the question truly changed from, “Who did I meet?,” to “Who did I not meet?”
On Thursday, my interviews continued, and I also got to go to the casting pond with some of TFO advisors and get a clinic on casting. I also continued to tour the show and see all of the new products. Every year I’m always so excited to read the post-show reports about all the new products, and so it was so neat to get to see everything in person that will be released over the next year. On Friday we displayed for a couple of hours, and then the tear down process began, which thankfully, goes much faster than the setup. On Friday night my dad, Collins (my mentor), and I got to go to a local steakhouse, where I tried a local favorite, gator bites. On Saturday morning I came home and enjoyed a relaxed weekend after the busy week. On Monday, the office work will begin, which will mainly be a special bass project that Collins has prepared for me. Stay tuned next week to hear about my first week in the office and settling in to Dallas!
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