2015 Pro-Staff Updates

Over the past year I have been very fortunate to work with some outstanding companies in the kayak and fishing industries, and am very pleased to say I'll be doing more of the same work in 2015! There are some changes though, not all of which were easy decisions to make.

Already as a member of the Johnsons Adventure on the Water team I promote the companies that fall under their group including Old Town, Ocean Kayak, Extrasport (PFDs), and Carlisle Paddles. Before the holidays Johnsons contacted me and told me they would like to have me join their Pro-Staff Elite Council. Here I will be part of a very select group of world class kayak anglers who will regularly meet to discuss new features to the fishing kayak product line, brainstorm improvements, give community feedback and so forth. It is an honor to be asked to join such a group, and as the lone Canadian and only 1 of 2 non-Americans in the elite council, I will work hard to ensure any feedback I can gather here in Canada makes it's way to the right people at Johnsons!

After discovering Denali rods in 2014, I spent a fair amount of effort trying my best to help Denali Rods break into the Canadian market. Using these rods almost exclusively in 2014, I have the highest level of confidence in there strength and durability, found they have amazing sensitivity and are extremely light weight. Basically what more could you ask for in a kayak rod? However without a Canadian distributor, it is very hard for a rod company to gain a strong presence here North of the border.

Recently I was approached by the Pure Fishing team and asked if I would be interested in joining them as a Brand Ambassador. Pure Fishing covers some of the biggest and best names in the fishing industry and it was an absolute honor and surprise that I would be given such an opportunity. There are 19 companies under thier banner covering freshwater, salt water, fly fishing and everything in between. Already a big fan of many of the products from these companies; I am extremely excited to have an opporunity to use, review and promote their products this coming year!

As part of the decision to join Pure Fishing, I had to break ties however with Denali which really was a difficult decision to make.  However, this year I'll be using Rods and reels from Abu Garcia and Ugly Stik for my freshwater fishing, but also will have access to Penn and Pflueger equipment for out in the Bay of Fundy.  In the meantime, if you are interested in one or more of my Denali Rods, let me know and I'll be able to cut you a great deal!

The next big news I have is that I've been asked to join forces with Railblaza, a company out of New Zealand who makes rod holders, a great looking all purpose kayak cart, and other kayak accessories. With a distributor already in Canada, I will be using, reviewing and promoting Railblaza (as well as YakAttack) components this year in place of the Scotty products you may be familiar with seeing on my boats.

Finally, I will continue this year to use, support and promote other great companies this year who have been kind enough to allow me to work with them. These companies include YakAttack, Fishbum, Yakima, Owner Hooks, Sea Specs, Clam, Vexilar and Lyman Lures.

My sincere thanks to all these companies in supporting my efforts to grow the sport of kayak fishing here in Eastern Canada!