Tomorrow is the start of the 3 day NB Sportsman Show, a huge event covering all things boating, fishing, hunting, archery and so forth! Thousands of people will attend this event every day, and I've been asked to run a booth to promote both kayak and sturgeon fishing!
Together with a couple of other dedicated kayak anglers, plus a few who will drop by here and there through the weekend to help out, we will have a fantastic time promoting our sport to countless anglers who may not have yet considered fishing from kayak.
On display we will have the Old Town Predator XL with the Utility Console, a kayak we will be giving away a the Hammond River Classic later in the summer! We will also have the new Old Town NEXT canoe/kayak hybrid. These are two fantastic boats, brand new on the market suited to two different audiences, and should appeal to a very wide variety of people. It will be great promotion not only for Old Town, but also Ecological Adventures and Outdoors NB, two local retailers who sell these great products. We may even sell the NEXT right at the show!
We will also have banners and products on display from a whole host of companies who have been very generous in their support of the kayak fishing community. Rods, tackle, clothes, kayak accessories, paddles and more will all be on display at the show to promote these great companies. All these items will then be given away later in the summer at one of our two paddling derbies!
In addition to promoting the sport, the derbies and those companies who have given their support, I'll also promote the recreational sturgeon fishery we have here in New Brunswick, which is the only one of it's kind not only in Eastern Canada but in all of North America! We have a treasure of a resource here that needs to be respected and protected, but also enjoyed which I'm thrilled to educate people on! I've put together a few custom sturgeon rigs which I'll sell at the show, but I only had the materials to spare to make 5, so those should go fairly quickly!
Finally, I'll also be taking advantage of the situation to promote my own little venture of guided recreational kayak fishing. I'll offer certificates for full and half day outings in case anyone wants to purchase one as a gift, and take bookings directly should anyone wish to make one. To help promote this, I'll give away a couple of half day certificates throughout the show.
Put all this together and we will have a lot to discuss with any attendee who is interested! Aside from discussing all these topics, we will also:
- Accept registrations for each of the paddling derbies, and also sell additional tickets on the kayak draws
- Have a brand new high end fishing rod up for raffle, in hopes of making a few dollars to help cover our expenses over the weekend.
- Give away a couple of half day guided kayak outings by drawing from submitted business cards.
- Sell certificates and accept bookings for guided kayak outings.
