ICAST is touted as the world's largest sport fishing tradeshow, and for the last few years has been hosted in Orlando, FL. It is a giant parade of awesome new products. Kayak fishing has increasingly become a bigger part of the show. There are a great many articles, videos, etc that come out around the show. This is my first re-cap of the days I spent on the floor and on the water at ICAST.

This is what caught my eye, and kept my attention on Day 1 during the Demo. Bonafide Kayaks, fishing kayaks.

 This is the latest brand from Luther Cifers, the founder of YakAttack. Luther, teamed up with Hans Nutz, designer, and Jake Fuller, Marketing, and a host of other folks to get it done. They did it in 7 months. I got to paddle the SS127 on a small pond in front of the Orange County Convention Center.

It proved very stable. At 12'7" and 33.5" wide, this 70+lb kayak is crazy stable. I wanted to try going from the seated position to standing on the gunwales and see how easy the process was to execute. It was very casual, and I really like the way it paddled from that stance.
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Bonafide Kayaks was also one of my first stops when I hit the convention floor. The booth looked good.

The hull on the Bonafide SS127 is an interesting hybrid catamaran style that supplies that top notch stability in such tight frame.

The SS127 also features a watertight, removable pod for mounting electronics and storing your valuables.

Under the seat there is a sliding tackle tray that also incorporates a rod staging design. The track that the sliding tray sits on is plastic to dampen the noise of sliding the tray. You can also spy the innovative seat adjustment options.

The hatches have a unique latching system featured on both front and back of the hatch, allowing a greater versatility for loading and unloading.

The tankwell burgees include these cool little clips that are easily integrated into crate security and to secure coolers, etc.

The handles are beefy and easy on the hands. The seat is fully adjustable and offers unparalleled height in a kayak that offers exceptional stability. You can also spy the rod staging , paddle keep rubber on the bow. There are a host of kayak fishing specific design features that we'll continue to highlight as this product gets closer to hitting the market. Bonafide Kayaks are offering 4 colors to start, including Cool Hand Blue.

The Bonafide Kayaks are expected to ship this winter. We'll be stocking a strong run. So if you have interest, give us a call and get put on the list. When we get them in, you'll be first on the call list and given a shot at buying one of the first of these fresh new kayak fishing platforms.