Have you ever seen a 5-10 year old in the week leading up to a Disney World trip? That's me as ICAST draws near. I have a hard time containing my psyche. This year was no different, and the psyche was warranted. What a great show! ICAST is the annual trade show for the fishing industry and took place July 15-17 in Orlando, Fla. The show is not open to the public, but rather is an industry event for retailers, exhibitors and members of the media. It's basically a new gear showcase, a fishing industry brainstorming session, and a media hype fest.

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ICAST is billed as the largest sportfishing tradeshow around, and kayak fishing has started to make major waves within it's halls. As you cruise the Orange County Convention Center it becomes increasingly clear that kayak fishing is here to stay, and grow. The sportfishing industry generated 53.5 billion dollars in 2014. Kayak anglers currently account for 7-12% of all anglers. Most anglers fish from land, and many from boats. What does that tell us? Kayak fishing has a lot of room for growth. It's happening.

Here's a shot of the Jackson Kayak / Orion Cooler booth drawing a lot of attention. Jackson Kayak continually strives to be in the forefront of this burgeoning industry and their push into coolers is indicative of that drive.

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But I'm getting ahead of myself. I cruised down to Florida a day early and fished Monday morning in the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville. I hooked a juvenile tarpon at a creek mouth, watched in excitement as it leapt about, and then had it spit the hook 3 ft from the kayak.

After that tragedy I spooked some shallow reds with my terrible fly casting and then hooked on the smallest catfish in the lagoon on a popping cork. The face says it all.

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That evening I ventured over to the Banana River and a cove in which I'd hooked and lost a snook last year. After an hour of nothing, I started to feel discouraged. Why was nothing biting? Then I spotted two dolphin frolicking, four manatee stampeded past, and this guy popped up 5ft off my bow.

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So I resigned to watching the sunset with my scaled friend and headed for some sleep before the first ICAST On The Water demo. Tuesday I awoke and drove to Lake Toho in Orlando for the demo. It was a pretty sweet location.

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I took the chance to paddle the latest Eddyline Kayak, the C 135 Stratofisher. I liked it immediately. I gushed online and even texted my wife, this kayak was pretty sweet! I found the C 135 to have that usual Eddyline buttery feel in the water, the Cloud framed seat was comfy and the open deck provided a very stable platform for standing.

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After the Demo it was New Product Showcase time at ICAST in the convention center. Due to the strict adherence of the media only photography rules, and because a lady in uniform shook her head at me when I tried to snap some cell phone pics, I refrained from going all paparazzi on Tuesday afternoon.

But the next day it was on. Here are some of the cool things kayak fishing related that I came across.

The Hobie Outback Limited Edition. Word is they will only be making 500 of these kayaks to celebrate 15 years of Outback goodness. We should get our hands on some, and they will be a hot item. Good marketing idea by Hobie Fishing and the kayak looks great!

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Next I saw the Native Watercraft Ultimate Propel with a slick wrap job. This beauty was stunning.

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It featured a new tackle storage system that looked very promising as well.

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Another hot item on the floor was the Torqueedo motor for the Wilderness Systems ATAK. The hype train has been chugging along in the week lead up to ICAST and folks were psyched to see what all the fuss was about. It looked pretty good. Are you ready to go farther and faster?

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What really got my attention in the Confluence booth though was the Perception Pescador Pro 120. The price on this is rumored to be around $899 and I believe this kayak will be a real winner.

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I hopped over to the NRS booth and checked out their new line of kayak fishing specific clothing. The line looks good and everything had a nice feel to it. Stay tuned for this category because it will be a hot one. Kayak fisherman need quality clothing for all day adventure.

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Feelfree Kayaks was next. These boys are always innovating. They added an electronics pod to the Lure 11.5, started making coolers, added a stand assist bar, and debuted a prototype non-electric anchor pole kit dubbed the "Po Kit." The color coordination of their product line continues to impress.

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I visited Astral Fishing's booth next. The crew from Asheville has been busy. The debuted the Realtree Ronny Fisher, the Murica Brewers, and a host of other cool colors for their footwear. They also revealed their sandal line-up which grabbed a lot of attention.

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ICAST is a whirlwind of cool stuff. I'll post a Part 2 tomorrow featuring more great new products. ICAST can be overwhelming and so with these first two photo blogs I'm just seeking to highlight, with overviews, all the things I saw. Later, in subsequent postings I'll narrow down and individually review some of the things you can expect to see in our stores for Fall 2015 and the 2016 season.