Tackle Trade World - October 2023

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FEATURE PacBak PACBAK MAKES THE MOST OF ICAST OPPORTUNITY It’s been little over a year since his life and the life of his company, PacBak, took a trajectory that he never saw coming. Founder and chief innovation officer Brian McKinnon said he and his team are still up in the clouds from winning ‘Best of Show’ in the 2022 ICAST New Product Showcase. By John Mazurkiewicz Since that July 22nd, 2022 day when the PacBak P88-MK cooler bested more than 900 entries to take that ICAST honour, McKinnon and crew have not stopped. They had so much work to do. McKinnon explains that PacBak showed up in Orlando in July 2022 with a dream. It had three prototype products to show in a 10x10 booth, and took advantage of the ICAST ‘On The Water’ event to kick things off. He’s glad he did. There was instant interest in the PacBak P88-MK cooler in the July heat and humidity of Florida, and that interest continued on the show floor throughout the next three days. First came winning the ‘Best in Category’ award. Then came ‘Best of Show’ on Thursday. And what came next, says McKinnon, was absolutely life-changing. DARING TO DREAM Already having invested every dime he had in the company and his dream, McKinnon said the ICAST award brought instant credibility to PacBak. “We obviously didn’t expect any of this, and it forced us to keep our focus on what we needed to do and not overextend ourselves or lose our entrepreneurial spirit,” he explained. “The win and subsequent exposure opened up doors to needed investors, including being the first Alaskan start-up company to receive financial assistance from a native Alaskan corporation. That’s historical in the state’s business history.” While manufacturing operations were in place, PacBak needed help with various operations for the business including warehousing, distribution, and beyond. With all those efforts being worked on, the staff also had to follow up on the sales opportunities that came out of the show 54 www.tackletradeworld.com Brian McKinnon and his PacBak team surprised everyone by winning the ICAST 2022 Best of Show award for their cooler. and the tons of media exposure generated from the win. Not only did the product interest the tackle industry but news about the company and its cooler was also discovered by the camping and overland adventure travel markets, adding opportunities and contacts to the crew’s ‘to-do’ list. GOING BIG Through all of this – and as McKinnon says there’s still a new development almost every day – the company established business relationships with the likes Big Rock Sports and Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s and shipped its first bulk order of the P88- MK coolers in early May. He’s ecstatic that both the Bass Pro Shop and Cabela’s stores in Anchorage are selling the product, and he said he’s receiving great assistance from the Big Rock sales reps with the fishing, hunting, and camping retailers they call on. For ICAST ’23, McKinnon said the main mission at the show was to say thanks to the industry for their newfound success. “What amazed most last year at ICAST and from what I’ve learned about the fishing industry since then is how open and helpful people can be. The ‘Best of Show’ win was the key to that, where it seemed that so many wanted us to succeed that they did what they could to help us make that happen.” Within the PacBak booth this year, ICAST show goers saw its new promotional truck camper – a Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition TDR four-wheel truck rigged out specially for adventure travel. When the show ended, McKinnon began a year-long quest to travel coast-tocoast while running the business from the road, stopping at dealers to talk business and fishing when the opportunity presents itself. He has plans on being at the Big Rock Sports dealer shows later this year in Orlando and in Nashville in 2024, possibly the SHOT Show, and other events when possible. He’ll fly back to Alaska if needed, then back to the truck camper with his final destination being ICAST ’24. McKinnon says PacBak has plans for more innovative products to be introduced there. And who knows, he and the PacBak crew may again be up in the clouds. PACBAK pacbak.com The triumphant team returned for ICAST <strong>2023</strong> and now has big plans for other events as it responds to demand.
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Page 16: FEATURE China Fish “LET’S GET T
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Page 22 and 23: FEATURE AFFT CONFLUENCE 2023 EXHIBI
Page 24 and 25: FEATURE SEMPERFLI STILL FLYING HIGH
Page 26 and 27: DBW... RocKy mountains ROCKY MOUNTA
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Page 30 and 31: FEATURE When it comes to fly fishin
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Page 35 and 36: SPOTLIGHT ON... LINE BERKLEY TRILEN
Page 37 and 38: Kaptura led the construction of hoo
Page 39 and 40: CARBON FIBER JUMBO FLY TYING TOOLS
Page 42 and 43: FEATURE Zenaq AN INNOVATIVE JIGGING
Page 44 and 45: FEATURE SwimWell RETURNING YOUR FIS
Page 46 and 47: FEATURE Scott Fly Rod SCOTT FLY ROD
Page 48 and 49: MAKING CONTACT Making Contact 2 1 W
Page 50: FEATURE Energofish Fast, simple, ef
Page 53: Mazzaferro FEATURE awareness among
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Page 59 and 60: CHINA SEA FISHING CHAMPIONSHIP (HAI
Page 61 and 62: Classifieds SPLIT RING PLIERS CLASS
Page 63: CATMAGNET - Design by Ramón Nieto
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Tackle Trade World - October 2023

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