2016 AFTA Trade Show

Minn Kota Riptide and iPilot Trolling System

Every year, like most industries, the Australian tackle industry holds a trade show where wholesalers get together in one place to display their wares. This gives retail outlets across the country an opportunity to view new products and innovations and decide what they will stock their shelves with for the following year.

For many wholesalers, this is the place where they can bring new concepts to the market and gauge the response from potential buyers and consumers.

Most wholesalers are agents for bigger overseas manufacturers. For the most part, these wholesalers will endeavor to pick products from vast catalogues in the hope that they will suit the fishing needs of their customers and Australian anglers.

As in previous years the 2016 trade show was a three day event held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre at the end of July. The weather was nothing short of spectacular, and getting the opportunity to spend some time fishing for eastern yellowfin bream on the Gold Coast canals just made the trip that little bit more rewarding.

Atomic Trick Bitz assist hooks

Each year at the show there is also the opportunity to vote on a number of Best in Show categories. As always it is a highlight to see the products that have garnered some interest and as a result, appear in various Best of Show categories. Even more exciting is when your picks come up as winners.

Now before I go any further I should point out that every year sees differing numbers of wholesalers attending. Some years are better than others and some wholesalers never attend these shows at all. While trade shows are a good indication of what is out there, they are by no means the be all and the end all of what is and will be available in the Australian Fishing market place.

Likewise, there are many new innovations on display and subsequently, many product launches of imitations in the years following the show. For better or for worse, they are all a part of the cycle of the industry and are played out in a similar fashion the world over.

Interestingly most years will generally have some sort of a theme, and while sometimes it is not really evident at the show, it will turn up the year after in the proliferation of certain styles of fishing. About five years ago it was squid fishing front and centre. Before that it was the heavy jigging while in recent years it has probably been the light jigging craze.

Semi naked squid jig

This year it seemed that squid fishing had been shunned; light jigging was still popular with a few more new jig companies bringing out products as well as the still prevalent jigging rods filling many stands.

As always there is new barra, bass and bream gear on display which is no surprise, as these three species seem to be the most sought after species right across Australia.

So before I reveal the best of show winners I just want to mention that it was great to see BLA at the show with their wide range of brands on display. While being a wholesaler of boating gear it is certainly good to see and helped make the show bigger and better than it has been in the past.

On that note, one particular item caught my eye at the BLA stand that is probably my pick for best product at the show. It is a relatively simple product called the Life Cell. It holds all of your safety gear, keeping it dry and in one place and comes with a bracket that will allow all of your safety gear to float free should your boat sink. Given the recent tragedies off the coast here in WA I wonder what the outcome might have been if the boats had a Life Cell on board?

Here are the Best of Show Winners for 2016

Industry Achievement Awards went to Jarvis Walker and Wilson Fishing for both being in the industry for 70 years.

So the show is done for another year, but before we go here is a pick of some of the products that we thought were interesting enough to get a mention.

Life Cell
Juro Ice jig
P8 Platypus line