A look at the 10 best fishing products of the last 75 years. Used Boat Sales

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Last year, the American Sportfishing Association, the voice for the sportfishing industry, celebrated its 75th anniversary. Recently, they partnered with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation to survey thousands of this country's most avid anglers to find out which products they feel have been the most instrumental in shaping the sport over the past seven and a half decades.

Sorted by the date of introduction, these are the top 10 fishing products which span six categories: accessories, electronics, lines, lures, reels and rods:

Original Rapala Floater Minnow (1936). This hard body lure is one of the most successful and widely used lures in fishing history. It is still the "go to" lure of many of today's bass and trout anglers.

Nibble, Nabber Springloaded Bobber (1947). This red and white bobber replaced the cork as an indicator of a strike. In those days many anglers fished with live bait and the bobber made suspending them at a desired depth simpler and easier.

Mitchell 3000 (1949). This was the first commercially successful spinning reel and is one of the most common reels used today. Costing $18.95 in the 1950's, that was a good sum of money and out of reach for many of us. But it was the best spinning reel on the market. My first one was purchases overseas through a serviceman's rod and gun club and was shipped home, awaiting my discharge. It was a tough workhorse of a reel and millions
of casts were made with it. The only thing that ever went wrong with it was the bail spring, and fortunately, Dick Moon's Sporting Goods Store in Pittsfield had the capability of making and replacing them.
n Crème Plastic Worm (1949). It changed the sport forever as the first, and still famous, long lasting artificial worm that both looked and felt real. (It changed my tackle box forever, too because it interacted with the plastic tackle box and actually melted into and ruined it).

Zero Bomb Company Closed Face Spincast Reel (1949). Costing only $3 or $4, it made fishing easy and affordable to everyone, regardless of age, gender or expertise. I had a lot of entanglements with mine which contributed greatly to my vocabulary of profanity. It finally ended up on the bottom of one of our lakes, (accidentally dropped overboard of course). They have greatly improved since then and are currently manufactured by ZEBCO Brands.

Lowrance Fish Lo-k-Tor (1957). The Little Green Box introduced anglers to the use of sonar in locating individual fish.

DuPont Stren Monofilament Line (1958). Improved the durability, affordability and casting ability of fishing line while reducing its visibility to fish.

Minn Kota Trolling Motor (1958). This was the first electric gear-driven trolling motor that gave anglers the ability to quietly maneuver and position their boats. Originally manufactured by Minn Kota, it is now manufactured by Johnson Outdoors.

Fenwick High Modulus Graphite Rod (1972). Its super-sensitive carbon (graphite) fibers revolutionized the method of making fishing rods and how anglers fished. I never owned a Fenwick graphite but I owned and still fish with their excellent fiberglass rods.

The Shakespeare Ugly Stick (1976). With its special construction, it created an affordable, unbreakable and dynamic fishing rod still in use today. I like this rod so much that I own two of them in different sizes.

I'll bet some of you gray haired anglers owned and enjoyed many of these products and wonder if you, like me, still have them and dig them out of the closet or cellar from time to time. It is fun dusting them off and thinking back to the good old days, cherishing memories of lunker fish that were (or weren't) landed, where we were fishing at the time and with whom.

The Lake Garfield Association will be sponsoring a fishing derby for children 12 and under next Saturday (Aug. 8) at the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery Lower Pond on Hatchery Road in Mill River. The derby, which is free and open to the public, runs from 9-11 a.m.

Zebra mussels: It is encouraging to see the Lakes and Ponds Assn (LAPA), the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen (BCLS) and representatives from the bass fishing clubs meeting and attempting to establish a dialog on how to address the zebra mussel issue. Obviously, there is some common ground, that being that they all want to see the mussels contained and not spread to neighboring waters. They also agree that ramp monitoring is a good idea and issue a call to the fishing community to volunteer as monitors. They agree to work together to help increase the public's awareness to the perils of the mussels.

Other than Laurel Lake, many sportsmen do not agree on the closing of boat ramps. LAPA would like to see them all temporarily closed (45 days) to help curtail the mussel spread while experts figure out a course of action. Most fishermen that I know disagree. Their position is that Laurel Lake is the only local lake confirmed as having the mussels. If people are cleaning their boats and there are ramp monitors inspecting them, then why exclude the general public from using the other public waters. Besides, the ramp barriers have no effect on those who use canoes and kayaks anyways for they can just be carried anywhere and launched, which is currently happening in a lot of places.

New Requirement MSDS on Tankers

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The U.S. Coast Guard announced that it has submitted a Federal Register notice to the marine community containing guidance on new International Maritime Organization measures. These new measures require that all tank ships subject to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention carrying Annex I cargoes and all ships using Annex I marine fuels have Material Safety Data Sheets aboard. This Safety of Life at Sea Convention requirement will become effective January 1, 2011. It does not apply to inland barges or any other ship not subject to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.

After January 1, 2011, nations party to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention can be expected to verify that ships subject to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention have Material Safety Data Sheets as required. After that date, all U.S. flagged vessels under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention traveling overseas should expect foreign administrations to ask for Material Safety Data Sheets for each Annex I cargo and marine oil fuel on board.

Also after that date, all foreign flagged vessels under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention in U.S. ports should expect the Coast Guard to ask for Material Safety Data Sheets in fulfillment of the United States' duties as a party to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention. The Coast Guard expects that ship's personnel receive Material Safety Data Sheets in a working language or languages understood by them. The Coast Guard expects that occupational exposure limits referenced in a Material Safety Data Sheet be based on an internationally-recognized standard.

The International Maritime Organization has recommended a format for the Material Safety Data Sheet and the Coast Guard encourages the use of this recommended format and content, which is set out in the Federal Register notice. Some nations party to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention may require Material Safety Data Sheets to follow the International Maritime Organization recommendations for format and content.

In most cases, vessels will already have Material Safety Data sheets for all cargoes that usually will contain the recommended information. In some cases, certain recommended data may not apply to the bulk liquid in question (data not applicable should be so noted); however, some member nations may require all of the recommended information.

The notice is available at the Office of the Federal Register Public Inspection Desk at www.federalregister.gov. After publication, it will be available in the Federal Register and at www.regulations.gov, docket number: USCG-2009-0553.

Northrop Grumman Contract, 10th Amphibious Ship

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The U.S. Navy awarded a $213.8m cost-plus-fixed-fee advance procurement contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) that will provide long lead materials for LPD 26, the tenth amphibious transport dock ship of the USS San Antonio (LPD 17) class.

The funds will be used to purchase long lead time materials and major equipment in support of the new ship, such as main engines and diesel generators. The work will be performed at the company's Gulf Coast facilities. The award of a contract for the detail design and construction of LPD 26 is anticipated in mid-2010.

The ten ships of the LPD 17 class are a key element of the Navy's ability to project power ashore. Collectively, these ships functionally replace over 41 ships (LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LST 1179 classes of amphibious ships) providing the Navy and Marine Corps with modern, sea-based platforms that are networked, survivable, and built to operate with 21st century platforms, such as the MV-22 Osprey and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV).

The LPD 17-class ships are 684 ft long, 105 ft wide and displace approximately 25,000 tons. Their principal mission is to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades. The ship can carry up to 800 troops and have the capability of transporting and debarking air cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing craft and EFVs, augmented by helicopters or vertical take off and landing aircraft such as the MV-22. These ships will support amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st Century.

U.S. brokers look north to sell rising boat inventory. Sell A Boat

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Faltering American economy and election-year jitters put Canadian buyers in the driver's seat.
Faced with a faltering economy and election-year jitters among consumers, American yacht brokers are looking north of the border to find customers for their growing inventory of boats.

The Canadian dollar reaching parity with the U.S. greenback piqued interest in cross-border boat shopping among Canadians, and even now with the dollar at a weaker 93 cents US, Allen Powell, president of the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association, said Canadians are still heading south in search of boats.

"We've had Canadians coming all the way down here," said Powell, who owns Capital City Yachts in Olympia, Wash., which primarily sells trawlers from 45 to 75 feet, ranging from $580,000 US to over $1 million. "We just delivered a brand new powerboat to a Canadian, and we just delivered a sailboat that was built in Canada and is going back to Canada.

"Our goal is to encourage your fellow countrymen to come and look and to look seriously because there is a lot of inventory that brokers are anxious to sell," he said. "Frankly, a lot of people, ourselves included, are looking at getting the '09 models in and not having to worry about the '08 models that are still here."

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Just as real estate here has switched from a sellers' to a buyers' market, boat buyers in the U.S. are now in the driver's seat. Powell said with election years traditionally weaker for those luxury purchases, the November presidential vote is only making it more difficult to sell boats to Americans.

"The dollar parity has helped for sure, and I think your economy has been more robust. It is certainly more stable," said Powell. "It seems to me that has helped, and I assume that has brought some people who might have been sitting on the fence to buy.

"The other thing that has been helpful to Canadian buyers is that there is more inventory, and so the choices are greater."

Like the auto business, gas guzzlers are the new pariahs on the water, and Powell said there has been a shift to more efficient powerboats and sailboats, driven by concern for the environment as well as concern for pocketbooks.

"The sailboat inventory is probably at one of the lowest [points], it is a lot lower than last year," he said, adding that the same cannot be said for twin gas-engine powerboats.

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"People can certainly afford the boat, but they would rather not spend $10,000 a year on fuel," he said of those 40-foot-plus gas-felled boats.

"People are looking for conservative purchases. They are concerned about fuel costs, but also about their carbon footprint," he said.

"We are educating our purchasers that they should look locally first, and if they want to buy something in Seattle or south of the border, we can act for them, just as a real estate agent does when they are buying a house," he said. "We use our expertise to help them import a boat."

Costs can vary, but generally Canadian buyers will be paying GST and provincial sales tax on boats they bring in from the U.S. And depending on where the boat was manufactured, they may also face costs for duty.

"Generally speaking, the selection is better," said Horne. "There is a perception that the U.S. economy is weak and there are bargains galore, but in reality the boats that are repossessed are older boats and they have been let go. The buys aren't phenomenal."

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Gas Prices Pinching Some Boaters To Sell Their Boat

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OKLAHOMA CITY -- High gas prices have some small boat owners struggling to afford the fuel to keep their boats on the water.

Vendors at the Original Free RV and Boat Show at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds Sunday said sales of smaller boats have been struggling this year.

Doug Duvall of Boat and RV World in Edmond said large boat sales are still OK, but his business is seeing a lot of people seeking to sell back smaller boats.

“A lot of them will have their motorcycle and their boat and their four-wheelers as their toys,” he said. “Well, they are streamlining toys that take gas.”

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Duvall said boat dealers in Oklahoma are weathering the situation better than their counterparts in California.

Mark Webster brought his wife Yvonne to the boat show, browsing for something they could use for fishing and skiing. Webster said fuel prices wouldn’t make or break his buying decision.

“It's a concern, because you've got your fuel expenses to and from the lake, plus the boat expenses, but it's not really a big factor,” said Webster.

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