A Trident to sausage sticks on opening morning at the Tinley Fishing Expo

Of course I stopped when I saw Greg Ferris sitting in a pedal-powered watercraft on the far end of the Tinley Park Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo on opening morning Friday.

The Tinley Fishing Expo (https://tinleyfishexpo.com/) continues through Sunday at the Tinley Park Convention Center.

The Trident Explorer Watercraft is a sort of a hybrid kayak with many options for power. The basic model comes with the pedal-power (a kayak paddle with an innovation for feet power by Ferris), but a trolling motor may mounted in front or a small motor in back.

But his first foray into the complete business side grew out of his love of kayak fishing. The problem with kayak fishing he found was that winds over 10 mph pretty much made fishing tough to impossible.

It’s different with the Trident.

“You don’t have to think about paddling,” he noted. “I just wanted to fish more.”

Four years went into developing the Trident. Ferris is a product developer by trade.

It is a tri-hull with three pontoons, which can be hauled in the bed of a pickup. It can be taken out by hand and is designed to be wheeled to the water. You don’t need a dolly. You can stand to fish in it and there is the option of two different seats (a two-seater model is also coming.) Ferris proudly notes it is made of all Midwest parts. Adventure Designs Watercraft is in Muscatine, Iowa.

The basic model goes for $3,000 retail, but all kinds of customizations are offered.

His booth is 121, next to Quest Watersports, which has all the kayaks.

Ferris is planning a demo day (tentatively April 20) at Tampier and Busse Woods.

More details about the craft is at https://www.adventuredesignswatercraft.com/.

• One of the first places to catch my eye was the Mud in Yer Eye Lures & Flies (booth 809). Robin Volke, a Minooka man, does cool work with flies, custom rods and custom gifts with flies or lures inside of glass balls. More information may be found at facebook.com/MudinYerEye. I plan to visit the booth again today and do something more on Volke another day.
• I love going to shows, especially for the tidbits I pick up. Such as Tim Jacob by the Fish Tales booth (613) telling me about C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, which Jacob reads on his Kindle even when sitting for deer hunting. “It keeps me still,” Jacob said.
• At the Forest Preserves of Cook County booth (603), I was struck by the cover photo on the FPCC calendar of a periodical cicada (2024 is going to be a big year for them). The photo was taken by Fidencio Marbella. Credit should also go to fisheries technician Mike Feldman, who dubbed these cicadas “Sky Shrimp.”
• A 20-foot collapsible fiberglass cane pole stopped me at the Wolf River Resorts booth (306). The 20-footer goes for $35, the 18-footers for $27 and the 16-footers for $24. I think I might get one today when I go back to use when kayak fishing around lily pads.
• John’s Elgin Market, the famed meat market, is at booths 310-312. I had to buy fistful of a variety of sausage sticks (five for $12) to take home for myself and our youngest son.