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July 2017 | Boating Industry | 45 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// because they enjoy the sheer simplicity of it. There's a migration toward kayak fishing, and it's coming from both ends of the spectrum." Increasingly sophisticated, fishing kayaks not only represent attractive profits for stocking dealers, they also spur the purchase of a wide range of high margin accessories, from simple rod holders and hydrostatic PFDs to high-end multi-function displays, stand-alone GPS and fish finders, and safety gear like portable EPIRBs. "I'll be blunt – kayak fishing is the biggest thing to hit freshwater fishing since Ray Scott in the 1960s," said Steve Trkla, president of Torqeedo Inc. "We make an electric motor for kayaks, and it's one of our biggest growth segments. What kayak fishing allows is a lower barrier to entry, so it's at- tracting a lot of anglers that can't afford a luxury bass boat that might retail for $70,000 or $80,000. Fishing kayaks are one-man boats, rigged with all the same bells and whistles like high definition multi-function displays and Talon anchors, and you can buy one for about $5,000. There's no ongoing fuel cost. There's no insurance cost. You don't need a huge truck to tow it. For Torqeedo, we do the math and see how many people are getting into this and how attractive it is for new people entering the sport, and it's clearly going to just keep getting bigger every year." Future outlook Freshwater fishing remains one of the most popular recreational activities in the United States, says the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation in its 2016 stakeholder report. The organization's new recruitment program – 60 in 60 – aims to boost the number of fishing participants in the U.S. from the current 45.7 million to 60 million over the next 60 months. With growth in the number of first-time anglers up by 4 percent last year, and outpacing overall growth in the U.S. population (0.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau), the future for the freshwater fishing segment looks bright with an expectation of steady, sustained growth. Electric motors are making kayak fishing easier for anglers.