ORLANDO, Fla. — Pimp my boat is coming to ICAST.
A veteran who takes youth fishing will receive a surprise payback this week courtesy of Humminbird and Minn Kota, which will also broadcast the process on their Facebook pages.
“We’re going to do something that’s never been done on the ICAST showroom floor,” Humminbird spokesman Jeff Kolodzinski said. “We going to do a complete bow-to-stern overhaul on a boat for a person who has given so much of their life, their talent and their time, to the next generation of anglers.”
The unsuspecting Desert Storm soldier is unaware his boat has been absconded and is at booth 217 at ICAST 2019, where it will be transformed right before our eyes. Any distinguishable items on the 2006 Skeeter have been covered so no one can possibly tip off the angler, who should be plenty surprised with the reveal on Thursday.
A team of professional boat riggers will do the upgrades while pro anglers, including Bassmaster Elites Chris Zaldain, Seth Feider, Carl Jocumsen and Keith Combs, will be on hand during the installs Wednesday and Thursday for the One-Boat Network Live broadcasts.
Kolodzinski said the improvements include an Ultrex trolling motor from Minn Kota, 15-inch Humminbird Solix 15 bow and console units and 360 Imaging, Talon Shallow Water anchors, JL Audio marine system, Rigid Lights, Battleborn Batteries, a HydroWave unit and a T-H Marine hot foot, among others. The pros will talk about how they use the network, which connects the trolling motor, fish finder and shallow water anchors.
Kolodzinski said he expects the reveal to be similar to Ty Pennington’s Extreme Makeover shows, where homeowners react at the amazing updates. He imagines the boat owner might even weep after seeing the $20,000 in improvements.
That big reveal will be at 3 p.m. ET Thursday. Then on Friday, the Humminbird and Minn Kota pros Zaldain and Brandon Palaniuk will go on the water to help show the recipient how easy everything is to operate.
