“Providing the best in water sports since 1995"

As I’ve written many times one of the best things about writing articles about people in the kayak fishing world is I get to spend a little time either with them or on the phone getting to know them. I really enjoy learning more about them and what they do. That’s the case with Brent Torgeson. While I no longer run a kayak fishing business we found a lot of common ground as our business philosophies is very similar. Brent gets it and he’s about customer service and creating a positive and friendly environment that makes people feel at home. He loves what he does. We also spoke about Baja, one of my favorite places and the changes both in the San Diego (I lived there in the mid 80s) area and Baja.

As Brent says they carry just about every conceivable accessory used in kayak fishing. One thing that’s especially nice about the shop is Hobie is in their backyard and because of this they can get any part in a day or two. Hobies have more working parts because of the mechanical drive and while it’s a reliable unit, every Hobie owner is going to need some parts at some point. The vast majority of Hobie dealers doesn’t carry parts or only have a few basic items. I’ve had many people ask me where they could get stuff and now I have an answer for them. OEX can get anything Hobie has in just a day or two so if you need something just give them a call.

I asked Brent how I should list the business since it encompasses a few names.  OEX Dive & Kayak Centers are their brick & mortar and Kayak Fishing Supplies is their online store dedicated to kayak fishing. Combining diving and kayak fishing is great. After all the rear compartment of most SOT kayaks is called a tank well for a reason. That’s because they were designed for transporting scuba tanks so people could use kayaks as dive access vessels.

I have to admit when I first looked at your website I wasn’t sure how my shops you have.  How many do you have? We have 5 stores and 4 of those have a concentration on kayak fishing.  (Mission Bay, Kearny Mesa, Oceanside and Sunset Beach) Mission Bay store is the main showroom for kayak fishing.

I understand you deal in kayaks, kayak fishing and diving?  How did you get started in kayak fishing? I started kayak fishing in Baja MX most notably in Cabo San Lucas.  Kayaks were a fantastic way to explore new areas that were hard to access by boat.  It gave me an opportunity to spear fish and SCUBA off the kayak as well. When did you start selling kayaks? We started selling kayaks in 1997.

Which was your first store? Our first store was La Jolla in 1995, where we have kayak rental and do tours to the La Jolla Sea Caves, we also are a 5 star PADI dive facility as well.

What brands do you carry? Kayak Brands are Malibu Kayaks, Wilderness Systems, Ocean Kayak, and Hobie Kayaks.  We sell just about every accessory you can imagine.

When did you start shipping accessories and kayaks? We started shipping about 4 years ago.

When we spoke you told me about some of the trips the shop runs. Can you tell us more about a couple of them? Every spring we run a couple mother ship trips out to the Channel Islands, we take 20 guys and it’s a basic hotel for them where they can kayak fish areas where they just could not paddle to.  After a long day they can come on the boat, shower and have a great warm meal.  We have article/story below about it.  http://www.bigwatersedge.com/index.php?page=islander_trip

Anything new and exciting you have planned for the future? We would like to take some of the ideas we have come up with over the years and comments from our customers, and try to put them to the test and come up with new products that the kayak fishing community can benefit from.

Do you have a pro staff?  If yes, how many, what does it entail?  Who are they? We do have some pro staff members that are fantastic ambassadors that help grow the sport of kayak fishing.   It would be difficult to name all of them because, I feel that even our customers that have been with us for so many years are also a part of the pro staff team, even though they may not have that as a true title. 

Anything else you’d like to add? We here at OEX & KayakFishingSupplies.com appreciate all the support over the last couple years in these hard times and know that without that support we would not be able to keep doing what we enjoy, for that I say thanks from all of us! Brent