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Florida Sportsman Magazine will host their thirteenth annual Fishing and Boat Show at the Lee Civic Center and the popular magazine promises that the Show will be bigger and better than previous years, with ongoing seminars, kids’ events, hands-on instruction and demonstrations. The most popular part of the event--a huge indoor tackle sale--will fill the 50,000 square foot Civic Center on Bayshore Road, with fishing boats and accessories covering the grounds in front of the Center. A kids’ fishing tournament is planned at the lake in front.

“One of the centerpiece attractions of the Show is the Riggin’ it Right Academy, Offshore and Inshore, sponsored by Boater‘s World,” says Show Director Robin Smillie. “Our magazine has a sharp focus on instruction and how-to, so this classroom setting is our way of bringing the pages of Sportsman to life.”

Show attendees sit at “learning stations” with supplies at hand, including wire, mono, pliers, and fresh bait like ballyhoo, sardines, and shrimp. Sportsman staff give personal hands-on instruction at rigging everything from a swimming mullet to a popping cork rig.

The most popular session at Riggin it Right is a filet demonstration where several lucky attendees who get their ticket drawn will take home a bag of grouper and snapper filets.

“If you want to learn from the pros and get your hands wet with the real thing,” adds Smillie, “just take a seat--it’s all included in one admission price. Some of the more popular topics are the wired swimming ballyhoo rig tied by tournament pros in the Offshore Academy and how to rig, cast and retrieve all the different types of lures in the Inshore Academy.”

The Show also features an offshore and inshore seminar stage, a hands-on “castnet pit,” a knot-tying table, and flycasting pond complete with expert casting instructors. Kids events include an indoor spincast pond where volunteer parents teach casting techniques and all participants win a Zebco tackle pack, sportfish face painting by paraplegic artist Tony Ryals, and Fish Identifier Game where kids are challenged to match pictures of fish placed throughout the Expo Hall.

The list of exhibitors reads like a Who’s Who in Florida Fishing with over 100 booths of fishing tackle and boats, state agencies, conservation groups and seminar speakers. Most of the exhibitors are set up to sell tackle, fishing gear, clothing, charters and guides, fishing boats and accessories, so deals and bargains are the order of the day. In one of the many promotions, anyone who purchases fishing reels at the show can take their new reels to the Berkley Trilene booth and have it spooled with line for free.

Along with exhibitors selling tackle, fishing-related merchandise and 25,000 square feet of tricked-out fishing boats, the Show focuses on instruction and information for the novice as well as the accomplished angler. "All of our seminar speakers have a wealth of angling knowledge,” says Smillie. “We want to make that information available to the average weekend fishermen and their families."

Hard-core fishing information will be offered by a dozen of the area’s top fishing pros on subjects that range from fishing for snook with artificials to bottom fishing for snapper and grouper. Realistic fishing conditions will be simulated as seminar speakers share their knowledge from the decks of working fishing boats. The seminar stages are real fishing boats, fully outfitted for inshore and offshore fishing applications. The inshore stage is a Sterling flats boat floating in a 10,000-gallon portable pond--the seminar speaker stands on the front deck and gives a lesson by casting lures to the edge of a stand of mangroves. The offshore stage is a 26-foot Sailfish offshore boat loaded with downriggers, marine electronics, bait wells and tackle. Seminar speakers stand in the cockpit of the boat and demonstrate the proper use of these fishing devices. The audience will experience the virtual reality of fishing and enjoy a sense of being there on the boat, learning first hand what makes these pros so successful.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will display the Florida Sportsman Grand Slam Tank, a 500-gallon mobile aquarium that houses a live redfish, sea trout, and snook. The redfish and snook were hatched and reared at the Port Manatee hatchery near Tampa, but the trout was captured from the wild. Florida Sportsman Senior Editor Vic Dunaway coined the phrase “Grand Slam” during his early years with the magazine and it is now used worldwide to describe catching three local gamefish in the same day. Also in the FF&WCC booth will be representatives of the Wildlife Division and the Florida Marine Enforcement Division.

For those who want to learn how to net their own bait, Buster McKenzie of Calusa nets, a Ft. Myers based castnet manufacturer, will give hands-on instruction in throwing a castnet at the 600-sq.-ft. castnet pit. "We teach two methods--the standard double load is one, but we also teach our own invention called the Dry Load. It’s the easiest to learn, and as the name implies, you won’t get wet. Throwing a perfect circle is all in the load."

At the Florida Sportsman booth, Florida Sportsman staff writers and editors will be on hand to greet the public and talk a little fishing. “We’re never short of story ideas in southwest Florida,” says Editor Jeff Weakley. “There are endless fishing opportunities there and we’re looking forward to meeting our readers and hearing their fishing stories.” Senior Editor Vic Dunaway will be in the booth with a live cooking demonstration and handing out samples of fish chowder made from a recipe in his new book, The Anglers Cookbook.

At the Zebco Kids’ Take Me Fishing Spincast Pond, youngsters will get instruction on casting technique and compete in a can’t-lose contest to win lures and rod-and-reel combos. Every child who enters will receive a Zebco Tackle Pack and those who successfully land their lure in a floating target will win a Zebco 12-pound-class spin outfit. “Watching them learn to cast is as much fun for me as fishing,” said Tom Putnam of Half Hitch Tackle. “Last year some neighboring exhibitors got bonked on the head a few times with rubber lures, but over 300 kids walked away with a prize--30 of those prizes were rod-reel combos.”

At the ponds in front of the Civic Center, kids will want to enter the annual Fishing Derby conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Urban Fishing Project. Eleven years ago over 400 channel catfish were released in the ponds to enhance the existing population of bream and largemouth bass, and in every Show since then over 200 youngsters have fished with tackle provided by the project--each received a “goodie bag” of fishing stuff just for participating. This year, Project coordinator Paul Thomas promises greater catch results: “Those fish have had eleven years to eat and grow--I’m sure some of the kids will feel the tug of a big catfish for the first time in their lives.” Anyone who catches a fish has their picture taken with a Polaroid camera and taught how to properly live-release the fish. They keep the picture and the memory.

“Anyone who enjoys fishing will have something to see,” promises Smillie. “It’s a Family Fishing Festival, so bring the kids and plan on spending the entire day surrounded by fishing events and fishing stuff.”