Contact Robin Smillie Florida Sportsman Magazine 1-813-839-7696

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What: Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show (A product of Florida Sportsman Magazine.)

When: Sat. and Sun., November 8-9 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., 10. a.m. to 5 p.m.Sun

Where: Prime Osborn Convention Center 1000 Water St. Downtown Jacksonville

Admission:$8 adults, children 12 and under with parent free. Look for $3-off coupon in Florida Sportsman Magazine and $2-off coupon at the web site FLORIDASPORTSMAN.COM/SHOWS

Fishing and Boat Show has something for everyone--seminars, demonstrations, fishing boats and a huge indoor tackle sale.

Florida Sportsman Magazine will host their fourteenth annual Fishing and Boat Show at the Prime Osborn 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 Convention Center, with fishing boats and accessories added to the mix.

“One of the centerpiece attractions of the Show is the Riggin’ it Right Academy, Offshore and Inshore” 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.

New to Riggin it Right is a filet demonstration where several lucky attendees who get their ticket drawn will take home a bag of flounder, 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. The most 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.”

Also new this year is a demonstration called Angler on Foot, where local beach fishing guru Larry Finch teaches east coast beach fishing, pier, bridge and flats fishing.

“Larry Finch makes his living at pulling fish from the surf,” says Smillie. “Each November he averages 100 pounds of pompano per day on hook and line. He‘s been surf fishing the east coast of Florida for 35 years and says these are the best days of surf fishing he’s ever seen.” If you’re like most surf fishermen, you’ve stood there without a bite while Finch reeled them in right next to you. This seminar will teach you how a pro does it and cover everything about gathering your own sand fleas, tackle selection, tying terminal rigs and Finch’s secrets to being at the right place at the right time. As an added bonus one lucky seminar attendee will win one of Finch’s DVDs on surf fishing the east coast of Florida.

Yet another new event is the Kayak Stage where Sportsman Associate Editor Jerry McBride teaches how to fish from a kayak using a slide show and a Hobie kayak fully tricked out for fishing Jacksonville‘s inshore waters.

“I recently trimmed my personal kayak fleet from eight to four boats, and sold my ‘real‘ boat,” says McBride “I hadn’t used it in two years! Kayaks allow me to access prime fishing waters off limits to larger craft while avoiding the nightmare of crowded boat ramps. And the purchase and outfitting of a fishing kayak represents a fraction of the cost of traditional boating, especially in view of current fuel prices. Then there’s the stealth factor, as fish become ever more wary of trolling motors and hull slap. Throw in the cardiovascular exercise and it’s no surprise kayak fishing is the fastest growing segment in saltwater fishing.” Kayak manufacturers are responding with fleets of new kayak models and specialty craft for inshore and offshore fishing. Jerry and local experts can guide you through the clutter in choosing a kayak if you’re a newcomer to the sport, and show you what accessories you need and what will just be in the way. Between seminars, these expert "yakkers" will be on hand to discuss kayaks, gear, tackle and fishing techniques that will enhance your skills no matter how you fish.

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 from the Fly Fishing Federation. Kids events include an indoor spincast pond where volunteer parents teach casting techniques and all participants win a Zebco tackle box, a virtual reality bass fishing display, 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 Fins Superline booth and receive a free spool of line.

Along with the exhibitors selling tackle and fishing-related merchandise and 10,000 square feet of 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 trout 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 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 with each seminar speaker, 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, Sportsman pro-staffer Terry Sturgeon, a Jacksonville based charter skipper, will give hands-on instruction in throwing a castnet at the 600-sq.-ft. castnet pit. "I teach two methods--the standard double load is one, but I also teach the Calusa Nets 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, 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 northeast Florida, ” says Editor Jeff Weakley, who will be in attendance at the show. “There are endless fishing opportunities there and we’re looking forward to meeting our readers and hearing their fishing stories.” Also in the booth will be Florida Sportsman Live radio show hosts Capt. Rick Ryals and Roger Walker as well as two authors of the popular Sportsman Best book series, Capt. Terry Lacoss of Amelia Island and Capt. Buck Hall of Pensacola.

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.”

“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.”