On March 24-25 at the Prime Osborn Center in downtown Jacksonville, the Florida Sportsman Fishing Show will host two days of hard-core fishing information offered by a dozen top fishing pros on subjects that range from catching monster blue marlin to sight casting for redfish. Realistic fishing conditions will be simulated as seminar speakers share their knowledge from the bow of a flats boat floating in a 10,000 gallon pond and an offshore boat fully tricked out for deep water angling. The audience will experience the virtual reality of fishing and enjoy a sense of being there on the boat with each seminar speaker. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to find out first hand what makes these pros so successful.

Seminars begin at 11am and run all day long, both Saturday and Sunday, at separate inshore and offshore stages. Each following seminar will also begin at the top of the hour. Plan on grabbing your seat early, the best seats go fast.

Inshore Stage:

11 a.m., Fishing the Backwaters with Plastics Mark Nichols, inventor and manufacturer of D. O. A. lures, has tested his lures in shallow water all over the country, and the techniques he uses in the Indian River of Florida, Texas bays and Louisiana coastal islands will work just as well in the backwaters of the St. Johns and St. Mary rivers. “Keeping a low profile is essential in skinny water,” explains Nichols, “and I can’t do that from the bow of a boat. I’ll get out and go down on my knees on a submerged sandbar when I see a fish, which might put the water around my chest.” Nichols will demonstrate lure retrieval technique while wading in the inshore pond, casting to a display of virtual reality redfish swimming in the roots of artificial mangrove plants.

Noon, Backwater Fishing From Kayaks Capt. John Bottko is the owner of Salty Feather fly shop and fishes the skinny waters around Jacksonville from highly specialized kayaks in waters that redfish used to consider safe haven. “There is no more effective method to catch big fish in shallow water than to sneak up on them in a kayak,” says Bottko. “They are very spooky in water so shallow that their dorsal fin is exposed, so you have to be quiet and make a long presentation or they will bolt.” If you want to learn how to reach the smartest, most unreachable fish, Bottko is the guy that can teach you how. Topics will include flycasting techniques for shallow water, how to locate feeding fish, and the importance of tidal movements. The seminar will end with Bottko leading attendees over to the Fly Pond area where he will introduce them to several different kayaks outfitted for fishing. Topics there will include how to rig a kayak for fishing and more importantly, make it comfortable enough to fish out of all day.

1 p.m., Live Bait Fishing Capt. Pat McGriff of Perry has been fishing the inshore grassflats of the Big Bend area of Florida for 32 years, and now guides clients to fantastic catches of trout, redfish, sheepshead and many other species also found throughout the Gulf states inshore waters. McGriff’s seminars are lively and entertaining, focusing mostly on several kinds of live baits and how to fish them in the Jacksonville area. Topics include how to rig for several styles of light tackle live baiting, like Cajun Thunder float rigs, and how to use the variables of wind, tide, weather fronts and water conditions to your advantage. “Tide flow is the most crucial factor,” advises McGriff, “and understanding that will stack the deck in your favor.” McGriff’s best advice to Jacksonville anglers is to be on the water during a strong incoming tide when predator and prey are moving into the shallows. “You can show up with the right tackle and the right bait, but if it’s at the wrong tide you’ll go bust.”

2 p.m. The Art of Artificals Capt. Tony Bozzella, Jacksonville’s hometown professional angler, is the maker of TBS Jigs and has been a consistent top five money winner in inshore tournaments around Florida. Capt. Tony has a unique plan when it comes to artificial lures; “I can take five choice lures to cover the water column and be successful anywhere along the inshore waters of northeast Florida,” Capt. Tony declares. Capt. Tony looks for a lot of current and runouts, focusing on feeder creeks, mangrove cuts and oyster bars-all of these create fast-moving tidal water that attracts feeding redfish, snook and trout. Twenty years of expertise and knowledge on how to use artificial baits is packed into this 45 minute seminar, so you won’t want to miss it. The seminar will end with a segment on Capt. Tony’s top five types of lures.

3 p.m. Secrets of a Redfish Tournament Pro Redfish guru Capt. Terry Lacoss is the author of Florida Sportsman’s soon-to-be-released Sportsman’s Best--Redfish, a book destined to be a classic and must-have for anglers who fish inshore waters anywhere in Florida. Capt. Terry is also a longtime Field Editor for Sportsman and over the years has authored hundreds of articles on Florida sport fishing. He and his son fish the emerging redfish tournament circuits and won the inaugural IFA ESPN Redfish Cup in Cocodrie, Louisiana, the Jacksonville Cabalas IFA Redfish Tournament, and the Jacksonville Celebrity Redfish Shootout. They also placed in the top ten in 16 other tournaments. “My seminar will be all about redfish--how to find them and catch them. A Johnson gold spoon is our money lure and a great tool for locating schooling redfish in open water, so I’ll talk about that as well as how to read the water and use charts, tides and moon phases to locate feeding fish.“

4 p.m., Reeking Havoc on Trout and Redfish Several times a year Capt. Joe Hebert, designer and manufacturer of Fish on! Lures, hits the road and fishes two professional redfish tours, mostly throwing his own scented lure called Reeking Havoc. So why is a redfish pro giving a seminar on trout? “During these redfish tournaments, trout are our most common bycatch,“ says Capt. Joe. “I’ve learned as much about the habits of trout as I have redfish! So I’m going to teach the secrets of catching these gators in the inshore waters of northeast Florida and also talk a little about redfish. The beauty of these two species is that you can catch them in any season anywhere in Florida.” Topics will include sight fishing strategies, how to locate the biggest fish by reading the water, tackle selection and presentation.

Offshore Stage

11 a.m., Local Bottom Fishing Capt. Dennis Young Sr of the charter boat Seadancer has been a charter captain in the Jacksonville area for over 20 years, fishing for snapper, grouper, black sea bass, cobia and other fish that inhabit the wrecks and reefs off the northeast coast of Florida. Together with his son Dennis Jr., Young and the Seadancer won the 1987 Jacksonville Kingfish tournament with a 49-pounder. “I’ll work the audience through the calendar, starting with March and the rest of the spring,” says Young. “I’ll also cover how to anchor over wrecks and ledges, the best baits, rigs and tackle for each species, and how to use electronics to find the best bottom fishing around.” Each seminar attendee will receive a “Seadancer Rig” that Young tied just for the show.

Noon, Bluewater Trolling Capt. Don Combs is founder and president of C & H Lures in Jacksonville, and helped pioneer billfishing in north Florida in the early 1970’s. Combs has won over 300 fishing awards and tournaments, caught 156 swordfish, and his boat Shark Bait has been named the Northeast Florida Marlin Association’s Boat of the Year five times. “Preparation, not luck, is the key.” advises Combs. “My definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity. A lot of people get opportunities but most of them aren’t prepared when opportunity strikes. My seminar will be all about preparation, from the hook to the rod butt., from the study of old records to the last minute conversations with other captains.” Topics will also include how to target certain species using different tactics for different fish, high speed trolling, and leader preparation.

1 p.m., Surf Fishing College Larry Finch makes his living at pulling fish from the surf--each November he averages 100 pounds of pompano per day on hook and line. “I’ve been surf fishing Northeast Florida for 35 years,” says Finch, “and these are the best days of surf fishing I’ve ever seen.” If you’re like most northeast Florida 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 catching your own bait, tackle selection, tying terminal rigs, and Finch’s secrets to being at the right place at the right time.

2 p.m., Kingfish off the Beach Capt. Terry Lacoss is a Florida Sportsman Department Editor and the author of numerous feature articles and Sportsman’s Seminars columns. Lacoss runs the charter fleet out of Amelia Island Plantation and frequently guides his charters to fantastic catches of kingfish, many times right off the beach at Amelia Island and Jacksonville. Lacoss was in the top five--including a first place daily win--in the first five years of the Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament back in the 1980s and he won the SKA First Coast kingfish tournament in ‘87. “Those close-in fish are ten to twenty pounds larger than the ones we catch further out,” says Lacoss. “And you don’t have to go as far out or use a big boat--I’ve seen kayaks catching kings in 10 to 25 feet of water just off the beach. You can get back fast if the weather turns and you only need half a day to catch quality fish.” Lacoss will teach a simple trolling method using ribbonfish, the kingfish fisherman’s secret bait.

3 p.m., Dolphin and High Speed Trolling If you’re serious about learning how the pros catch big dolphin, this seminar is a must. Capt. Budd Neviaser of New Smyrna Beach will share 35 years of experience on the blue water off of Florida’s Space Coast hunting and catching trophy fish for his customers. “The Gulfstream is like a fish highway for migrating predators, says Budd. “Large schools of bait are swept along the eastern seaboard attracting trophy sportfish like dolphin, tuna and billfish. If you’re going to target them you better know how to find them and understand effective high speed trolling techniques to catch them.” Capt. Budd will show a slide presentation on catching dolphin, with information on feeding habits, geographical locations and migrations, plus many other pro tips.

4 p.m., Tarpon on the Beach One of the most underutilized fisheries in Northeast Florida is the great tarpon fishing that takes place off the beaches and nobody knows the patterns of our offshore tarpon better than Capt. Roger Walker, co-host of Florida Sportsman Live radio show. Walker says the offshore fishery has been changing the last few years as shrimp boats are no longer the dominant food supply that tarpon used to depend on. “There is less bycatch because the shrimp fleet is much smaller and turtle excluder devices prevent much of the bycatch we used to use,” says Walker. “So now we have to make our own chum by castnetting pogies and buying frozen chumblocks. But the tarpon fishery is in great shape, especially the 15 miles from the Captain’s House off of St. Augustine north to the Ponte Vedra Inn, sometimes called Red Tops. The coquina bottom there attracts the smaller fish in large numbers and that attracts the tarpon.