* No Show for 2010

What: The Florida Sportsman Fishing Show

When: Sat. and Sun., Nov. 13-14, 2010 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., 10. a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun.

Where: Central Florida Fairgrounds
4603 W. Colonial Dr.
4 miles west of I-4 on Hwy 50

Admission: $8 adults, children 12 and under with parent free. Look for discount coupons in Florida Sportsman magazine and at the Web site: www.floridasportsman.com/shows.

Florida Sportsman Magazine will host their fifteenth annual Fishing and Boat Show on Nov. 15-16 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds 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 Fairgrounds Expo Hall, with fishing boats and accessories added to the mix. Dozens of boats will also cover the fairway in front of the expo hall.

“One of the centerpiece attractions of the Show is the Riggin’ it Right Academy, Offshore and Inshore” says Show Director Denise Oyler. “Our magazine has a sharp focus on instruction and how-to, so this classroom setting is our way of bringing the pages of FS to life.”

Show attendees sit at learning stations with supplies at hand, including wire, mono, pliers, and fresh bait like ballyhoo, sardines, and shrimp. FS 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 hands-on demonstration on how to rig and use downriggers, outriggers, planers, kites and balloons. “Fishing is all about the amount of water you cover,” says Capt. Rick Ryals, Riggin it Right team leader and author of the just-released book, Sportsman’s Best—Dolphin. “Why settle for just scratching the surface when you can cover an entire body of water from top to bottom. Our mission is to teach everyone who takes a seat or stands in the crowd how to use all this gear so they can catch more fish.”

“If you want to learn from the pros and get your hands wet with the real thing,” adds Oyler, “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.”

The Show also features several other seminar stages: offshore, inshore, kayak fishing, a hands-on castnet pit, a fly-casting pond complete with expert casting instructors and Angler on Foot featuring seminars on beach, bridge and pier fishing.

Kids’ events include an indoor spincast pond where volunteer parents teach casting techniques and all participants win a Zebco tackle box, 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 Fins Superline booth and collect a free spool of line.

Along with the exhibitors selling tackle and fishing-related merchandise and 10,000 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 Oyler. “We want to make that information available to the average weekend fishermen and their families.”

Hardcore 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 fishing reefs and wrecks. 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, outriggers, 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 firsthand what makes these pros so successful.

At the Angler on Foot stage, Larry Finch, of Jacksonville, will give instruction on beach fishing for pompano, whiting and croaker. He is also scheduled to talk about bridge and pier fishing.

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, seatrout 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 FWC 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, Florida Sportsman experts will man the 600-square-foot Castnet Pit and give hands-on instruction in throwing a castnet.

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 east central 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.”

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 Oyler. “It’s a family fishing festival, so bring the kids and plan on spending the entire day surrounded by fishing events and fishing stuff.”