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., Wadefishing the Flats--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 Florida’s Central Gulf Coast waters. “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 snook and redfish swimming in the roots of artificial mangrove plants.

Noon, Tarpon Tactics--Capt. Rick Grassett has been a full-time guide in Sarasota Bay for over 17 years, guiding his clients into every nook and cranny, backwater and grass flat. He is also known for his uncanny ability to sense tarpon moving along the beaches of Florida’s west coast and position his clients perfectly for solid hookups. This seminar will focus on how to locate and properly position your boat to cast to rolling pods of tarpon. “If you spot a pod of tarpon in the distance and race to them,“ cautions Capt. Rick, “you will spook them and completely ruin the opportunity to hook up. Patience and stealth are the keys to success--let them come to you.” Subjects will include tackle selection, natural and artificial bait selection, and how to read the water to find moving and feeding tarpon.

1 p.m., Sportsman’s Best: Redfish--Capt. Terry Lacoss is a Florida Sportsman Contributing Editor, author of numerous feature articles and Sportsman’s Seminars columns, and author of Sportsman‘s Best: Redfish. Lacoss runs the charter fleet out of Amelia Island Plantation and frequently guides charters into the picturesque backwaters of the Amelia and St. Mary’s rivers near the Georgia border. He also fishes lots of redfish tournaments and won the very first ESPN redfish cup in 2002 and the Jacksonville IFA Cabela’s Redfish Tournament in 2003. Lacoss will give advice on how to work the tides to follow the schools of redfish while they move from the deep channels at low tide, to the potholes at incoming tide, to oyster bars, and then eventually up into the tidal creeks at high tide. “You have to follow the fish with the tides,” advises Lacoss. “This is true for species other than redfish, too. I see too many fishermen park in one spot for way too long. These fish don’t move far, but the key is to move with them as they feed on shrimp, mullet and crabs around dock pilings, and eventually residential creeks and canals at high tide.” Topics will also include Lacoss’ top ten artificial baits.

2 p.m., Planning Trips around Moon Phases and Tidal Flows--Native Floridian Capt. Ray Markham is Florida Sportsman’s West Central Field Editor, co-host of Florida Sportsman Live radio and the Inshore Riggin‘ it Right team leader at all Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Shows. Markham is a firm believer in using tidal flows to locate and catch more fish, so this seminar will be all about how tides and moon phases affect feeding and migration habits of the huge variety of sportfish that swim in southwest Florida waters. “I’ll reveal the secrets of planning successful fishing trips using the Florida Sportsman Fishing Planner,” says Markham. “This interactive seminar will be species and location specific, and I encourage everyone to bring your questions to the table as a participant to understand where, when, and how tides in Tampa Bay affect fishing. Weather has a big affect on tides, so understanding how weather interacts with the tides will give you a better shot at catching more fish.”

3 p.m., Monster Snook Fishing--Capt. Dave Pomerleau of St. Petersburg is known as the Mad Snooker for good reason--he pursues snook with a maniacal passion that causes him to start out at dusk fishing the Sunshine Skyway and end up at sunrise at Bonita Beach. Pomerleau will discuss the types of tackle needed to pull brute snook out from bridge and dock pilings, his favorite baits and lures, and snook feeding habits. “I’m fishing entirely from a boat now, and using jumbo live shrimp,” says Capt. Pomerleau, who used to fish only with live sardines from bridges.

4 p.m., Fishing with Artificials--Capt. Terry Sturgeon is a Florida Sportsman, Inshore Riggin‘ it Right Academy team member and a full-time inshore charter captain. Sturgeon has taught thousands of readers and Fishing Show attendees how to use artificials to catch more fish using plastic baits of all shapes and sizes. His seminar is packed with useful information on proper weedless lure rigging, how to set up a soft plastic bait beneath a popping cork, topwater retrieval techniques like “walking the dog,” and how to fish with jigs. “It’s really fun and productive to fool fish with a hunk of plastic,” says Sturgeon. “Today’s manufacturers have done a great job imitating real baits, like pinfish, sardines and crabs. But if you don’t cast and retrieve it properly you might as well be chugging a beer can through the water.”

Offshore Stage:

11 a.m, Cobia Catches--Capt. Hank Williams, owner of Wet Willy Charters, has been fishing local waters for the past 30 years. His vast knowledge of the west coast offshore fisheries will be shared in this jam-packed rapid-fire seminar. Cobia will be the central theme but Capt. Hank will also elaborate on the abundance of all offshore fish and how to locate fish then rig and present the perfect bait to capture your offshore smorgasbord. “The biggest fish have the strongest migration and reproduction instincts,” says Capt. Hank. “So it takes a lot to turn them off their course. Your first cast is usually your only chance to get their attention so it better be the right bait thrown from a well-positioned boat. Subjects will include casting techniques and how to properly position your the boat.

Noon, Advanced Bottom Fishing--Capt. Ralph Allen is Florida Sportsman’s Southwest Regional Field Editor and the second generation of charter captains to run the charter fleet out of Fisherman’s Village Marina. Capt. Allen says successful bottom fishing is like real estate--location, location, location--and will discuss how to catch more fish using electronics to find hard bottom in the Gulf. “A lot of people don’t know how to fine tune and interpret depth sounders to locate fish,” says Capt. Allen. “When you use them in conjunction with GPS you can find those little oasis’ in the desert that are overlooked by others. Electronics keep getting more and more accurate and much cheaper and these advances have made it a lot easier to locate good bottom. If you know how to use this stuff you’ll have a successful day.”

1 p.m., More Fish with Less Time and Money--Capt. Hank Williams is the owner of Wet Willy Charters and has fished local waters for more than 30 years, learning ways to spend less time and money to catch more fish. Hank has developed dozens of nifty tips that will produce better catches of snapper, grouper, cobia, kingfish and all the offshore fish that swim Gulf Coast waters. This seminar will be all about maximizing your catch while minimizing your effort and expense. “If you learn to be a better fisherman you will save money on fuel and tackle,” advises Capt. Hank. “Boating has become more time-consuming and expensive over the years so you need to learn every little trick rather than the same old tactics that aren’t working. The change in water quality--especially red tide--has caused all of us to start to think beyond the basics and old tactics. It’s not more money or more time that will improve your catch, it’s smarter fishing, pure and simple.

2 p.m., Snapper College--Capt. Richard Nutter was born and raised on the west coast of Florida, and has fished with and learned from some of the great names in Florida fishing, like Don Rohers, who used to take people tarpon fishing in a row boat, and Frank Sargeant, who published a book on offshore fishing that featured Nutter as one of the top skippers in the area. Capt. Nutter now runs a full-time charter business out of Hart’s Landing, but is just as well known for his other business, Gulf Coast Taxidermy. This seminar will be all about snapper fishing off the central west coast of Florida, with Nutter sharing stories and giving advice about the great snapper catches he has made over the past forty years of fishing. “My best advice is to lighten up your tackle,” says Nutter. “Go as light as you can, given the strength of the currents where you are fishing. I use the lightest tackle and jig heads possible, depending on the tide and current. I’ll talk about rigs and tackle, baits and jigs, and also touch on using electronics to identify schools of snapper.” This seminar will end with a special segment on how to locate and fish the numerous artificial reefs off of Sarasota and Bradenton.

3 p.m, Snapper and Grouper--Capt. Rick Ryals is co-author of Florida Sportsman’s book and DVD, Sportsman’s Best: Snapper and Grouper, and team leader of Riggin’ it Right at all Florida Sportsman Fishing Shows. Ryals is also the captain of a new 35’ Cabo Express, Dos Amigos, that fishes Florida waters in search of big snapper and grouper. Ryals has won many tournaments over his 30 years of Florida fishing and will speak about how to greatly improve your catch of the most sought after reef and wreck fish, snapper and grouper. Using video clips and photos from Sportsman’s Best, Ryals will explain how to rig terminal tackle, best baits, how to catch and store live bait, anchoring and drifting techniques, and end with someone in the audience winning an autographed copy of Sportsman’s Best: Snapper and Grouper.

4 p.m, Kingfish A to Z--Capt. Denny Young of Jacksonville was 17 years old in 1987 when he won his first tournament--he skipped school to fish the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament, the biggest kingfish tournament in the world with a field of one thousand boats. “I got expelled on Friday but I had $35,000 in my pocket thanks to a live silver mullet and a 49-pound kingfish, so it was well worth it,” says Young, who went on to fish several years of the SKA circuit and eventually settled into a successful charter fishing operation. Subjects will include how to locate feeding schools of kingfish using “breaks” in water temperature, salinity and depth and the best baits, rigs and tackle to use for a successful kingfish trip.

Offshore Riggin’ it Right Academy
11 a.m., How to tie a 30-second kingfish rig Noon, Better bottom fishing
1:30 p.m., How to rig a better ballyhoo rig
2:30 p.m., How to keep, prepare and fillet your catch
3:30 p.m., Back by popular demand, Better Bottom Fishing

Inshore Riggin’ it Right Academy
11 a.m., Effective Live and dead bait rigs: Shrimp to pass crabs
12:30 p.m., Artificials: Soft plastics, hard bodies and jigs
2 p.m., Uni-knot system as a one-for-all knot
3 p.m., Make a splash! Popping corks, floats, rattles and beads
4 p.m., Your chance to ask the pros: Problem solving with one-on-one teaching

Angler on Foot
10:45 a.m., Beach Fishing
Noon, Effective bridge and pier fishing
1 p.m., Beach Fishing
3 p.m., Effective bridge and pier fishing
4 p.m., Beach Fishing
4:45 p.m., Request hour--One-on-one instruction

Kayak Fishing Seminar and slide show
Noon and 2 p.m., presented by Florida Sportsman Associate Editor Jerry McBride. Stop in anytime and see the tricked-out boats and talk to the experts about how to fish from kayaks.