* Please note, this is the 2009 seminar schedule. The 2010 seminar schedule will be updated shortly.

Riggin’ it Right Schedule Set in a classroom environment, receive one-on-one instruction on how to rig for offshore and inshore fishing. Look for the Riggin’ it Right classrooms in the center aisle of the show.

Offshore

11 a.m., Lines and leaders
30-second kingfish rigs, haywire twists, and line-to-leader knots Learn how to build a better kingfish leader in just 30 seconds.

Noon, Better bottom rigs
Learn to build the best rigs for bottom fishing in all depths and conditions.

1:30 p.m., Trolling 101
Better baits and teasers, Hands-on bait rigging for better bluewater trolling.

2:30 p.m., Preparing and filleting your catch
How to properly care for and fillet your catch.

3:30 p.m., Thirty-second kingfish rig
Learn to build a better kingfish leader in just 30 seconds.

Inshore

11 a.m., Artificial basics
Rigging plastic baits for snook, trout, reds and bones.

Noon, Live baiting
Learn tricks on how to rig live and dead shrimp, mullet and crabs.

1:30 p.m., Float rigs
How to set up the basic sliding float rig with success.

2:30 p.m., Soft-plastic modifications
Think beyond the manufacturer’s instructions.

3:30 p.m., Prepare and fillet your inshore catch
How to properly care for and fillet your catch.

4 p.m., Two knots for line to leader
Surgeon’s knot and spider hitch

Angler on Foot
10:45 a.m., Beach fishing
Noon, Effective bridge and pier fishing
1:30 p.m., Locks, spillways and canal banks
3 p.m., Beach fishing
4 p.m., Effective bridge and pier fishing
4:45 p.m., Request hour

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

Federation of Fly Fishers' Indoor Fly Pond
Saturday 10 a.m. & 1 p.m., Dusty Sprague—Introduction to Fly Fishing

Sunday 10 a.m. & 2 p.m., Dick Miekka—Introduction to Fly Fishing

Individual casting instruction, knot, fly tying, and rod-rigging programs all day at the Suncoast Fly Fishers booth.

Inshore Stage (The Inshore Stage consists of a 10,000-gallon pond with Sterling flats boat, mangroves and slide show.)

11 a.m. Capt. Mark Nichols, Wadefishing the flats

Noon Capt. Dave Pomerleau, Fishing for monster snook

1 p.m. Capt. Mike Hakala, Trout fishing in Tampa Bay

2 p.m. Capt. Pat McGriff, Livebait inshore fishing

3 p.m. Capt. Bobby Hilbrunner, Tampa Bay redfishing—the best in Florida

4 p.m. Capt. Tony Bozzella, Planning trips around tide flows and moon phases

Offshore Stage

11 a.m. Capt. Billy Miller, Family style fishing in Tampa Bay

Noon Capt. Vance Tice, Trolling the ship channels for grouper

1 p.m. Capt. Tommy Z, Grouper on the bottom inside the bay

2 p.m. Capt. Bill Miller, Kingfish 101

3 p.m. Capt. Hank Williams, Catch more fish spending less time and money

4 p.m. Capt. Rick Ryals, Author Sportsman’s Best—Grouper & Snapper

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. The techniques he uses in the Indian River Lagoon of Florida, Texas bays and Louisiana coastal islands will work just as well in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. “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 go down on my knees on a submerged bar 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 and casting to virtual tailing redfish and snook.

Noon, Snook fishing with the Mad Snooker
Capt. Dave Pomerleau, of Bradenton, is known as the Mad Snooker for good reason—he pursues snook with a maniacal passion that causes him to travel the state looking for the hottest bite. 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 use jumbo live shrimp and pinfish,” says Capt. Pomerleau, who fishes out of a 24-foot Blazer Bay. He still gets broken off frequently even though he uses extra-heavy tackle—130-pound mono on a 4/0 reel. Subjects will include where to locate feeding fish in winter in the Ft. Myers area, how to position your boat around bridges and docks, and how to catch pinfish for bait when large shrimp are not available. Capt. Dave will highlight his seminar with plenty of slides of big snook and Google Earth photos of his favorite places to find what he calls “snookasaurus.”

1 p.m., Trout College
Capt. Mike Hakala is a lure manufacturer and was pictured on the Oct. ‘98 cover of Florida Sportsman holding a gargantuan 30-pound redfish that he caught using one of his own spoons. He has been featured in numerous FS stories, including Flats Action by the Spoonful, Spoon Feed ‘Em and Tune in to Heavy Metal. Capt. Mike’s new spoon is called Aqua Dream—he uses it to catch big trout while guiding in the Mosquito Lagoon area of the Indian River. “This year’s trout fishing is as good as it’s ever been,” says Capt. Mike. “You can catch trout all year in Tampa Bay by learning just a few simple techniques that focus on their habits and habitats.” Topics will include sight-fishing strategies, boatmanship, live and artificial bait selection, and end with a special segment on gator trout. “Small trout are easy to catch in large quantities and make for an excellent family outing, but you definitely have to change your strategy to target the gators.”

2 p.m., Livebait fishing
Capt. Pat McGriff, of Perry, has been fishing the inshore grassflats of the Big Bend area for 32 years, and now guides clients to fantastic catches of trout, redfish, sheepshead and others found throughout the Gulf’s inshore waters. In a deviation from his usual style of fishing, McGriff set an I.G.F.A. world record in 2003 with the catch of a 74.8-pound gag while fishing out of Destin. This seminar will focus on how to rig for several styles of light-tackle live baiting, including 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 Tampa Bay 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.”

3 p.m., Redfishing in Tampa Bay
Capt. Bobby Hilbrunner fishes out of Sarasota and spends most of his time guiding his charters to great catches of Tampa Bay’s fabled redfish. “I spend a lot of time volunteering with Mote and the FWC in their redfish stock enhancement programs,” says Capt. Bobby with a chuckle before he finishes the thought. “But I have to admit I have an ulterior motive to learning everything I can about the species, and that’s so I can catch more of them! So my seminar will be all about where to find redfish throughout the year and during different tides, all the information I gained by going out on numerous brood stock capture boats and fry release boats, always making mental notes about redfish habits and habitats.” One of Capt. Bobby’s best tips is to fish around mullet schools. “It’s no surprise to me that mullet schools hold a lot of redfish—they are there taking advantage of the crabs and shrimp that foraging mullet kick up.”

4 p.m., Planning trips around tidal flows and moon phases
Capt. Tony Bozzella is Florida Sportsman’s inshore Riggin’ it Right Team Leader at all Fishing Shows around the state, teaching thousands of anglers the secrets to catching more fish using the tried and true baits, rigs and tackle that Florida Sportsman has helped developed over the past forty years. Capt. Tony is also the maker of TBS Jigs and has over thirty top-five wins in inshore tournaments from Louisiana to Northeast Florida. Tony says his key to success has always been his keen understanding of how tidal flows and moon phases affect each species. “If you know how to take advantage of high and low tides, and most importantly the fast currents in between, you’ll put more fish in the box and never get skunked. I actually follow the fish all day, from the staging areas of low tide when fish are pooled up in pockets, through their migration to feeding areas in fast-flowing incoming tides where monster trout hang in eddies behind structure, to the flooded flats where I can’t normally take my boat. You need to learn to not look at your watch but look instead at what the tides are doing.” This interactive seminar will be species and location specific and everyone should bring questions to the table to learn where, when, and how tides on the west coast of Florida.

Offshore Stage:

11 a.m., Family style fishing in Tampa Bay
Capt. Billy Miller is a full-time charter captain fishing all of Tampa Bay throughout the year for what he calls “family fun.” His target species are Spanish mackerel, seatrout, snook, redfish, cobia—all the fish that are great table fare for families looking to have fun and bring home dinner. “My best advice is to be prepared to take advantage of whatever opportunity might present itself,” says Capt. Billy. “You might be on plane running to the trout flats and spot a cobia at a range marker, or maybe suddenly you spot birds diving on a school of Spanish. Just be sure to have all the tackle you need for all these different species.” Topics will include how to keep small kids busy by targeting easy-to-catch species, how to fish Tampa Bay’s artificial reef system, tackle selection for several different species, and stealth tactics for easily spooked fish.

Noon, Trolling the ship channels for grouper
Vance “Bubba” Tice is co-owner of Tightlines Tackle and the inventor of the popular Bubba’s Jigs—he’s also a charter captain known locally as the Granddaddy of trolling for grouper. Capt. Tice specializes in trolling monster jigs along the limestone edges and rubble piles of Tampa Bay’s ship channel for keeper grouper and frequently captains other anglers’ boats to show them how it’s done. He’s a master of the grouper trolling game and will teach you everything you need to know about trolling for grouper, including how to use electronics and downriggers to troll zigzag patterns over ledges, dropoffs and rockpiles. “It’s critical to get the bait about a foot off the bottom,” says Tice, “and I’m going to teach you how to do that so you can go right out the next day and put some fish in the box.”

1 p.m., Bottom fishing inside Tampa Bay for grouper
Capt. Tommy “Z” Ziesmann is a full-time charter skipper who is recognized by his peers as the premier charter skipper that fishes the open and backwaters of Tampa Bay. Tommy is a master at catching grouper in the bay and will tell all on where to find and how to catch these wonderful table fish. “Grouper are here twelve months of the year,” advises Capt. Tommy. “I catch them in the ships channel, around the dolphins of the Skyway, artificial and natural reefs—pretty much anywhere inside the bay that has bottom structure.” Capt. Tommy says that October is one of the very best months to catch grouper inside the bay because when the water starts to cool down, the grouper fishing starts to heat up. “They just spent the summer in hot water and that makes them lethargic, so when the water cools they come off of that slump and really start to feed.” Topics will include grouper biology, best live and dead baits, and boatmanship while drifting and anchoring.

2 p.m., Fall kingfish run is heating up
Capt. Bill Miller is host of Brighthouse Catch 47’s Hooked on Fishing and one of Ande Line’s Grand Master Anglers, a distinction earned by catching 30 different saltwater and freshwater species on Ande Line. Miller has been chasing kingfish on the west coast of Florida since he was seven years old and was a professional charter captain for over 30 years before settling into a career in broadcasting. “My theme will be the fall run of kingfish that’s about to heat up,” says Miller. “The most consistent spot for kingfish is the Egmont ship channel from markers 9 and 10 out to markers 1 and 2. Live bait caught using sabiki bait rigs and then slow-trolled has been the best method.” Kingfish make another, smaller show in the spring so Miller will also touch on the different techniques he uses to fish both runs.

3 p.m., More fish with less time and money
Capt. Hank Williams is the owner of Wet Willy Charters and has fished our 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 more expensive over the years, so you need to learn every little trick rather than using 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.” Along with rigging techniques to catch popular table fish, Capt. Hank will offer advice on using electronics to find fish you couldn’t find before.

4 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.