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<div align='left'>Outdoor News Service</div>
The granddaddy of Southern California sportsman shows -- the Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show -- will kick off next Wednesday for its five-day run at the Long Beach Convention Center. The event has been going on for over 60 years, and it attracts anglers from all over Southern California.
The big draw is this show's breadth. It's part flea market, with some of the best buys on fishing boats and tackle, fishing gear, and outdoor accessories available each year to consumers. It's part exhibition, with shows and activities that are just plain fun to watch -- like hot little gymnast Lilja Stepanova who gets into contorted positions and then shoots a bow... with her feet. It's a big dose of education, with nearly 400 seminars held over the five days of the event on everything from bluegill to bluefin from fly tying to flying bait kites. And it's a world of destinations, with guides and outfitters who cater to anglers lined up to show their special fishing opportunities from all over the globe -- taimen to tarpon and all the other letters of the alphabet. In all, there are over 2,000 exhibits and displays.
"We have a couple of new things coming to the show this year," said Bart Hall, who runs the show. Then he proceeded to check off about 20 new things, stopped, and then laughed. "There's too much stuff going on."
If you tried to see everything at the show, you couldn't get it done if you attended all five days every hour the show was open. This week's edition of Western Outdoor News gives you some idea of how expansive this show has become. Western Outdoors has a 72-page special section on all the activities at the show, and the other 68 pages of the newspaper devote a lot of those pages to additional show coverage. If you want to get the most out of the show, it would be wise to pick up a copy of WON and pour over it so you can decide which day or days you want to go and which of the many events you don't want to miss -- because you will miss most of them.
Just some of the "new" things include:
With the exploding popularity of kayak fishing, there's a new kayak testing pool where anglers can actually try out some of the new fishing craft. "It's where they can get wet -- and probably will," said Hall.
Only a little behind the quagga mussel crisis curve, the Department of Fish and Game will introduce Ellen, the quagga mussel-sniffing dog. Warden Lt. Lynette Shimek will be giving daily demonstrations of Ellen doing her magic. Dogs like Ellen may be the future to allowing private boats on many reservoirs.
There are two laser shooting booths at the Fred Hall Show this year. One is inside the 10,000-square foot Turner's Outdoorsman retail "booth." This Laser Shot is being run by the Beverly Hills Police Department who will be, according to Hall, recruiting Eddie Murphy look-alikes for their force. The second Laser Shot is in the arena, which is events' central, and it is being run by the Department of Fish and Game, also looking for recruits, but you don't have to look like Eddie Murphy to apply.
Turner's Outdoorsman has an air gun range outside of the main show building that will be a great place to start or end your day with the kids. The shooting is supervised and the targets are all reactive. All that gleeful squealing you'll hear will be coming from this booth.
Rock Creek Pack Station and the Eastern Sierra Packers will have an ongoing "seminar" on how they pack horses and mules for trips, how they set up a tent camp, and campfire cooking techniques. The packers will be demonstrating the skills they use on trips into Sierra Nevada for golden trout. This is perfect for everyone who wants to learn how to tie a diamond hitch.
A special event, only held from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday of the show, is a unique luncheon seminar with bass fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon. This event costs $50 per person and is limited to 100 people each day who sign up on the Fred Hall web site (www.fredhall.com), but it includes lunch and show admission, and "you actually get to hang out with these two guys for two hours before the show opens," said Hall.
Show hours are 2 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 per person, and most of the parking around the convention center is in fee lots. For more information, call 805-389-3339 or go to http://www.fredhall.com.
====================================================
I'll be at the show Friday if anyone has any requests for video of gear or events. If you have a booth and would like JHO to do an interview or video of your product please let me know.
The granddaddy of Southern California sportsman shows -- the Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show -- will kick off next Wednesday for its five-day run at the Long Beach Convention Center. The event has been going on for over 60 years, and it attracts anglers from all over Southern California.
The big draw is this show's breadth. It's part flea market, with some of the best buys on fishing boats and tackle, fishing gear, and outdoor accessories available each year to consumers. It's part exhibition, with shows and activities that are just plain fun to watch -- like hot little gymnast Lilja Stepanova who gets into contorted positions and then shoots a bow... with her feet. It's a big dose of education, with nearly 400 seminars held over the five days of the event on everything from bluegill to bluefin from fly tying to flying bait kites. And it's a world of destinations, with guides and outfitters who cater to anglers lined up to show their special fishing opportunities from all over the globe -- taimen to tarpon and all the other letters of the alphabet. In all, there are over 2,000 exhibits and displays.
"We have a couple of new things coming to the show this year," said Bart Hall, who runs the show. Then he proceeded to check off about 20 new things, stopped, and then laughed. "There's too much stuff going on."
If you tried to see everything at the show, you couldn't get it done if you attended all five days every hour the show was open. This week's edition of Western Outdoor News gives you some idea of how expansive this show has become. Western Outdoors has a 72-page special section on all the activities at the show, and the other 68 pages of the newspaper devote a lot of those pages to additional show coverage. If you want to get the most out of the show, it would be wise to pick up a copy of WON and pour over it so you can decide which day or days you want to go and which of the many events you don't want to miss -- because you will miss most of them.
Just some of the "new" things include:
With the exploding popularity of kayak fishing, there's a new kayak testing pool where anglers can actually try out some of the new fishing craft. "It's where they can get wet -- and probably will," said Hall.
Only a little behind the quagga mussel crisis curve, the Department of Fish and Game will introduce Ellen, the quagga mussel-sniffing dog. Warden Lt. Lynette Shimek will be giving daily demonstrations of Ellen doing her magic. Dogs like Ellen may be the future to allowing private boats on many reservoirs.
There are two laser shooting booths at the Fred Hall Show this year. One is inside the 10,000-square foot Turner's Outdoorsman retail "booth." This Laser Shot is being run by the Beverly Hills Police Department who will be, according to Hall, recruiting Eddie Murphy look-alikes for their force. The second Laser Shot is in the arena, which is events' central, and it is being run by the Department of Fish and Game, also looking for recruits, but you don't have to look like Eddie Murphy to apply.
Turner's Outdoorsman has an air gun range outside of the main show building that will be a great place to start or end your day with the kids. The shooting is supervised and the targets are all reactive. All that gleeful squealing you'll hear will be coming from this booth.
Rock Creek Pack Station and the Eastern Sierra Packers will have an ongoing "seminar" on how they pack horses and mules for trips, how they set up a tent camp, and campfire cooking techniques. The packers will be demonstrating the skills they use on trips into Sierra Nevada for golden trout. This is perfect for everyone who wants to learn how to tie a diamond hitch.
A special event, only held from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday of the show, is a unique luncheon seminar with bass fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon. This event costs $50 per person and is limited to 100 people each day who sign up on the Fred Hall web site (www.fredhall.com), but it includes lunch and show admission, and "you actually get to hang out with these two guys for two hours before the show opens," said Hall.
Show hours are 2 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 per person, and most of the parking around the convention center is in fee lots. For more information, call 805-389-3339 or go to http://www.fredhall.com.
====================================================
I'll be at the show Friday if anyone has any requests for video of gear or events. If you have a booth and would like JHO to do an interview or video of your product please let me know.
