Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show - Orlando, November 2008

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Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show – Orlando

Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show Seminars feature the best local experts and industry pros.

When: Sat. and Sun., Nov. 15-16, 2008
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

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Admission: $8 adults
children
12 and under with parent free
Look for a $3-off discount coupon in the Magazine

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Seminar Schedules

Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show Seminars feature the best local experts and industry pros.

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 East 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, Sportsman’s Best--Redfish Capt. Terry Lacoss is a Florida Sportsman Department 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 Cabella’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 that are around dock pilings way up in residential creeks and canals at high tide.” Topics will also include Lacoss’ top ten artificial baits.

1 p.m., Fishing the Fall Mullet Run Capt. Russ Rivers is a co-host of the Central Florida edition of Florida Sportsman Live radio show and is an inshore guide from Melbourne, where he guides his clients to regular catches of snook, trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, drum, pompano, sharks and jacks. Rivers was featured in a Sportsman article titled River of Abundance, and will speak about how to fish the Fall mullet run. “Temperatures this year are at an all time high,” says Rivers. “And with unseasonable fronts coming through and moon phases having more of an effect than in past years causing higher tides and stronger tide flows, the mullet have hung around a lot longer. They have even stacked up on the beaches and in the rivers. It‘s like a daily fireworks display and my seminar will teach people how to take advantage of this historic phenomena.”

2 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 the east coast of Florida for 35 years,” says Finch, “and these are the best days of surf fishing I’ve ever seen.” If you’re like most 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. As an added bonus one lucky seminar attendee will win one of Finch’s DVDs on surf fishing the east coast of Florida.

3. p.m., Inshore Grand Slam: Snook, Trout and Redfish Capt. Troy Nash, a third-generation charter captain out of Titusville, will give this seminar on Saturday and Capt. Blair Wiggins, a Cocoa Beach native and host of Fox Sports Network’s Addictive Fishing, will give this seminar on Sunday. These guys love to teach fishing almost as much as they love to go fishing. As a redfish pros they frequently have to cull through trout and snook to get to the winning redfish. “I catch a slam by accident almost every time I go fishing for redfish in south Florida,” says Wiggins. “All three species frequent many of the same feeding stations so I thought my seminar should be on how to purposely go after the three most popular inshore fish. Each tide flow--and even a still high or low--presents opportunities to catch quality fish if you know where these feeding stations are. My best advice is to work them all--grass flats, oyster bars, mangrove shorelines, cuts, channels and points.” Topics will also include capturing and keeping alive natural baits, tackle selection and end with a session on their top three lures for each species.

4 p.m., Fishing The Tides 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 throughout the state. 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 fish “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 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.” Everyone who attends will get a complimentary copy of the 2007 Fishing Planner.

Offshore Stage
11 a.m., Sportsman’s Best: Offshore Fishing Capt. Buck Hall is the author of Sportsman’s Best: Offshore Fishing and the Panhandle Field Editor for Florida Sportsman Magazine. Buck spends an average of 60-80 days a year offshore with some of the best charter and tournament captains in the business of putting people on fish. Offshore Fishing is compiled from trips and interviews with more than twenty professional and tournament winning captains so this seminar has something for everyone, novice to pro. Buck took plenty of notes and will share them with you in this informative and interactive seminar. Topics will include strategies for offshore trolling patterns, lures and spreads, reading the water, and best natural baits.

Noon, Snapper and Grouper Capt. Rick Ryals is co-author of Florida Sportsman’s new 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.

1 p.m., Space Coast Offshore Report: What’s Coming Up November Through December Chuck Levi is co-owner of Fisherman’s World tackle shop in Port Canaveral, just a few blocks from two of the most popular boat ramps along the Space Coast. Every day dozens of Levi’s regular customers stop by to give him fishing reports of where the action is, what species is hot, and the best baits and lures to catch snapper, grouper, sailfish, tuna and all of the species that are targeted for sport and table fare. This seminar will be all about fishing offshore in late November through the end of December and will include the most popular species to target, including what baits, rigs and tackle to use for each. “This is one of my favorite times of the year,“ says Levi. “Sailfish and blackfin show up, grouper and snapper move in closer, and when the water cools we get a second run of dolphin.” Anyone who fishes offshore should attend this seminar to get an up to the minute fishing report from one of Florida‘s top pros.

2 p.m., Tuna: Tips and Tricks Capt. Ron Neff has fished from the Bahamas to Costa Rica and from the Mediterranean to the Pacific, always with one thing on his mind; learn how they catch tuna there and then apply it to Florida’s east coast. “The key to catching big tuna is to always have a backup plan,” say Capt. Ron. “High speed trolling is the most common style around the world but that may not always be effective.” Capt. Ron will share several successful back-up plans and the techniques he uses to catch tuna off the Space Coast. His favorite tip to share? “When there are birds diving and no fish in the boat, get out the steel jigs.” Capt. Ron will demonstrate rigging and jigging techniques from Central America that will work well to catch tuna off Florida’s east coast.

3 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 over 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

4 p.m., Dolphin and Wahoo If you’re serious about learning how the pros catch big dolphin and wahoo, 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 Gulf Stream off West Palm is like a fish highway for migrating predators,” says Budd. “Large schools of bait are swept along the eastern seaboard attracting trophy billfish and great table fish like dolphin and wahoo. If you’re going to target them you better know how to find them and understand effective trolling techniques to catch them.” Capt. Budd will show a slide presentation on catching dolphin and wahoo with information on feeding habits, geographical locations and migrations, plus many other pro tips.

Riggin it Right Schedule

OFFSHORE
11 a.m., 30 Second Kingfish Rig
12 Noon, Circle Hook Ballyhoo
1:30 p.m., Better Bottom Rigs
2:30 p.m., Preparing and Filleting Your Catch.
3:30 p.m., High Speed Wahoo

INSHORE
11:00 a.m., Uni-knot System
12:30 p.m., Live/ dead bait rigs
2:00 p.m., Riggin' Soft Plastics
3:00 p.m., Uni-knot System
4:00 p.m., Ask the pros--bring your questions to the table

Contact Information
Call 772-219-7400

This Information is Sponsored By:
Boat Loans from Excel Credit,
Always the Lowest Boat Financing Rates,
Call 800-337-7774: