2001 Good business, great venue.

        The same story was told to me, over and over again, what a great show this year and what a great place to hold it. All I spoke to were happy that next years show would also be held in Las Vegas. "This is a much better venue than Chicago," said the buyers I spoke to "even with the overall square footage being smaller we can make the contacts we were looking to make and not walk ten miles.

        "This show was scary good," said Don Thompson from Mad Man Mooneyham Lures. Mad Man Lures makes incredibly lifelike soft bait for bass and some saltwater baits as well. Their crawfish is the best I have seen color wise, and in configuration. I have used these baits up inside the cane patches with great success. Check out my web site for further details and links to their site.

        "The buyers and wholesalers are all in excellent moods and making the show a great success for us," said Jim Meyer from Mid-America Sports Sales, a company that represents manufacturers like G. Loomis, Ross Reels and Accurate Fishing Products to name but a few. " We are so glad that the show will be held in Las Vegas next so we can plan to have this kind of turn out from not only the buyers but also the media and guides.

        Accurate Fishing Products is the maker of a line of offshore conventional reels with top of the line aspirations. After looking at these reels closely, I must say they have hit their mark. Using only the best materials and creating some new patents as they went along, they have come up with a reel that has a Patented Twin Drag System. Billet T6 Aluminum frames, Titanium drag friction washers, seven class Five ABEC stainless steel-Teflon impregnated ball bearings and the list goes on for another ten lines. You can get more information on these reels from my web site listed below.

        All of the heavy names in the sport of fishing were there. Some were there to meet with their sponsors and discuss the next year’s agenda, some were there to get new sponsors. Icons of the fishing TV shows like Jimmy Houston and Babe Winkleman were there, bass pros from our top Pro Tours and famous saltwater Guides like our own Rick Murphy from Sportsman’s Adventures and of course, Jose Wejebe from The Spanish Fly on ESPN. Then there was the rookie, your own Capt. Dave, a first timer at this kind of an event, but loving every minute of it. O, of course I’ve done the Miami Beach Boat Shows and the Shallow Water Shows and even done some seminars here and there. I did so well at this show, I will be going to the Flyfishing Expo in Salt Lake City. The show is set for September 6, 7 & 8th at the Salt Palace Convention Center. If you are in the industry as a retailer or just a guide trying to further their business this is a show you should attend next year. I’ll see you there.

                                                                                                Capt. Dave Sutton