Over the last 2 days, I’ve been listening, browsing and learning while attending free seminars at the Ultimate Fishing Show at the Devos Place in Grand Rapids.
Dave Carraro and I at the Fishing Show
I sat in on a special shout-out for TUNA – Dave Carraro of National Geographic’s hit show “Wicked Tuna” – where the curious audience fired questions at him to find out how he gets to be paid for this passion. He was at the fishing show Thursday and Friday, and I’m sure many of you will recognize him in the picture.
Tuna fishing is a little different than perch or crappie fishing… (I’m just having a little fun with this)… you don’t expect to go out and fill your box every time. In fact, Dave Carraro is a real professional and his very best season was a total of 52 tunas landed. Last season, his crew landed 46 fish out of 66 that they hooked. In the tuna fishing world, that’s even a great year.
For me the fishing show is an exciting place and I love to go… mostly I enjoy the seminars given by professionals that do this day in and day out, and like anything, if you have an open mind, you can always pick up something from each and every speaker. Even though I’m a “Big Lake” kind of fisherman I do my share of fishing and guiding on inland lakes, and no matter what species is being discussed, there is cross-over. In other words, there is a commonality between all kinds of fishing: weather related, tackle used, speed and depth issues, sight, sound and smell presentations, etc.
I can sit and listen to Mark Martin on walleye and sharpen my own skills at hooking and landing lake trout. Or I can learn from someone discussing kayak fly-fishing and pick up some tips that help me understand coho salmon or steelhead fishing.
Lion Mounts, among hundreds of other nice game and fish mounts.
Vintage outboard motors – another neat attraction
Sea Lamprey – the deadly lake trout killer.
Most of all, the fishing show is a great time to get out and see what’s new, stock up for the up-coming season and get primed up to get out there for another great fishing season.
Here are some other pictures of interest from the fishing show.
Brian Helminen
