Richmond Fishing Expo A Success?
This weekend I was able to find time to attend the 1st Annual Richmond Fishing Expo out at the Richmond Intl’ Raceway. This event was actually formerly known as the Bass-arama Fishing Expo, but after being sold to another company, the name was changed and thus we have the “1st Annual” pre-text.
I was able to get out there on Saturday. I chose Saturday because of the Seminar line-up. My desire was to sit in on seminars by both Hank Parker and Davey Hite, but because of a last minute pull-out due to injuries, Hank Parker was taken off of the schedule. We were not left wanting however, the venue was able to get Virginia local BASS Elite Series Pro John Crews to fill in and give some great advice on finesse tactics.
Hite gave two great, 1 hr. seminars. The first was primarily geared toward crank bait fishing and the second on jig fishing. While much of his seminars were filled with hilarious one liners at the expense of legendary fisherman Bill Dance, his teachings were mostly geared for the novice and intermediate anglers. He did however manage to throw in a handful of knowledge to lend the advanced anglers in the crowd as well.
As far as vendors went, we were exposed to pretty much anything you needed. The theme for baits this year was definatley swimbaits. I was able to get my hands on some of these hard to find lures without having to worry about both demand and shipping charges. While the Basstrix remained elusive to the crowd, there were many other great options avaliable from Money Lures, 3:10, and Poor Boy’s Baits. Some of the other popular items were a parking lot full of custom rods, and garage made plastics and jigs. For the most part if you wanted it, they had it. I was disappointed I was not able to get a first hand look at the new Quantum Superlite Series Rods.
As far as boat dealers go, they were out in full force completely covering enough floor space to almost fill the entire first wing. Of course there were plenty of the always popular Ranger and Triton boats on hand, but I was able to get my first look at the Legend Series of boat. A nice boat with allot of room. Unfortunately looking at it on the showroom floor doesn’t give you a good idea of what kind of ride it offers, but with an impressive layout and storage capacity, it may be worth your time to give them a once over and see if they can impress you as well.
While I have not been able to talk too many of the other participants on their opinions, the official verdict is still out. I will say from an attendee stand point, my $7.00 was spent on the same expo that I have attended in the years past. Even while much of the disappointment with the previous Bass-arama had to do with the operation, this year’s event seemed to go off without a hitch. I am best impressed with the shows dedication to replacing Hank’s pull-out with another great angler in an attempt to not leave the fans empty handed.
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