craigdritchie

I believe most people have absolutely no idea how much money it costs to exhibit at a show. The average cost to rent a 10x10 booth space is around $900 - $1,000. That's the smallest size spot avialable - basically a table and two chairs - so most tackle dealers have booths that are much, much larger than that. But it still costs about a grand for every 10 feet of floor space. If you have a 10 x 20 foot booth (still a comparatively small one), you're out $2,000 right from the get-go. That takes care of your real estate, but you also need to pay for the actual booth itself. Buy one, build one or rent one, you're out more money there. Yes, you can use the same booth for several years, but it still costs money to build/buy in the first place, so figure on spending another couple of grand there. Plus you need to pay extra for things like electric power (need it for your cash register and credit card machine) .... thats a few hundred bucks for the weekend ..... plus lighting. All of these venues are union shops, so you can't even plug in an extension cord yourself - you have to pay the electrician $100 to do it. That's no lie, and it's no exaggeration. You also have to pay the electrician another $100 to unplug it at the end of the show. If you don't, they just send you a bill for $100 anyway. One way or another, you pay. You also need to buy additional insurance coverage for the show, mainly to protect you in case someone takes a header and falls in your booth space ($???). Plus, you know over the course of a weekend you will lose a certain amount of stuff to theft. That just happens. As the owner, it's simply more money out of your pocket - and at one of the slowest times of year. Signs cost money too. So do booth decorations. You need shipping containers for all the inventory, and you'll probably need to rent a truck to get it all to and from the show. None of this stuff comes for free. Then you have the cost of staffing the thing. You need to pay people to work the booth (and that's over and above paying for the people working at your normal store if you stay open during the show). If the show is out of town from your shop, you also need to cover your staff's transportation costs, feed them, and put them in hotels too. If it's a three-day show, remember, you need to pay them for additional time to set up the booth and take it down afterwards. You have five days of expenses on a three-day show. You don't have to pay for them to get in each day, but you do pay for parking like everyone else. Most buy a parking pass instead of worrying about multiple reciepts each day. There is no price reduction. For an average sized tackle dealer, it might cost $8,000 to $10,000 to exhibit at a weekend show. Do you have any idea how many rod and reel combos a guy has to sell to earn that money back? And that's just to get back to zero ... he still hasn't made a penny of profit yet. That being the case, why on earth would any dealer load up on high-end inventory just to sell it at huge discounts? That makes no sense at all. I understand people go to shows hoping for a deal, but let's be realistic - the only stuff you see on sale are the things they make a really good markup on. The things you see at more or less regular price are things they make average markup on. Stuff you don't even see there at all ... they probably don't make that much on to begin with. It's nice to say "I wish they had more of this or that at the show" but if they can't make money selling it there, it won't be in the booth - simple as that. And the stuff people will buy anyway .... why not just keep it back at the shop and let people pay full price? After all, isn't the whole point of your business to make money? Why give it away for free when you don't have to? I like shows. They're a great place to socialize and network. They're fun entertainment. And the seminars are always good. That's why you go. But anyone who goes to a show expecting to find amazing deals on high-end equipment will usually be disappointed. You hear about the odd exception, but for thge most part, dealers go to get rid of stale product or blow-out stuff they didn't pay a lot for to begin with. It's the grab bags and high markup stuff that makes it worth their time to attend. Last thought - hirk, it's not a trade show. That's a completely different animal. There are no retailers at trade shows, it's corporate booths only. Trade shows make money on the seminars they provide. Registration costs in the thousands - each! Go to a major trade show and you can easily spend $10,000 in a weekend just attending seminars. They're all about education and corporate networking - totally different thing from the spring fishing show.

I have a pretty substantial collection of old fishing and hunting magazines, which take up a fair amount of space in my basement. There are a lot of old Field & Streams and Outdoor LIfes dating back to the 1940s, old In-Fisherman magazines from the mid-70s (when the spring issues were over 300 pages), some early 70s Fishing Facts issues, and a couple of late 60s Ontario Fisherman and Hunter (now Ontario Out Of Doors) newspapers. Plus a bunch of tackle catalogues, most of which were gathered at the sportsmen's show each year. I agree, the ads are the best - especially from the ones from right after WW2. I'll see if I can scan one or two when I have more time to find them. There's an Evinrude one in particular, showing a drawing of soldiers in a landing craft powered by an Evinrude outboard, charging toward the Normandy beaches. The text says something about "if it's good enough to defeat the nazi menace, it's good enough for you." Complete fantasy of course, but interesting approach by today's standards. There's another one ... Marboro cigarette ad .... where the guy has just come home and given his wife a bunch of fish to clean. The implication is if you smoke Marboros, you can catch a lot of fish and have a hot chick in high heels waiting to clean them for you. Hysterical stuff!

It's kind of a moot point isn't it? I mean, any spot will only be good when you're there at the right time of day, right time of year, and in the right weather conditions. And, if you're using the right stuff. Telling someone a spot may give them a piece of the puzzle, but it's only one piece. That alone won't put any fish in their boat.

My best spots? Nope.

I couldn't agree more. Advanced did a large steelhead for me about 12 years ago and even though James and Shawn would probably say their word has improved since, I still think it looks totally amazing. It's truly a piece of art ..... you can't put a value on that.

This kind of arrangement can take two different shapes. What Harrison is describing is a "value-add," where a day on the water with you is included as part of the total value package you give the sponsor in exchange for their support. Remember what I wrote earlier about how if you want $100 worth of stuff, then they'll want $1,000 worth of value from you? Well, a guided trip with you counts against that $1,000 in value you need to provide. The company can then do whatever they like with it. The marketing guy may take the trip with you himself, in order to get to know you better and strengthen your business relatonship (exactly as Garnet says - just like a golf game). Or they may donate the fishing trip to charity and you wind up taking out a kid or a contest winner. It's up to the sponsor to decide how they use the trip. The other way this sort of thing can work is through something called "market familiarization." In this case, the fishing trip with you would happen before they decide to actually sponsor the tournament. They accept the trip with you to see for themselves if fishing really is a viable fit with what they're trying to do. If this is the case, you want to give them a trip that will be as similar to the tournament as possible ... i.e. fish for the same species, and in the same area. It's not likely to happen with a tackle company or a tackle dealer, since they already know the market. But if you approach a restaurant or a hotel for sponsorship, you may need to show them what it's all about. Seeing your boat and tackle helps demonstrate how much money people spend to go fishing, and the knowledge you have shows that people will spend a lot of time on the water to gain that kind of knowledge. You're trying to show them that fishermen have money to spend, and can be convinced to spend it at their business ...... and that by sponsoring the tournament, fishermen will see their company's name and be enticed to go check them out. It's not a nudge-nudge-wink-wink thing at all. This is the way many industries work.

In honor of the Miami Boat Show opening tomorrow, here's 37 ..... well, 37 thousand actually ..... and yes, that would be each!!!

Absolutely correct. But it is amazing how many people would believe otherwise, and who think that simply "knowing a guy who works there" is all it takes.

Mike, You have to understand that every tackle company gets hit up at least once a week by some guy asking them to sponsor their event, or them personally. Bigger companies like Shimano and Rapala get hit so hard they actually have to pay someone a full time salary to just read through all the requests - I mean thousands of them every year. There's only so much money to go around, so you have to tell them why they should support your event. What's in it for them? If they give you money or free stuff, what do they get in return? How does it make good business sense for them to support your group? If you can't answer those questions, you're dead in the water. Think it over - carefully - and put together a solid proposal that tells the company who you are, what your event is all about, why its important, how many people it can influence, and why they should care. Tell them what you want, and then tell them what they get In return. Remember the 5 Ws you would have learned in high school English class? That's who, what, when, when and why ... your pitch should answer them all. It's really as simple as that. Most companies will want a 10:1 return on investment. So if they give you $100 worth of stuff, they will expect a minimum of $1,000 in value from you in return. That's the going rate. Exposure is nice, but lets face it, more people have heard of Rapala than have ever heard of your tournament. They already have more exposure than you can provide. So you should think about what they have that doesn't get exposure. Is it a specific product that's particularly suited to your event? Or do you instead approach the company through their local dealer, who probably can use the extra exposure. That's how the tournament guys get their boats and motors ... It's usually through the local dealer. Why do you think even big name US guys like Hank Parker and Tommy Manns have some marina decal on the side of their boat? It's all part of the deal. Figure out who can use the exposure, then show them how sponsoring your event can help them sell more stuff. At the end of that day, that's what it's all about. Oh yeah, one more thing. Personal connections don't mean squat.This is business. Your talking about getting a chunk of some company's promo budget. Spending company money on "personal connections" is a good way for a guy to get fired. There has to be a solid business case, regardless of who you know. Good luck.

It's not entirely unusual for different kinds of sunfish to cross-breed. I would hazard a guess it might be a punkinseed-bluegill hybrid, but that's just a guess, nothing more. Cool looking fish in any case.

Little clamp-on downriggers are light weight and work really well. If you don't want to portage a cannonball, use a mesh bag and a rock. It's pretty crude, but it works. If you're absolutely bent on using wire, I have used it on a regular baitcasting rod. It will chew up your guides over time, so it isn't optimal, but it will work if it's just a one-weekend-a-year kind of thing. Frankly, I think you're better off to just use braid and a heavy bottom bouncer.

What's "hockey" ????? (understand, I live near Toronto, it doesn't exist around here)

Weather Network forecast for Beaverton, Ontario: Today: 0 degrees, partly sunny Wednesday: +3, showers Thursday: +2, sun Wear a floater suit if I were you!! Not sure about the fines or fees, but that is not a good recipe for building ice.

Seems to be working just fine for me, on both my Macbook Pro and my iPad. Tried it with Firefox and Safari on the Macbook, as well as Safari on the iPad. Nice job!

Say Mike, if the outdoor writing gig doesn't pan out the way you want, you can always sideline as a real estate agent. That was quite the thorough cabin tour! Joking aside, nice job on the video. I'm looking forward to reading the magazine once my mail man is done with it.

It's now only a matter of time till some idiot drives his truck out there to see just how thin it is. Wait for it .......... <cue drum roll>

Jacques - I've been to Wollaston Lake Lodge twice. Very nice lodge, with excellent accommodations and boats. Pike fishing can be absolutely incredible. They also have lakers and grayling, but I did not even try for them. Food and overall service were excellent too. PM me if you would like specific details. I think some of the best pike fishing I've ever experienced was at Munroe Lake, also in northern Manitoba (see www.munroelakelodge.com). I have not been there since the new owners acquired it, but do remember the lodge as being a bit more rustic than Wollaston, and the boats quite a bit more basic (which may have changed with the new owners). That said, the pike and grayling fishing was mind-blowing. If your Dad's more of a hard-core fishing guy, that could be the ticket - especially if he wants to try fly fishing for grayling in the rivers. With due respect Chris, having fished Kesagami a number of times as well as several different big lakes in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, I don't feel the comparison is that close. Kesagami absolutely has good fishing, and it's obviously closer and less expensive. But pike and walleye from those big Prairie lakes tend to weigh a lot more than eastern fish. A 40-inch pike from Kesagami usually weighs in the low 'teens, while a 40-inch fish from the Priaries will weigh toward the high teens. Where Kesagami is loaded with 15-inch walleye, Prairie walleyes are often in the 2- to 5-pound class. Same crazy numbers, just bigger fish on average. At least, that's been my experience. As always, your mileage may vary. If it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, go for broke.

I also have a Canon point-and-shoot (ELPH 1000) that I use when I travel to trade shows and such, and don't want to haul the big Nikon DSLR. It works great, and does not reset when the battery is pulled. Fits in a shirt pocket and takes surprisingly good photos, especially in low light.

And in other news ...... it was another gorgeous day in the Bahamas. You know, where you don't need a post hole auger in order to fish.

I don't care if they were fined, but I would like to know they had to pay for the cost of the helicopter rescue - especially the idiots who were being rescued for the second time in a week! I have a major problem with my tax dollars being used to save people who are so obviously and incredibly stupid. It isn't cost alone - they put their rescuers at risk too. Pretty selfish behaviour, if you ask me. Why anyone would knowingly head out on iffy ice is beyond me.

Haven't tried Silver Spiced. Regular gold spiced Cap'n Morgan is pretty good stuff though. Will try the Silver type soon. And yup, need nutmeg in there too! GF needs to mow her legs and splurge on a pedicure!

Fav Christmas drink would be eggnog with a good splash of spiced rum in it. You can drink beer any time. Rum and eggnog comes only during the holidays.

A Palomino and an albino are very different things. 'Palomino' rainbows were artificially created in a hatchery by continually selecting for fish that have a specific recessive gene ... result is a rainbow trout with light coloured skin pigment, giving it a yellowish appearance and no spots. They can spawn with normal rainbows, and being a recessive gene, the young will almost always wind up looking like perfectly normal rainbows. Palominos were stocked into Lake Erie by Pennsylvania in the 1970s and 1980s. They look a bit like a rainbow trout subspecies called golden trout, found in California, but are not the same thing. Genetically, they are 100 percent rainbow trout. Palomino rainbows have light coloured skin pigment. Albinos (in any species) are different in that they're missing the pigment altogether, or have very little of it. If Palominos don't fight as well as a regular rainbow, it is because they have been inbred in hatcheries for several generations. In that respect, they're not mch different than the hatchery rainbows PA stocks today.

My info on winter versus snow tires comes from a trip to Hankook's tire factory in Korea two years ago. Since they make 60 percent of the winter tires in the world (including many models sold under other brand names, as well as tires used on big rigs, aircraft, and busses) I assume they know a thing or two about this. I was told all tires contain silica. It is the proportion of silica to rubber that makes a difference when driving in the cold. The more silica, the more the tire will remain flexible in sub-zero temperatures, providing better grip and iproved stopping distance. That applies equally whether the tire is driven on snow, on ice, or on dry pavement. Do I think winter tires should be mandatory? No, I don't. But there is no doubt they do save lives. Quebec apparently believes that it is far easier to simply make them mandatory than it is to get people to use their common sense. They may be right on that.