Sportsmens Show

[largemouth]

We hicks are in the majority here....

 

why can we call ourselves hicks, but get offended when someone else does?

[Garyv]

I think we are overreacting and don't think the use of the word "hicks" was meant to be derogatory, but simply a description of where they were from VS Toronto. I'm a southern Ontario hick but don't fit the definition above, not Protestant or of the Baptist persuasion ( although I have a lot of Baptist friends ) don't consider myself a racist, have almost as many women friends as men ( God I'm lucky ) so I don't feel I'm a sexist, finished high school, university and beyond, and the only one that calls me dumb is my wife ( maybe she knows something no one else does ).

 

Give the guy some slack. Some day, since he loves to fish, he'll take one of those trips North and never want to come back to the city. Happened to me in my teens and I even left the states to be closer to the Canadian "outdoor experience"....I've never looked back! To use Waynes word....no more Metrosexual for me ( and I grew up in Chicago as a kid )

 

Now as far as the show I find it to expensive for the entertainment value, to far to go ( 2 1/2 hour one way min ) with the current fuel cost to make it practical, and when you figure in food etc. I can't find any bargains when I already dumped $40+ just to get in the door. Add to that the Flea Market extra junk being flogged out and I would rather just go to Gander Mtn, BPS or Cabela's.

[trapshooter]

citidiots... love it. Consider that term stolen for my personal vocab.

 

Hick, out of towner, country boy, redneck etc.... all have the same generalizations. These terms are usually thrown around quite loosely and I've never really been offended when called any of these things. I'm proud to come from a town with < 1000 ppl and NO stoplight

 

In the words of John Denver, THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY!

Edited March 19, 2007 by trapshooter

[lew]

Sure will be nice when the soft water season opens.......

[POLLIWOGG]

Why the carp do they have this show for hicks in the most expensive ,hardest to get to place in Ontario. I would suggest we hicks support the show in Peterborough so it can be as good as the old TO show used to be.

 

I only pick Peterborough for its central location as it should be easy to get to.

 

I had a few friends go up this year and they had good things to say about it.

[charlesn]

I was there for 4 of the 5 days.

 

Didn't do a hick headcount, but I did notice lots of young 'uns and ladyfolk. A great sign for the future and the fishergirl booth (2 booths down from where I was) was hopping. Great idea and hopefully will have some baby/infant sized fishergirl clothing soon.

 

I've "worked" (stood around and talked to people about fishing and did it for free - not sure that qualifies as work) at the spring fishing show, london show and sportsmans show this year and the past 3 years. I guess my perspective is not as a consumer, but the one with friendliest crowd is always London. More hicks per capita I guess. lol Some of us Torontonians and GTAers know so much already that I guess there isn't much to learn I guess. haha

 

This year's Sportsmans Show was better than last year's in my opinion. I think one consolidated GTA show would be sufficient, and from what I've heard, the crowd at Bass Pro was pretty awesome which I'm sure detracts from the show.

 

Entertaining week and sure did get the fishing juices flowing. C'mon open water!

 

Charles

[kennyman]

Well,that kind of sucks that my thread gets removed because of some comment made. I got my answer anyway I guess. Still seems that people are very angry about everything. The shows,being called a hick. Just to let everyone know it was urbanagler that said the "H" word, not I. I guess I'm a bit of a hick too. Both my parents came from farming backgrounds and although I only lived on a farm when I was a small child, I still prefer a smaller town to Toronto any day. I have good customers from Toronto and everywhere else it seems. It doesn't matter where you're from, there are "good people" everywhere. There are some great things in Toronto but it's like the old saying "It's a nice place to visit,but I wouldn't want to live there". OKAY, now back to the original post. Although everyone seems dissappointed in the shows, I guess the fact that I'm a "newbie" has alot to do with my infatuation with the shows. Maybe the appeal will wear off,but for right now I'm going to enjoy them and the fact that even though I didn't get out fishing I got to play with fishing stuff all day.

[urbanangler1990]

So Im out of your town. You calling me a hick?

Are you representing Al Flaherty? I would fire you in a heartbeat if you used that term on one of my customers.

Be careful what you say.

 

Sorry Kennyman..Just rubbed me the wrong way.

 

what i meant is there were more out of towners than torontonians or local people, that all...

 

and i did not mean to offend any1

 

appologies if i have

Edited March 19, 2007 by urbanangler1990

[LeXXington]

yeah, but sex isn't as much fun, when you're the only one that shows up....

 

Ahhhh marrige

[Crazyhook]

Sure will be nice when the soft water season opens.......

 

 

Amen brother! I should of stayedin Cuba until the end of April...

had to get back , missed my hick friends

Edited March 19, 2007 by Crazyhook

[icedude]

Hicks?

 

been called worst things by better people dude...lol!

 

would never lower myself to the demographic name calling but...........................

 

Hicks?--are you for real?

 

Take a Kid Fishing,

 

ID1

[urbanangler1990]

i appologise guys, truely, seems like i have a lot to learn, did not know it was gonna offend anyone or else i WOULD NOT HAVE POSTED

Edited March 19, 2007 by urbanangler1990

[Handlebarz]

i appologise guys, truely, seems like i have a lot to learn, did not know it was gonna offend anyone or else i WOULD NOT HAVE POSTED

 

 

I dont know if anyone is truly offended or not but I am not I know how ya feel ya use a wrong word and all heck breaks loose just ask my wife I do it all the time.

[Terry]

I was just , putting in time at work playing on the puter

I was not offended one bit and I don't think anyone should be , I was just pull your leg...

[Bernie]

I also apologize Urbanangler. I can take a jest or dole it out as well. I dont believe now it was said to offend anyone.

[irishfield]

I think everyone was just having a little fun at your expense UB! I've been called way worse and I could care less. I always tell everyone I'm not out to impress anyone...I'm already married! LOL My wife's been up town in track pants and told she couldn't have travel brochures because "they were low and besides she couldn't afford a trip anyhow", etc. As has already been said by HH...don't judge a book by it's cover.... EVER! Call it the school of hard knocks to make you think before you speak....but even with age we still stick our foots in our mouths from time to time.......

 

Seriously though...if I was off in the corner of the Al Flatherty booth and heard you say something like "look at all the hicks we're serving" I'd be havin a chat with your boss. Keep in mind that the out of towners are the buyers and most of the city folks are there for a family outing.

 

Now...what were we talking about again....the SPORTSMAN SHOW. So Kenny, what did you buy?...what did you see that you would like to buy in the future??

Edited March 19, 2007 by irishfield

[urbanangler1990]

wasnt even me who mentioned, it was me who posted this here though lol, first some guy told me there are alot of hicks out here, i sed who are hicks? then he explained what they were as out of towners and what not, ANYWAYYYY NOW, this was my first real job and at a fishing show to boot, i learned sooo much, met pros and some fine people, got some great advice, i will make a report with pix later

 

and thats the story, no more talk from me on this

[fliptheslop]

problem is once its said its hard to take back, just ask micheal richards, no hard feeling here but in the furture I would like to be refered to as a redneck, it has a classier ring to it

AND I STILL THINK THESE SHOWS SHOULD HAVE LOTS OF DEALS,I KNOW IT COST LOTS FOR BOOTHS BUT WHY NOT TRY AND RECOUP SOME OF THE COSTS, I for one would spend alot more money if I could get a good deal

Edited March 19, 2007 by fliptheslop

[icedude]

No Worries Urban Angler--my parents had the swing set a little too close to the house--used to be a hick--am a card-carrying redneck now brother..lol

Take Care!

 

Yours in fishing,

 

ID1

[Clampet]

Hickity doo daH, hickity day!

Yeeeeeee hahhhhhhh!

Eeeeeeeeeee doggies Granny, hold on now thar Jethro!

Wall the ole Sportsman show, ain't what she used to be

Ain't what she used to be!

Oh Me Oh my.

[Northhunter]

Why's everyone hung up on deals?? Was that a real draw "back in the day"?

 

I've gone 3 of the last 4 years. I wanted to hit it again this year but didn't because I probably would have spent more money than I should have. I knew what was going on the first year when I saw a booth selling jewellery, and a couple places selling fishing stuff, but junk. But I went back. Not everything is worth seeing, but the venue is still huge. IMO there's no better place to go and pick out a new rod. There's 1000's of them! I know I'm not gonna save 30%, but that's not why I'm there. Some stuff is still cheap - I picked up 3 rapalas for $10 one year, and got a deal on a St. Croix another. Then there's the other cool stuff like the elk jerky that is expensive but the best jerky you'll ever have.. or seeing the Raptor Girls C'mon - you can't go wrong with the Raptor Girls lol.

The hunting section was greatly improved last year, but I guess that's only cool if you're a "hick" who likes to look at the newest in guns from Winchester, Remington, Browning, etc. all on the same floor and every booth with a "rep" instead of the blokes behind the counter at BP.

 

I guess TJ said it best when he posted about the fishing show after everyone harped on it. You city folk are jaded sometimes. Want deals - watch the flyers and go where you need/want to. Want the entire sporting goods world in one place (plus Raptor Girls ), you go there.

[kennyman]

Now...what were we talking about again....the SPORTSMAN SHOW. So Kenny, what did you buy?...what did you see that you would like to buy in the future??

Well, Irishfield (ya gotta love somebody with Irish in their handle) there were alot of toys I wanted there. I was trying to talk my buddy into buying a boat LOL ..... didn't work .......... yet LOL. I really was checking out the baitcaster reels. I bought a Fenwick Black Hawk 59 3/4", 1-3oz heavy rod (and a bunch of musky baits) off "vanillagorilla" a couple weeks ago,but I need an appropriate reel. What I really found out is that most of the reels I should be using are pretty expensive. I guess I knew that I was just looking for that one product that's a good casting tough reel for reasonable. For instance the Okuma's look decent,but not many suggested any of these. The choice basically comes down to an Abu or Shimano as far as I can tell. Unless someone else has any suggestion I think I've narrowed it to a 5501 or a 6501 Abu or a Shimano Corsair 201A or 301A. All felt nice to me. There were a couple low profile baitcasters that may work too,but the ones that can handle the big toothy critters are big $$$. So I didn't end up buying a reel and I'm hoping to purchase one either off e-bay or even better in the classifieds here. I purposely went and checked out the Abu 7000's because there are six for sale in the classifieds here for $100 which is a good deal for those reels. They were beautiful (a work of art really),bulletproof reels but OMG they are HUGE and HEAVY. I can't imagine trying to cast with that (I know it's only for trolling now). I did however buy some 50lb Powerpro for my future reel (free hat). I added a doulble musky buzz to my muskie bait collection and these really cool Lunkerhead 6" white goby soft plastic baits that when on the bottom their tails stick right up and hopefully catch the eye of a monster bass or two. I also bought some Lunkerhead 4" Mustard sparkle tubes(apparent fave of the guy selling them), trailer hooks, Rapala JSR-7 in Perch colour, a Bomber Long A in a gold prism/black back and bars/orange belly (their description) ..... looks like a shiny glass perch to me. Most importantly I bought my daughter her camo with pink writing Fishergirl shirt. You see at the Spring Fishing Show my buddy bought his daughter (who is good friends with my daughter) one of the fishergirl shirts in black and I wasn't sure my daughter woud even want one,but when she saw it she was upset she didn't get one. When I told her it came in camo,she was very upset with me. I think she felt left out. Anyway,when I saw it this time I had to buy it. So, since I bought my daughter the shirt my boy got the free Powerpro hat. I really believe the deals are pretty good if you know what you're looking for. The free hat was a good promotion. LAst show I got the free "Gulp" plastics bag. Silly me, I love that thing. Another example is the JSR-7 I bought. At CTC it was $9.99 plus tax. That equals $11.39. I got it for $7.63 tax in. That's more than 30% off. THe double musky buzz was (I think) $13 at BPS. Add taxes and you've got $14.82. I paid $9.76 tax in . Again that's over 30% or $5.06 off. Now some other booths had the same products for a couple bucks more plus tax which is not such a great deal but even at that it's still less than my local choices. Now the Lunkerhunts I paid top dollar for,but they were so cool I had to have them. I'm not sure whether they'll catch fish,but they caught me LOL. I'm just trying to give myself the best chance to catch some fish. Hopefully my purchases will help. I know the seminars will. Thanks for the interest Irishfield. Sorry if I was longwinded, but this was a question I could actually answer. I'l be more of a contributor as my experience level,knowledge (and hopefully talent) increases.

Edited March 20, 2007 by kennyman

[lew]

I bought a Fenwick Black Hawk 59 3/4", 1-3oz heavy rod

 

Kennyman, it's good to see you taking an interest in musky fishing, but if I could offer an opinion, I'd suggest you go for a longer rod. Those short heavy rods are a thing of past, and you'll find casting heavier baits much easier with a longer rod. I'd suggest at least 7' or even longer if you can accomodate it in your car......I find 7' 6" works very well for me.

 

It sounds like you want to keep your costs down, so I was going to suggest a Pete Maina musky combo from BPS....rod & reel for $200 total, but after re-reading your post, it appears you want a left hand reel and the Maina is only right hand crank.

 

The 7' 6" Shimano Compre musky rod is excellent and not overly expensive and would be well worth your time to look at, and far superior to the 59" rod you currentely own.

 

The Abu 6501 would be a great starter reel for you, very reasonably priced but built strong and will last you many years with basic care. The only draw back is rather than a thumb bar, it has a release button on the side plate, but you'll get used to that very fast.

 

I'd also suggest you exchange the 50 pound Power Pro for 80 pound. If you get a back lash with the 50 while casting large baits, it can snap quite easily and you could end up losing a very expensive bait.

 

As for the Abu 7000's, while they are indeed a very large reel, they make an excellent casting reel, but just take a bit of getting used to because of their size.

 

I'm certainly not trying to make up your mind for you on anything Kenny, just trying to offer a few suggestions to make your musky fishing a bit more enjoyable for you.

 

Nothing worse than trying something new, with the wrong equipment....good luck

[kennyman]

Kennyman, it's good to see you taking an interest in musky fishing, but if I could offer an opinion, I'd suggest you go for a longer rod. Those short heavy rods are a thing of past, and you'll find casting heavier baits much easier with a longer rod. I'd suggest at least 7' or even longer if you can accomodate it in your car......I find 7' 6" works very well for me.

 

It sounds like you want to keep your costs down, so I was going to suggest a Pete Maina musky combo from BPS....rod & reel for $200 total, but after re-reading your post, it appears you want a left hand reel and the Maina is only right hand crank.

 

The 7' 6" Shimano Compre musky rod is excellent and not overly expensive and would be well worth your time to look at, and far superior to the 59" rod you currentely own.

 

The Abu 6501 would be a great starter reel for you, very reasonably priced but built strong and will last you many years with basic care. The only draw back is rather than a thumb bar, it has a release button on the side plate, but you'll get used to that very fast.

 

I'd also suggest you exchange the 50 pound Power Pro for 80 pound. If you get a back lash with the 50 while casting large baits, it can snap quite easily and you could end up losing a very expensive bait.

 

As for the Abu 7000's, while they are indeed a very large reel, they make an excellent casting reel, but just take a bit of getting used to because of their size.

 

I'm certainly not trying to make up your mind for you on anything Kenny, just trying to offer a few suggestions to make your musky fishing a bit more enjoyable for you.

 

Nothing worse than trying something new, with the wrong equipment....good luck

Thanks for the reply Lew. I guess the first reason for the smaller rod was the fact that the vehicle we (me and my buddy LJ) take fishing is a small Ranger with a six foot box. The other reason was because I thought it suited my needs,was a good make and it was a good deal. I understand the principle behind the long rod and I'm not opposed to trying one,it's just really inconvenient. I'll give it a go when I get my Suburban someday. I guess I could buy a two piece? I was looking for something about 6'6 because I know they'll go diagonally in his box. I keep my eyes peeled for a cheap 7' or bigger in the classifieds anyway. Could be trouble exchanging the fifty pound for eighty as I bought it at the show,but maybe I'll put that on my Sahara 2500FB (with my Quantum MH IM8 rod) that I want to use as my bass/general purpose, everyday "go to" setup and grab some eighty pound for the future muskie/pike winch. What's your favorite line Lew? As far as the left handed retrieve I'm actually right handed, but it seems more natural for me to hold the pole with my right and reel with my left. I'm pretty sure I'd be fine either way, I just feel more comfortable reeling with my left. Now as far as those 7000 Abu's go I can't believe you're casting with one!! You must be "man mountain". I'm going to have to start calling you sir, sir. Now in the realm of reels I can actually cast I'd be interested in pretty much anything that'd do the job,is decent to cast,reliable and reasonably priced. I know that's a tall order,but that's why I'm looking for one used. Everyone says the Abu's are good almost forever so a used one shouldn't be a bad thing. I'd take a 5501,6501/5601/6601, C3/4,D5 .... any of them ........silver,gold,blue,red,black,green....... I don't care what colour. What about the Shimano's Lew? Catala or Corsair 201,301,401's. They seem good too,but what do I know? What do you think? Anyone reply here,I'll take all the input I can get. I guess muskie fishing on a budget is going to be tough. Actually I can't wait. If I hook into a decent fish it's going to pull my little twelve foot tinny all over the place ......... muskie surfing LOL.

Edited March 20, 2007 by kennyman

[lew]

Now as far as those 7000 Abu's go I can't believe you're casting with one!! You must be "man mountain". I'm going to have to start calling you sir, sir.

 

1st off Kenny, I'm no "man mountain", and if you ever call me sir, I'll ignore you

 

The 7000's are easy to cast, they just take some practice.

 

The Abu C-3 is a decent reel and will probably work well for you. It's a good caster and also has a clicker and can be used for trolling. The C-4 is basically the same, but is geared faster, which is OK for burning smaller baits, but with the higher gear ratio, it makes it more difficcult to crank in larger baits.

 

The different colors on the reels aren't for decoration, they identify the different models.

 

I can't comment on those 2 particular Shimano reels as I've never used either model, but I'm sure someone else will know something about them. If your interested in Shimano, I'd hightly recommend going up to the Calcutta. It's a whole world ahead of the Abu's, but is going to cost you alot more $$$$ but would certainly be in your best interest. Their an incredible reel and well worth the money.

 

Musky fishing is very expensive, so just buy a bit at a time, as you can afford it, and build your collection slowly. Alot of folks start out wrong and buy up a bunch of baits before they find out what works in the areas their fishing. Ask questions of the folks that fish there, and find out the best baits for those particular waters. Nothing worse than having $500 worth of lures that are no good.

 

Take your time and enjoy the experience !!