Marlin

What could be better than a tackle show held in Las Vegas? Not much, I have to say! This past week I got to wander among the largest collection of saltwater and freshwater fishing tackle on the planet - and just a few short steps from the craps table. Penn, Shimano, Fin-Nor and every other reel maker you could think of brought their latest offerings for your local tackle shops to peruse, and you couldn't count the different number of styles up for grabs. (Now I could go into great detail about some of the things I saw at the show, but I think I make you wait to see some of my favorites in the upcoming pages of Marlin.)

Overall, the mood at the show seemed to be much lighter and more prone to positive comments than last year's show in Orlando, Florida. And once the announcement came over the loudspeaker on the second day of the show that the wellhead had been capped and oil had stopped flowing into the Gulf, a roaring cheer went up among all the vendors and buyers in attendance.

The bar at the Las Vegas Hilton was hopping every night, and you could rub elbows with all the stars on fishing TV, fellows like Blair Wiggins, Mark Sosin, Rick Murphy, Bob Dance, Babe Winkelman and Roland Martin. As a little boy, I remember spending many of my Saturday mornings watching some of these legends catch one fish after another and wishing that someday I could fish alongside one of them. Several times during the show, I found myself acting the part of the fan, walking up and introducing myself to Bob Dance or Roland Martin, and telling them how much I admired their work and how much it meant to me as a crazy fishing kid who moved around a lot.

I also got to meet one of my journalistic heroes at the show: Ray Scott, the founder of B.A.S.S. and Bassmaster magazine. I met Scott while waiting for an elevator and struck up a quick conversation with him. He started right off by telling me a pretty funny joke about two old ladies in church, but the elevator came before I could tell him about my reading Bassmaster magazine as a boy in Millbrook, Alabama. and ordering my first-ever bass lures from the back pages. (I got three Rat-L-Traps for $5.)

I spent so much time wandering the aisles at this year's show that I barely got out to the tables - I must be getting old or something. But I did manage to sting them for about $220 on my last night, which means I'm up over a grand when compared to my normal performance.

I'm heading off to Kona, Hawaii, in the morning to chase some blue marlin at the last 2010 session of Marlin University. Fishing has been slow lately in Kona but is starting to pick up a bit. It would be nice to hit the hot bite in the fabulous spot just before they stage the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. Wish us luck! You'll see some cool pics on Marlin's home page.

POSTED BY MarlinEdit AT 12:36