Show season in full swing

Show season is kicking in the high gear, but the end is near. No doubt company reps are looking forward to weekends at home and some resemblance of resumption of normal eating habits. Yeah, I get that “pro staff” guys get hammered on fb by keyboard fisherman, but I got to tell you, they are probably worth their weigh in gold. Being able to attend multiple shows on a same weekend and have competent representatives at each event is not that easy for any co. My hat is off to all those for whom your “off season” is a busy season. Almost there boys. Two Sundays from now, on March 13 Asbury Fishing Club will hold their annual Flea market but this Sunday there are two pretty big shows on the schedule

First, Ward Melville Fishing Expo on Sunday at Ward Melville HS. This is now THE biggest fishing show on Long island in the winter and its FREE. Yeah, there is no admission charge, plenty of parking  and vendors and seminars up to wazoo. This is a fundraiser for Ward Melville HS Fishing Club, one of the very few HS fishing clubs on LI. How do they raise money if there is no admission? By having so many raffles it will make your head spin. So buy few waffle tickets and support the kids and you might win a VS reel, plugs, Flatlander bags, waaaaaay to many things to list.

The second show is annual Berkley Fishing Club Flea Market at Toms River in NJ, Sunday from 9-2. Admission is $4

I think this year is going to be the most insane plug spectacle of all time at Berkeley. Go to their Facebook page and see who is coming and what kind of plugs are they making. The level of the talent this year is even the above usual norm. We are having bets on which dude will sell out fastest….lol…i am sure the line to get in and get a first shot at prime plugs will be insane. As it was at Asbury last year..or Surf Day few weeks ago

Wait, you mean other shows other than Striper Day had lines to get in? And people were perfectly content waiting in line for a shot of sought after plugs? And at Berkeley they have to stay outside? I’ll be damned, I thought only NY guys had to stay in line to get into Striper Day.

Yeah, I am being sarcastic. Today is not a good day in my world. We spoke to every single college on LI that had any type of venue for rental. Not a single one had a big room/gym AND a theater for seminars in close proximity. I guess jocks and conferences don’t mesh well. Hotels? Check. Every single one. Did not realized that Huntington Hilton, although they had that big room for vendors only ,have very small rooms for seminars, like really small.I am sorry for me not knowing this but I am usually at vendors table at Fisherman Show. Btw in case any of you are interested having your daughters sweet 16 or you just want to throw yourself a big birthday bash at Hilton, that empty room will cost you about 10k to 15 k without food…. in January!!!…and that is only for one room..I’d “lol” if I thought it was funny. How about giant sport complexes, you know like indoor soccer fields and such? Check. Did you ever see the size of their parking lots? What is that like a joke or something? But then again, only 22  kids are on the field for a soccer game so how many parking spots can they need? Please don’t say firehouse or some dimlit VFW hall. SJ is a little classier than that, besides those places get crushed by flea markets shows, never mind Striper Day. So all the colleges are out, as are hotels and sport venues. Public HS do not lease their space (why would they, they just ask for 8k in property tax every year from every resident..need more? raise taxes). They don’t need a stinking rental. Catholic HS? Still working on it but one snowflake and they shut down the school and the event. So Tommy and I went to see Suffolk CC in Brentwood . Right off exit 53 off LIE, GIANT venue, almost 10 times Hofstra. We would only need about 2/5 of space, would have to carve out a seminar area on the floor with curtains and pull bleachers to create seating. Yeah, everything we said we rather not do, but hey, we are out of options. Additional 150 theater on premisses. Like Tommy said, if two months ago someone offered us a 150 seat theater  we’d be “hell yea” we don’t need anything bigger. But after you guys packed a 350 seat Hofstra Theater we know we need to think bigger. It could work I told Tommy who was a little hesitant….ok more than a little. He Liked the tight feeling of Hofstra, he Loved the ability to show movies in dark pro theater (suffolk big theater is a walk across campus., no good), he just Loved the vibe and “feel” of Hofstra. If you know Tommy, you know that dude is all about the feel of things, its reflected in his designs. He was freaking out if Suffolk cc is too big, too kind of “trade show” and not enough “surf dude show”. Well no need to worry about that after today. Suffolk CC gave us a cost estimate and its “only” 4 (yea, you are reading that right) four times cost of Hofstra.

So I do feel today that I failed you for the first time since starting SJ. But I really did try and I really did give my all in effort to find, bigger, affordable venue so NY guys can have a show of their own. But its not meant to be, and as Kenny Rogers sang, “You Got To Know When To Fold Them”

I am folding my cards and I will never, ever ask why LI does not have its own Surf Fishing Show or why is the Fisherman Surf Seminar admission $25. If I was The Fisherman I’d change $50.

Welcome to life on  Long Guyland  my friends

Surfcaster’s Journal Crew will be at Ward Melville and Berkeley Flea Market in NJ. Stop by and renew your subscription. If you signed up at any of these shows last year, its probably expiring

New issue of the magazine will be coming out in about a week, along with 4 new Surf Fishing 101 videos

Have a Great Weekend

I am drinking tonight. Not everyones taste buds can take it, but mine seem to agree with it