Maybe I have become jaded

[piemma]

OK, so I am an old Ba#@*t at 63 but I have come to the conclusion this year, that there are no good fishing get togethers except for the ones put on by this Board.
The RI Boat Show sucks.
The East Bay Anglers show sucked last year except for Fish_Eye and his awesome videos.
The RISAA Show is the same old tired stuff with a couple of exception. I see Scott at his shop all the time and can get anything I want from Larry or Habs online.
The Mass Striped Bass show was the best one I went to last year only because VB, Professor M, John R and Back Beach among others were there.

Maybe I have been to too many shows and just don't care anymore.

What are the rest of you guys thinking?

[JohnR]

Did you ever go to our meetings at the "club" hall?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[nightfighter]

I'm thinking you are just reaping the dividends of all that time fishing with Bill and Mike!

I'm jonseing to fish too, Paul.....

[UserRemoved]

crusty old fart

[spence]

I agree Paul, you are an old bastard.

We should have a meet up.

-spence

[Backbeach Jake]

I think that these shows have become victims of their own success. They've grown too big and have become impersonal. I stopped going to the larger shows because I felt lost in a sea of people. Once in a while bump into someone I know but most of the time is spent just milling around in a crowd. Just my take.

[Karl F]

they have all become overdone, and most play like reruns.
the vendors pay thru the nose to be there, and guys want show specials... a no win for all.
I'm younger than you in years but way past you on the grump meter..
I am thinking Garbo correct...

[slow eddie]

sounds like the feb. blahs are setting in a little early this year. i'm 69, 99% surf fishing only, with plugs. don't care if i catch a 50 or a five. just matters to get out on the water.
i still go to the shows. mainly to see the guys i don't see that much of during the year. the shows themself are just an excuse to get together. by mar. the juices are starting to flow. come on april and the baby run.
my advice is get a decent bottle of cognac. have one shot a day. before you know it, it's spring.
dr. ed. no relation to dr. phil.

[Karl F]

no winter blahs or blues here..
I actually Love this time of year..
crisp clean clear air, no oppresive heat or humidity, and unfit to breathe air...
night skys to enjoy, snow is nice to look at..
no traffic or crowds, can even come and go in some so called "Private" areas..
and always PLENTY to do!

[Spiderman]

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Spiderman]

Take a road trip. There are a couple of good shows down here on Long Island. I think part of the problem, though is there aren't as many bargains as there used to be and we have too much stuff already and the few things we need are either not there or can be bought for the same price at the shop. I like to go just to hang with friends.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[MikeToole]

I think your terms are the answer, one is a show and the other is a get together. The thing I usually enjoy the most about a show is seeing the people I don't get to see during the off season.

I go to the shows if for no other reason but to support the clubs. The money from the Plum Island Surfcaster show is used to support our youth program and fishing interest.

I will say I got some real good information on wet suits for fishing at the MSBA show. Being able to talk to DJ was a big help.

[Back Beach]

I go to shows and get togethers just to see people. Aside from maybe a cold beer and some beef jerky, there's little of interest in terms of buying. I do like the MSBA and RISSA shows alot simply for the B.S. sessions. You can pretty much keep the rest of the big shows.

[numbskull]

Here is another way to look at it.

Fishing shows are sort of like primary school events. You don't go for the event, you go for the atmosphere.

300 1st thru 4th graders in an auditorium produces some sort of energy that is palpably real, and something that is very rare to feel as an adult.

1000 eager fishermen at a preseason show does about the same. Fun just to roam around for a few hours and soak it all in.

[ProfessorM]

like mike said I go more to see friends, I rarely buy anything at the shows but I like to look. To be honest i got way too much stuff already. It is just a social event for me.

[Adam_777]

I don't care for the shows.They hype them all up.Then the vendors charge more than usual for the S.O.S I already have a hundred of.I don't know anybody so I wander the isles and look at the same faces year after year.A nod an excuse me a few slabs of jerky maybe a seminar and I'm thinking I wasted a sick day for what ?

[piemma]

Looks like most of the guys agree. The only reason I go to anything nowadays is to meet up with old friends. That's one reason that I love the TFCTFN.

[Duke41]

The RI Boat show is tiny. It has shrunk at least 75% from 10 years ago. I was done in 90 minutes.

[moogie]

Ya, I have to agree with Piemma.

The show's are not the same.
To be perfectly honest, I can go to Bass Pro and kill the same amount of time there, as I would at a show. . . .and get the same hot dog too.

I can spend countless hours on line looking at, and reading about all of the new stuff.

I'm in my early 60's and all I can say is that back in the day, we could take the "MTA" (that's what they called the "T" back then) from Dorchester into the Sportsmen's Show at the Hynes, eat hot dogs, and see all the new tackle and exhibits.

It was fun. It was like everyone came out of hibernation. It was wall to wall people.
Let's not forget seeing Ted Williams too.
All this, all day, for a dollar.

Times have changed.
Many of the people on these forums can't afford the prices of the show and parking combination today.

For some reason the shows out on the west coast are still huge. They draw a ton of folks. Same thing with some of the other east coast shows.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy seeing some of the boys at a local show but that aside, I feel like we've been abandoned or we're outcasts on the show circuit.
Times have changed for sure. . . .
Moog

[Clammer]

AMEN TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT ><><><><

[RIJIMMY]

I go to break up the winter, take my son and show him all the stuff, buy a snack and walk around. BS with a few guys. I usually pick up a few plugs to support the local builders and a few things here and there.

[Saltheart]

Social gatherings of fisherman. That's all they are. Sometimes you see something new but for a shore fisherman , the possible one or two new things each year wouldn't get me there. Its the hope you will see some regulars and maybe a few you haven't seen in a long time.

I like MABA. Its small. Most of the people are the ones we are looking for.

I think bargains significant enough to even cover the cost of the show , parking and gas are few and far between now. There was a time it was a real money saver to buy at the shows.

So anyway , at least once a year its nice to see people as a group. I almost always do MSBA. The RISSA show I will do if there's nothing else to do . I don't like the parking situation , the show seems to be too big to me , maybe its just spread out to occupy the available space? Anyway , its less personal and since that's the main driver m I only do RISSA sometimes , not every year.

Don't worry Paul , in 60 days you can catch one in Jerusalem.

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Did you ever go to our meetings at the "club" hall?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Boy do I miss those meetings!

[Swimmer]

There is a rather eclectic show this weekend, which is mostly hunting at the Standish Rod and Gun Club in East Bridgewatr. If you want to stand around in a place that has a huge wood fire going, and smell left over, failed to eject from the building lead deposits, some of you might like it. The M.S.B.A. always has a booth with club historian John Cheico manning it. Some of the other guys stop in as well. Food is served, hamburgs. hotdogs, and coffee. I haven't been in a few years, but it used to cost then about three bucks to get into. You'll see Randy Julius there selling his prints of the past duck stamps he has had on the state duck stamp. Beeeaaaauuutiful work if I do say. If you into guns, thts a plus. The fish and wildlife guys and gals are there, as well as the M.B.B.A. and trout unlimited. I am not a member. Its just a place I usually go for a taste of fishing. There is always a few raffle. 12 guage remington, kayak are the two items usuually up for grabs in the raffle.

It wont kill you for money, because there are no venders there selling fishing stuff, except for trout unlimited.

[bassballer]

I get my fishing socialization by just hanging out at a local shop, BS'in.

Seems to be less of that these days. Use to hear about ol timers always haging at shops, is that not the norm anymore? Not enough shops anymore?

[piemma]

Originally Posted by bassballer

I get my fishing socialization by just hanging out at a local shop, BS'in.

Seems to be less of that these days. Use to hear about ol timers always haging at shops, is that not the norm anymore? Not enough shops anymore?

There will never be another Murats.

We use to sit around with Dave Hammock in the back room. He had an old wood stove that he would put orange peels on and burn the mis-turned pine bodies of his plugs in. He had a dart board and we spent lots of hours talking Stripers and throwing darts. Sometimes I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.

I was working for IBM and local all the time. I'd plan my appointments so I ended up in Northern RI around 3 to 4 PM. Grab a coffee for Dave and head for the shop. Some legends were there at the time. Lanny Grazini, Larry Tremblay, George Heavey, Tony C stopped in occasionally, Jack Linton, #^&#^&#^&#^&y C, Bob Vanas, and way back it was the Pergo Brothers, Top Knot, Frank Daignault.

Dave could remember the day, time and weight of every fish over 40 he ever caught. He could not, however, remember what color you asked him to wrap the new 10' S-Glass you ordered last week, so he would wrap it red and yellow.

It was a time that I will always remember but, sadly, will never return. I just don't see that kind of shop anymore. None of the new shops want people hanging around and, it seems, no one has the time anymore. To bad. Some great memories.

[spence]

Originally Posted by piemma

Dave could remember the day, time and weight of every fish over 40 he ever caught. He could not, however, remember what color you asked him to wrap the new 10' S-Glass you ordered last week, so he would wrap it red and yellow.

I love it.

-spence

[Clammer]

thanks Paul ,

brings back memories .... different shop But the same ;;

I can remember the 1st custom rod I ordered .. it was a grandi ...... & it was ordered from Ray the original owner of Rays bait.
& I paid it off in monies I made on bass I caught before work .

then there were the classic,s of the Erickson brothers >>> Ira & Ray .

TX again Mike

[piemma]

You're welcome Mike. Just no more shops like those.

If I ever won the lottery I'd open a fishing shop that sold nothing but wooden plugs, had an old wood stove and a lot of old friends.

[UserRemoved]

turn your lipitor up and lets have a party in that new barn you got

or was it turn the exlax down