Whether you want to fish the Midwest as a new recruit in the kayak navy or learn the fair-market value of your grandfather’s old lures and fishing tackle, you’ll find what you need this weekend at the Wisconsin Fishing Expo.
The Expo (http://www.wifishingexpo.com) — formerly called the Madison Fishing Expo from 1985 through 2015 — opens at 4 p.m. Friday for its annual three-day run at Madison’s Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall.
The Midwest’s largest consumer-based fishing show, its owners, Bast-Durbin Advertising of Slinger, expect about 20,000 anglers and their families to roam the Expo’s 125,000 square feet of booth space after arriving from across Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and eastern Iowa and Minnesota.
New this year is the Kayak Corridor, an extra 2,700-square-foot area featuring everything from basic kayaks to foot-propelled fishing kayaks rigged with electronics, rod-holders and coolers.
Kayak fishing is exploding in popularity as silent-sports enthusiasts pilot these tactically designed craft wherever there’s water, including places impossible to reach in bigger boats.
In all, Bast-Durbin booked about 275 exhibitors and manufacturers for the Expo. In addition to popular local “mom-and-pop” stores and custom lure and tackle makers, the exhibitor list includes major manufacturers such as Clam, Stren, Daiwa, Shimano, Strike King, Beaver Dam, ACME, Ray Marine, Fenwick rods, St. Croix rods, Garmin electronics, Kalin’s lures, Gamakatsu fishing hooks, Fishing Hot Spots, Okuma rods and reels, and Berkley line, rods and lures.
The Expo also features dozens of boat dealers with hundreds of models made by more than 20 manufacturers, including Crestliner, YarCraft, Tracker, Tuffy, Ranger, Triton, Smoker Craft, Bennington, Alumacraft, and Bass Cat among others.
Anglers who need to occasionally rest their legs can stay productive by attending their choice of 25 in-depth seminars for anglers of all experience levels. The speakers list includes three kayak-fishing experts, and bass-fishing pros who share tournament tips that help weekend anglers catch fish near home.
Dan Durbin, who co-owns the Expo with his business partner, Jeff Bast, said they will present $10,000 to the Madison Fishing Expo’s nonprofit organization.
“We want this fishing show to keep helping the community,” Durbin said. “We don’t tell them how to use the money. We leave that up to them. They work with all the groups and know where to direct it. That’s what this has always been about.”
Before buying and renaming the Wisconsin Fishing Expo, Bast and Durbin worked 18 years marketing its forerunner. As part of that tradition, they provide free booth space to many nonprofit fishing and conservation organizations, which count on the event for fundraising. The nonprofit groups offer many ways for members to participate in fishing causes and opportunities. That includes Take a Vet Fishing, the Yahara Fishing Club, Wisconsin Women Fish, and the UW-Madison and UW-Whitewater fishing clubs.
As part of that effort, the Expo will again use the hall’s second floor for a large art gallery of fishing/hunting prints, paintings, photography and sculptures. Admission to the gallery is free, and proceeds from all sales are donated.
The Expo is expanding the gallery this year by offering free appraisals of old fishing lures and tackle. John Collen of Tomahawk and his friend Chris Slusar of Evansville will handle the appraisals, and answer questions about the old lures displayed in their collections.
Collen, 61, has collected lures for more than 30 years, and regularly hosted one of the country’s largest antique fishing lure shows, The Great Milwaukee Classic. He’s a life member of the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club (nflcc.org), and its regional vice president for Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Slusar has also collected lures for over 30 years, and is especially interested in Wisconsin-made baits and lures. He now hosts the Greater Milwaukee Classic.
Collen said it’s fun to conduct appraisals at large events like the Expo because he never knows what to expect. Most lures people bring in are simply old and not worth more than $3 to $10, but he lives for those moments when a rare Bass Oreno lure shows up that’s worth hundreds. He said the most expensive lure he’s helped someone sell was a Haskell Musky Minnow from the 1800s that brought $35,000.
Far worse are people who study his lure collection and start shaking their heads, realizing they made a huge mistake when cleaning out a relative’s basement or garage.
“One lady told me she had no idea people collected this stuff, and she threw out two peach crates full of old fishing tackle,” Collen said. “They’re not only throwing away tons of money, they’re throwing away our heritage as sportsmen. So when people bring their stuff to us, we give them a fair-market appraisal, and we tell them their options if they want to sell.”
The Wisconsin Fishing Expo runs Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 25, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, and kids 12 and under are admitted free.
The Expo is sponsored by Crestliner, Subway, Blackfish, WKOW TV, Don’s Marine, The Big 1070 Radio, Outdoor Wisconsin, Wisconsin Outdoor News, Future Angler Foundation, and the National Professional Angler’s Association.
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