Gary Engberg Outdoors

Local Column River Currents 3-1-2010 The Madison Fishing Expo, A Great Success

gengberg March 1st, 2010

River Currents

The Madison Fishing Expo, Something for All of Us When the first Madison Fishing Expo started in 1986, few if any of the original volunteer committee members (many are still volunteering) thought that the Expo would become the Midwest’s top fishing show in the Midwest 25 years later. This is not my opinion, but that of one of fishing’s icons, Al Lindner. The first Expo was held at the Holiday Inn # 2 where the DeJope Casino now sits just off the Interstate. The first show had 37 vendors which included boat dealers for the one day event. The second year, there were 54 vendors with the boats dealers in the two day show. This year’s show at the Alliant Center’s Exhibition Hall takes up over 100,000 square feet with well over 200 booths plus the boat dealers.
The Madison Fishing Expo is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that donates all of the show’s proceeds to fund fishing-related projects throughout south-central Wisconsin. The Expo has donated over $600,000.00 to different groups and organizations to improve fishing in Wisconsin. The Expo committee is comprised of 14 members and numerous advisors. Included in the volunteers are members of the Capital City Chapter of Muskies Inc.; 4-Lakes Bassmasters; the Dane County Conservation League; the Southern Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited; the Yahara Fishing Club; Madison Bass Club; and the C&R Bass Club. The many women and men who make up these groups and organizations spend many hours of their time working on the Expo and trying to make it better and more inclusive every year. All of these volunteers should be thanked and complemented on the wonderful job they do to promote fishing, improve fishing-related projects, and trying to get more children involved in the life-long sport of fishing.
I was lucky enough to be asked to be the “MC” for the Expo and got to see the work and effort that goes into putting on a “big time” event. The show attracted over 20,000 people on the last weekend in February with all the parking lots jammed with vehicles from all-over Wisconsin and even the neighboring states of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. These out-of-state attendees were not exhibitors, but anglers wanting to go the best fishing show in the Upper Midwest. The Madison Fishing Expo is the show that really gets anglers in the mood for fishing, since many of the rivers in Wisconsin are just starting to open up for spring walleye and sauger fishing. As an example, I met a group of fishermen from Illinois who came to the show on Saturday and then were going to Wisconsin Dells to fish the Wisconsin River for a few days.
Besides having hundreds of vendors selling and showing the latest in fishing gear and related products, fishing resorts, guide and charter services, fishing groups and organizations, a tremendous group of seminar speakers, events and groups for the disabled, and many activities and groups to get children involved in fishing at an early age. I can not think of anything “fishing” that is not at the show. The Madison Expo Committee has done their homework and every year the group comes up with speakers to cover all kinds of fishing for every fish species that swims in our waters. The admission fee is well-worth the information that one can get from the quality seminar speakers, who have all heard about what a great place Madison is to give a seminar. I was kept busy introducing the speakers in the four seminar rooms that had speakers starting every half hour.
An important area that the Expo covers well is having booths and areas with things for the young. There was minnow races, make a T-shirt booths, face painting, and a trout pond where kids could even catch a live trout. I know that most of you have heard it many times, but the children are the future of fishing and if they aren’t introduced to fishing at an early age they may never become interested in the sport. It was very gratifying to see so many young girls and boys walking through the Expo with their first fishing rod in their hands!
The fishing and boating industry has suffered as much if not more than most businesses in the United States in these down economic times. Every week, major companies in the fishing industry and related businesses are going broke and filing for bankruptcy. It has been a tough last two years for most companies involved in fishing. But, it was great to see the optimism that the companies, businesses, and organizations showed by just being at the Madison Fishing Expo. There are not many people buying new boats these days, but the thousands who attended the Expo could still hear great seminars and buy some fishing gear that was affordable without breaking the bank. Buying a new rod or reel, some jigs, a few crankbaits, or even getting some new material to read gets people feeling good and in the mood for fishing. There was “something” for everyone at the show and despite the down economy people were upbeat and looking forward to open water fishing.
I can’t mention all the excellent seminar speakers, but as I said there was something to interest all anglers. A few of the speaking highlights included; walleye professional, Tommy Skarlis, giving an upbeat presentation on Spring Walleye Fishing in Rivers, Len Harris speaking about trout in his presentation, “Trout Don’t Live in Ugly Places”, past Bassmaster Classic winner and professional bass angler, Davy Hite, local angler and diver, Rick Krueger, who showed some great under-water footage of the Madison lakes, local muskie guides, Geoff Crandell and Steve Reinstra, who gave a nice presentation on early muskie fishing on Madison waters, Karen Savik, who fishes the FLW Bass circuit and gave a nice seminar on “Bass Tactics”, Chris Cass and Brett Stapleman, spoke about bow-fishing, and the best known ice angler in the country, Dave Genz, gave a seminar on 21st Century Ice Fishing. There was something for those who fish for bass, walleye, trout, muskie, panfish, and even bow fishing for rough fish. This was a varied platform of great speakers with information that anyone no matter their level of expertise could learn something new and innovative. Continue Reading »