The Fred Hall Show is coming to the Long Beach Convention Center this week. The doors open at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday and the show runs through Sunday night. For more information on show times and tickets, check out their website at http://www.fredhall.com/index.php. Visiting the show is a yearly tradition for most Southern California anglers and if you’ve never been before I highly recommend checking it out.
While it’s impossible to cover all of the things worth checking out at the show, here are a few of my recommendations.
First off, I’ll be working at the Batson Enterprises booth every day of the show, so if you’d like to learn more about Rainshadow rods, or just want to say hello, I welcome you to stop by. While you’re at the booth, make sure you get a raffle ticket as well. Batson will be giving away over $8,000 worth of custom rods during the show and there’s no obligation to enter to win. There will also be custom rod kits available for sale at the show.
I will also be joining Captain Jimmy Decker, AFTCO‘s Matt Florentino, Chris Lilis and others for daily bass fishing related seminars on the Berkley Stage. These seminars will be panel formats, where we’ll be taking questions and discussing saltwater bass fishing techniques. Whether you’re new to bass fishing or an old hand there’s always more to learn, if nothing else you’ll gain some insight into the thought process different anglers employ when fishing.
Speaking of bass fishing, I’d suggest stopping by the MC Swimbaits booth and checking out their new line of weedless baits and the new Magnum Slug. Not only has Corey Sanden redesigned his standard saltwater weedless swimbait and slug, he’s come out with a new 9-inch swimbait for the big bass guys.
While you’re there, you can check out the new line of Trokar hooks he developed for saltwater applications.
WAR Baits is another bass tackle manufacture with some new products on the market. Their under spin lead heads will be available at the Performance Tackle Booth. Performance will also have a full line of Pearl swimbaits for sale, including the popular Ceez Candy baits in different sizes.
With all the yellowtail that have been biting recently, I think that surface iron and yoyo jigs are going to be a hot item at the show. Make sure and stop by the Tady Lures booth to check out some of their new jig colors. I recently picked up some of the mirror finish scrambled egg pattern 4/0 heavies and they are one of the best looking yoyo jigs I’ve ever seen.
On the jig front, there is a company called Jig-N-Pop at the show and I will definitely be checking them out. By now we’ve all heard about the success of the Shimano Flat Fall Jig. Well, I assure you that they’re not the only ones that work. So, stop by the booth and talk to the pros. You may just find the hot new lure for 2015.
If you were looking for the latest and greatest fishing reel, I’d check out the New Shimano Torium. I’m an avowed Penn guy, but after hearing about the new Torium from my friend Captain Benny Florentino, I’m definitely going to check it out. Sounds like it’s a Trinidad quality reel at a discounted price.
Finally, it’s hard to know what deals are going to be available prior to the show opening, but Cedros Outdoor Adventures is offering a good one. At the Long Beach Show and San Diego shows they will be offering $50 off to those who book a 2015 trip at the show. This discount is in addition to the $100 off they are offering for booking before March 31st. That’s a total of $150 savings on any trip.
