20th Annual D & R Spring Fishing Show Friday and Saturday

[djkimmel]

Great lineup this year for the 20th annual D & R Sports Center spring fishing show with seminars and appearances by Al Lindner, Kevin VanDam, Rick Clunn, Boyd Duckett and Mark Zona!! This Friday and Saturday March 21 & 22, 2008.

A huge sale on fishing equipment - D & R Sport's largest sale ever! They'll have manufacturer reps from Shimano, Quantum, Motorguide, Minn Kota, Berkley, Humminbird, Lowrance, Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Stren, Strike King, Okuma, Daiwa, G. Loomis, Cannon, and many more!

And special unadvertised discounts during the Spring Show! If you have Adobe Reader installed, check out the advertised sales flyer here.

I'll be there most of the day Saturday taking pictures and answering questions about TBF of Michigan and GreatLakesBass.com. D & R Sports Center is located a few miles west of Kalamazoo and US-131 on M-43. Click the link above for more information.

[1javelin]

Well, I'll be there all day Friday and all day Saturday just listening to the seminars these guys are giving.  Hopefully they have some really good deals on products not listed, because most of their list prices look like actual cost.  Unbelievable lineup though, wow!!!!

1Jav

[Waterfoul]

Was there from 10-4:30 today.  Went early to catch Al Lindner... but his flight was cancelled because of the weather!!  darn snow!!!  But I listened to Mickey Thomas in his place and the story Mickey told was really cool.  I guess you can read about it in this months Bass Master magazine.

Got a chance to talk one on one with KVD for about 10 minutes!  He was really attentive and answered every question I had.  He was that way all day with everyone who approached him.  Talked with Boyde Duckett for a few minutes too.  Very nice guy also.  These two guys are definitely a couple of the top ambassadors for Professional Bass Fishing.

I stuck around to her KVD's seminar too.  Interesting to say the least.

Bought a few things.... I even broke one of my own rules:  Never buy a $20 crank bait.  Well... I did!! 

I should add that the Lowrance rep treated me RIGHT!  For the life of me I can't remember his name but he went above and beyond his duties as a Lowrance rep to help me out with my H2Oc handheld.  My hat's off to him for sure!

[Dan]

I was there all day as well. Took some pictures of Boyd, Thomas, Greg Magnus, JVD, and KVD. Saw Lt. Dan there near the NBAA both. Checked out the $21.99 C Flash crankbait that Waterfoul must have bought that Mickey Thomas was pushing. I didn't buy one, but plan on buying two. Saw some Fish2Sea baits that looked good. Haven't seen that brand before. Duckett was all about preparation to clear the mind to maximize your  fishing effort. Thomas was about take a kid fishing and has a good Bassmaster tale that everyone should read in this months Bassmaster magazine. He also was the one with the crankbaits and soft plastice prerigged craws. Jonathon VD talked about dropshotting and KVD was his usual spectacular self and kept the crowd wanting more. Kevin brought his two boys and his wife was there as well. The pros were really approachable and very helpful. Class acts the whole lot. Poor Boy has some new plastics out, and that Rage Shad is going to get wet this year. Checked out the carrot sticks. Very interesting.

[djkimmel]

I could've see you two weekends in a row!! I got there late around 3:45 PM or so. Wanted to be there earlier... just didn't work out.

It was PACKED still when I got there! What a crowd. Several company reps told me the place was even more packed on Friday! Must be all the great fishing tackle...? Ok - maybe KVD and some others had a little to do with it?!?

Most of the national celebs were gone when I got there although KVD was just getting out of his seminar. He was very busy with autographs and photos so I didn't get a chance to do anything with him.

I did pack in talking to a whole bunch of anglers/reps and got a few pictures. Saw a numer of GLBassers (and Dan didn't tease me about eating...??). Got some more great ideas too. There's never a shortage of great ideas. Shawn Straley showed me a new jumbo Erie Darter-like swim bait that looks very intriguing.

Talked to BryanP some more about sidescanning too. Still amazes me what you can see. Talked to Jack and Jim from NBAA. They seemed to be keeping pretty busy. I couldn't tell which one was working harder...?

Funny, Dave Reault came up to me and said, "what are you doing here??" Which is pretty funny since he lives farther away than I do!! I think he was trying to throw me off the trail of the 'secret' baits he was buying...??

Briefly talked to Randy Vandam and his son we all know now as JVD - Jonathan. I didn't have a Rick Clunn sighting, but a 2nd Toyota fishing truck passed me on the way out. Maybe that was him???

[Waterfoul]

Clunn was not there.  His flight also got cancelled due to the weather.

[1javelin]

I didn't go yesterday as the weather Friday made for tooth and nail driving home already, so didn't want to follow that up.  Skeeterman190 and tcook went with me, and we had a good time.  We got to stand in a small group talking with Boyd for probably half an hour or so, and man does that guy have it.  Probably a guy I am going to follow more and more as time goes on, simply for the mental approach him and KVD use.  Was a little upet that Clunn couldn't make it, darn weather in Michigan is horrible.  Did have fun though, and got to meet Joshimoto Son for the first time.  Good luck getting those number 2's off your back bud!!

1Jav

[djkimmel]

Well... KVD must have 2 Toyota's!!!! Not that that is real surprising...

I drove home from work in Flint Friday night and the roads where hideous by the time I got to Lansing. Accidents and people going off the road left and right. Of course, one awesome dude had to pass me in the left lane doing 80. I didn't look for him in the ditch. I figured he be buried under the snow or so far out in the woods I wouldn't see him anyway.

I wish I'd have had more time on Saturday to visit. I slept in a little and then did some printing. By the time I got going, the highways were clear and dry.

[joshimoto son]

I got to see a couple of GLB'ers.

I talked to KVD a little bit and handed him a brand new Vibra Spin.
When I asked him what he thought of it, he first started the "well I don't know, I haven't thrown it spiel" then all of a sudden he paused and looked up at me and said with the utmost sincerity, "You know... this is a REALLY good idea."

I gave him one of my cards and asked him to call me if he got a chance to give me any feedback. He was very nice about it, but if I had to guess, I think he was trying to tell me that that was probably not going to happen.

I enjoyed Boyd's seminar the most, I finally ran into someone that has the same analytical mind with the same quirky superstitions. It's really nice to know that there's at least one guy out there doing it that I can really relate too.

joshimoto son

[djkimmel]

Randy thought it was a pretty good idea too. He said he had already seen the video of the VibraSpin on the Internet recently. I gave him one of mine.

[joshimoto son]

Yeah,

Shame on me... I should have brought a bunch of them, it actually was an afterthought, and I just happened to have one in the truck and stuck it in my pocket when I headed in.

I always worry too much though... I don't know how many people come in and shove a new bait in Randy's face everyday. I just need to get a grip and do it.

Josh

[JCOOPER]

The rules for that are, that you need to give it to him. He is more than willing to try new stuff out.  Everytime I have been on the waer with him, he was always trying new stuff out. 

[djkimmel]

Especially if you KNOW it's a winner!!!