Bass Fishing Seminars this week at the Grand Rapids Ultimate Sport Show

[djkimmel]

Please read below for the updated bass fishing seminar schedule for this week at the 2009 GR Ultimate Sport Show - the NBAA stage and Xtreme Bass Tackle/Combat Fishing only. There are many other seminars including additional bass seminars by some KVD character -  Ultimate Bass Fishing presented by Kevin VanDam
Friday, March 20    4:00PM    Lake Ultimate
Friday, March 20    8:30PM    Lake Ultimate
and even some by a similar guy, JVD (click the link above for full schedules and topics)


NBAA & Combat Fishing Seminars*

Thursday, March 19th
3:30 pm – Don Watts
3:30 pm - Wayne Carpenter, Smallmouth Bass Fishing, Stage D
5:00 pm – tba
6:30 pm – Don Watts
8:00 pm – tba

Friday, March 20th
11:30 am – Ben Nielsen
1:00 pm – Don Watts
2:30 pm – tba
2:30 pm - Wayne Carpenter, Smallmouth Bass Fishing, Stage D
5:30 pm – 'Comedero' Dan Kimmel, Mexico Bass Fishing
7:00 pm – Ben Felton
7:00 pm - Wayne Carpenter/Dan Kimmel, Smallmouth Bass Fishing, Stage C

Saturday, March 21st
10:00 am – Ben Felton
11:30 am - Dan Kimmel, Houghton Lake Bass Fishing
1:00 pm – John Gipson Jr
2:30 pm – Ben Felton
4:00 pm – Dan Kimmel (maybe Wayne Carpenter too)
5:30 pm – Ben Nielsen
7:00 pm – Don Watts

Sunday, March 22nd
10:30 am – Ben Nielsen
Noon – Ben Felton
1:30 pm – Wayne Carpenter/Mark Frickman, Smallmouth Bass Fishing
3:00 pm – 'Comedero' Dan Kimmel, Mexico Bass Fishing
4:00 pm – John Gipson Jr

* NBAA stage unless otherwise noted

[Firefighter Jeff]

Ok, as you can see,  I'm rated a "Fry" on the website.  lolol  I've been a member for less than a year.  I really like the site, because I love to fish in Michigan.  (Live in Indiana) I'm not sure how I found the site.

Anyway.  I'm planning on going to the Ultimate fishing show in GR this weekend with my wife.  We'll be there Sat when it opens til the afternoon, then head to Ludington for the night.  How many sponsors from this site will be set up there??  Or better yet are there any other members going to be there???  I'd like to meet some of you, but like I said, being a fry, I'm not familiar with a lot of the screen names and such.  lolol  I have met Spinningbug (Wendy and her husband)  and I've emailed Tcook.  Actually I talked with Wayne Carpenter last year there before I knew he was a member on GLB. ( bought a few tubes and one of your books. lol)  Looks like you'll be there Dan.  You hanging out anywhere in particular?

Hope to meet some of you and check out some products.   Jeff

[squid]

Yes, I did not see my name on the list for giving a seminar this weekend.   

Lots of people will be there and lots of products to look at.  This is the BEST show in Mich.  Then comes Novi. 

[Dan]

Just a bit of info for those attending the show: Parking on Monroe north of Michigan, on the west side of the street is twenty-five cents an hour up to 10 hours. It can't be more than 200 yd walk to the front door of the Devos Place. I shouldn't give up these spots because it's where I hope to park, but oh well. (If you are looking north on Monroe, in front of the DeVos Place, you'll see the expressway over pass. The metered parking starts just after that over pass.) Make sure you remember its the river or west side. The other side of the street is a different fee structure and is more expensive or it restricts the total number of hours or something like that.
There is garage parking directly across the street from the entrance to the Devos, but it's around 7-10 dollars.
If you are looking for a close place to eat, directly across the street from the main entrance to the show, one door south of that parking garage entrance, is  Taco Bobs. Good food, try the funny taco. You can get a complete meal with entree, chips, rice, beans, pop for 5-6 dollars. Just up the stairs from Taco Bobs, on the second level, is Nunzia's a fast food Italian place with lasagna, pasta dishes, subs, salads, etc. I've eaten at both places and you can't beat the price while downtown. If you eat in the show you will end up paying way more for reheated burgers.
For you vendors, presenters, or anyone for that matter, if you call Taco Bobs 458-1533 (and when you do the Nunzia's phone orders go to Taco Bobs as well, same manager) they will bring you over your food. They have to be invited in because of regulations at the DeVos, but if you call them they will deliver.
I know Wayne has had Taco Bob's before and you can check with him on how he liked it. I know Dave LeFebre ate there. I saw him eating and couldn't resist chatting with him after one of his seminars.
Taco Bobs cannot put an outside sign up, I've asked, because it is kind of hard to see it because there is just a small sign in the window. It's in the Calder Plaza Building adjacent to the drive for the Michigan National Bank Parking ramp which is immediately adjacent to the County ramp. There is a door to the restaurant on Monroe and another you can enter from inside the building. It's not exactly straight across from the DeVos entrance but almost.
I'm envious FF Jeff that your heading up to Ludington. If the House of Flavors is open try their perch or the fresh roasted turkey. Don't eat the ice cream, but if you must the Hokey Poke Sundae it's addictive. Corney name, but man its gooood.

[LGMOUTH]

I eat there every year, its a great place to eat.

[djkimmel]

I'll be wandering around lost part of the time when not in seminars, but at least some of the time, I'll be the TBF of Michigan and Combat Fishing booths which should be right near each other.

A number of web site and personal sponsors will be there including Wayne Carpenter, Matteson Marine, Wonderland Marine West and I expect the guys from Case Plastics will be around there somewhere at one of the dealers.

[McCarter]

i might be there tomorrow trying to unload a few bags of hand poured goodness and some fine old fasioned hand churned jigs.  I will be in the tbf booth if i make it.

McCarter himself

[Firefighter Jeff]

Hey Dan, 

   Thanks for the inside info on the GR show.  Oh my family is quite familiar with House of Flavors.  We have a camper trailer on Hamlin Lake so we get up there a fair amount.  Rasberry Chip Cheesecake is my favorite flavor.      We don't eat as much at HOF as we used to.  We like to hit Chuckwagon Pizza, The Grand (Bar) and ummmmmm  China Buffet  lololol

[Firefighter Jeff]

Hmmmm can you guys wear name tags  lololol  Guess I'll have to go around and say... ummmmm  you a member of GLB  ??  lolol

[Cy]

If you find the Xtreme booth you will find me, Wayne and possible thedude depending on what time he is going to be there on Sat.  My name with be on my shirt or my vendor badge so I am easy to find.  The TBF booth is just down and across the isle from the Xtreme booth.

Cy

[djkimmel]

Just look for a guy who looks like me!!

I was going to say you should be able to pick that fishermen out in the crowd

We tried the red hat hook thing in the past, but that didn't really work. I guess I could look into getting 'cult' shirts like Lance Valentine's Walleye 101 followers...? As Lance says, "yes, the Koo-Laid is good!"

[Skulley]

Just look for a guy who looks like me!!

I was going to say you should be able to pick that fishermen out in the crowd

We tried the red hat hook thing in the past, but that didn't really work. I guess I could look into getting 'cult' shirts like Lance Valentine's Walleye 101 followers...? As Lance says, "yes, the Koo-Laid is good!"

Look for a guy that looks like Dan hanging around a girl looking like Megan Fox.  Apparently there were paparazzi at the Outdoorama that got pictures of Dan and Megan.  I haven't seen them yet, but I hear they exist.  I will post them as soon as I can find the paparazzi to buy them from.

I was planning on attending on Sunday.  Since the weather is supposed to be decent, I am planning to work to get the boat ready for the season.  I do have two free passes for the Grand Rapids show.  PM me and we can figure out how I can get them to you.  Maybe you'll be able to catch a glimpse of Dan with Megan Fox.  Strong rumours circulating that she will be attending.

BD                 

[FOB]

Well, it's died down here at the Grand Rapids show, so I thought I'd give a shout out.  Have not seen Skeeterman, Waterfoul, or others here yet.  Maybe on Sunday.  If anyone else is coming over, pleae make sure you stop by and say hi, so I can put a name with a face.

[WayneC]

For the record...we did like Taco Bob's but unfortunately for the last couple of years they have been closed by the time everyone was hungry.

[Dan]

Sorry Wayne about the info about Taco Bobs. Bobby, who started the chain, is my nephew sort of. Not directly related, but I've known him since his was fish bait size. He is now franchising the stores and has sold the store downtown Grand Rapids. I did call the new franchisee before the show started, and they said they were going to stay open longer. They are a walk up lunch place and close at 2:00 pm every day and are not open on the weekends.  Maybe because of their usual schedule they had employee problems and couldn't stay open longer. I will be mentioning the problem to Bobby though and let him know the discontent that I heard from several people at the show. Next year give me a holler, and I'll run food in for you and we'll pick from some places that I know are good and are open. I don't miss many donut shops or restaurants. There are some great places to eat in GR. I eat restaurant food more than home food. Maybe I should be writing a food blog. I got a good recipe for parmesean cheese crackers.... no I think I'd better stick to one theme, and fishing for bass is it. I got a good picture of Captain Wayne on the blog - teardropbass.com click the daily blog on the left index.

[WayneC]

When I grow up I want to be able to write something as well researched and complete with photos as you did in 21 plus minutes on your teardrop.com blog.  It was a treat to have you visit us in GR as we were a long way from home and it is the time of year to catch up with people we care about.  Pretty soon things will be busy enough and a friendly wave to each other on the water will be a real plus.

You really do have the food thing down pat but don't sweat the Taco Bob's thing.  It is a dissapointment but it's good to hear that someone is expanding their business at this time.  We ended up at Subway and got the $5 footlongs, cut them in half and it was all good.  Even had some extra to give away.

Thanks again for the kind words on the blog.

[Dan]

Thanks Wayne. Writing the blog takes more time than most people think it does. As you say, you need to read to do your background check to see what's out on other forums and sites, then write the piece, resize and adjust pictures, proof your article, then upload the pictures and article using a file transfer protocol, to your server that hosts the site. With all that, I tend to procrastinate and an article often consumes way more time than it should. I have to try and spur its completion by setting a time limit deadline. I will be blogging from the road starting Saturday and I need a wireless connection to upload from. That means stopping at a wireless hotspot and spending at least a half hour. There are more and more places where you can get on a network free, but often they hit you with a fee. McDonalds in Alabama is the cheapest at $2 a connection. If I would go to a library it probably would be free, but they don't have french fries. Take care and keep making those great looking baits. I'll be taking some south with me and flashing them around. When I go to the reception for the Dixie Duel with the BASS pros I picture myself dangling a Great Lakes Perch in front of KVD and taunting him a bit. What do you think?  I'm leaving Saturday and return a week from Sunday.

[WayneC]

Hi Dan.  You really described the process of producing a blog well.  The deadline thing creates all kinds of mayhem with "normal life" but it sounds like you are dedicated and it shows in your writing.

I don't have any personal knowledge about what Kevin knows but it wouldn't surprise me if he has already seen the bait.  It's always fun to share fishing stuff though and it would probably be fun to get his take on it.

Have a great trip and blog on!

[Dan]

I see KVD is third in the Lake Dardenelle Event in Arkansas. They don't get much time in between these next two tournaments. We're packed and ready to leave. The alarm is set for 6:00 am and we have the Ranger hooked up to the truck. We'll spend the night on the road tomorrow and be in Alabama checking out Decatur and the sight for the Dixie Duel which starts Thursday. Got the computer packed and will put on a short blog tomorrow if the place we stay has wireless.