CHANGING TIDES AND A GUY NAMED PHIL

The Salt Water Sportsman National Seminar Series wrapped up its eight-city, 2011 tour in Boston, March 5, with a strong presentation from the likes of co-host Barry Gibson, Dr. Mitchell Roffer, John Oughton, Dave Waldrip, Chuck DiStefano, Russ Burgess, Terry Nugent, Dave Carraro and Brian Patterson. The event was held at Regis College, in their Performing Arts Theater.

To top off the final stop on the tour, and at the conclusion of the seminar day, we drew for the Bimini Sands Bonefishing trip. The winner was one “Phil McCrackin”. The announcement of his name a couple times was met by nearly deafening laughter. If I didn’t read the name myself, I would have thought it to be a joke. It wasn’t! Red-faced, Phil M. made his way to the stage and claimed his trip certificate. I doubt he would have set forth from his seat and endured that laughter had the prize been a spool of fishing line!

Though it takes a bit of effort to get that first seminar stop under your belt, it seems that by the second or third seminar, you’re on a fast-moving train and blowing right by the seminar cities. At the end, you’re wondering what happened to January, February and early March! Mentally, it feels as if we knocked out Atlantic City, Ft. Myers, Virginia Beach, Wilmington (NC), Savannah, Palm Beach, Biloxi, and Boston in one week, rather than over eight individual Saturdays.

Despite all the long and hard hours and traveling involved with the Seminar Series, I still thoroughly enjoy doing it. You meet neat people and, of course, you’re working on stage with some of the nation’s very best saltwater anglers; you can’t help but learn new tricks – even up on stage! Next year, it’s the 25th Anniversary for the Seminar Series, and we will plan some neat things for the tour.

March won’t be nearly as busy, and it’s when I try to relax a bit by getting away with the family for Spring Break, fun fishing, readying the boat and tackle for the new season, etc. Come April, it’s back to shooting television episodes for our 2012 season on VERSUS. Between April and November, we travel to 13 angling destinations to fish and shoot shows. Given good weather and no reschedules (almost a rarity in this business), we might wrap up the shooting by October. The shows are then edited and sent to VERSUS, where they air beginning on the first Saturday in January.

I think there’s some Central Florida freshwater bass fishing in the cards for me in the next week or so (strictly for fun). If I score, I’ll post a picture or two!