The new and – maybe – improved Seattle Sportsmen’s Show opens next Thursday for a four-day run at the Exhibition Center, and not even Bill O’Loughlin, the show’s producer, knows exactly how the event will shake down.
The old, almost-forever-in-the-Kingdome, Seattle International Sportsmen’s Exhibition is no more. The Portland-based O’Loughlin family, producers of the Puyallup sportsmen’s show and a number of other outdoor events on the West Coast, bought the dates and rights to the ISE, and this is their first effort in many years to put on a show in Seattle proper.
O’Loughlin says the family has changed the show’s format, to a degree, to reflect an “expanded” interest in the outdoors by more urban westerners.
“We’ve tried to make the show a little more well-rounded, compared to the old hard-core hook-and-bullet format,” O’Loughlin says. “It will have a little bit of a higher-end feel to it – more RVs, for instance – and because it’s later in the year than in seasons past, there will be more family-oriented stuff, like the interactive gold panning display. There will still be a bunch of fishing boats, but also more canoes and kayaks, and we’ve eliminated the camp cooking display for this one.”
O’Loughlin hastens to add the show is still grounded in the fishing/hunting community, and will still offer fly fishing, fly tying, sporting dogs, the casting pool, the free fishing/hunting seminars, and most of the rest of the stuff it always has.
But even he had no real handle, when we spoke, on how many and what type of exhibitors the show would draw and, by inference, the level of visitor interest.
“In all honesty, I’ll have to feel my way through it this year,” he said.
But no matter how it turns out, fishing/hunting traditionalists should be glad there will still be a Seattle outdoor show and, hey, who knows – this may be “the start of a new tradition for outdoor adventure enthusiasts in the Puget Sound region” as the hype suggests. Certainly the O’Loughlins have a proven record of producing top-flight, interesting, responsible outdoor events, and the Seattle show should be no different.
Noted fly fisherman, guide, author and television host Jack Dennis makes his first appearance at a Seattle show in several years, as the event’s headliner. Other fly fishing experts on tap include Nathan Keen of the Avid Angler, Northwest expert Brian O’Keefe, pro Mike Lawson, Montana guide Arnie Gidlow, and others.
Top hunting speaker will be popular Jim Zumbow, author of numerous elk and mule deer hunting books. For hunters, the show will also include the “Wall of Kings,” featuring the Tour of the Northwest’s Big Game Animals, a one-of-a-kind collection of the largest trophies ever taken in the western United States.
In the tradition of the O’Loughlins’ family orientation, the Seattle show will include sporting dog demonstrations conducted by nationally known trainer Dan Mar and local expert Bert Carlson; gold panning for kids; prospecting displays for adult hobbyists; and other hands-on activities.
In the tenor of the times, displays of off-road equipment, trailerable and rooftop watercraft, paddle sports, truck campers and tent trailers will have a close-to-home orientation, as will guides, outfitters and adventure travel purveyors.
Experts presenting tips at two seminar theaters (for a schedule of seminar days and times, go to www.sportshow.net/seattle) will include:
Skip Morris, accomplished author, jazz guitarist, and fly fisher, covering a number of different topics: Morris and Chan on Fly Fishing Trout Lakes; fly fishing deep in lakes; big dry flies for trout; fly fishing Pacific salmon and sea-run cutthroat.
Don Johnson, the Y-fly; Dylan Rose, northwest bait fish patterns; Stephen Jackson (son of famous Alec Jackson) on chironomids.
Larry Bartlett, float hunting in Alaska; Nathan Keene, intro to fly casting; Eric Linde, spring chinook on the Columbia, and fall fishing at buoy 10; Ed Iman, walleye; Mike Lawson, Idaho fly fishing, and turkey hunting; Arnie Gidlow, Montana fly fishing, wingshooting; Dale Burk, mule deer hunting; Jeff Currier, Yellowstone and Patagonia trout; and more.
Show hours will be 1-9 p.m. on Thursday (March 14); 1-10 p.m. on Friday (March 15); 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday (March 16); and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday (March 17).
Admission for adults is $8; juniors (6-16), $5; and free for children under 6. Discount coupons, valid for $3 off adult admission Thursday and Friday only, will be available at participating AM/PM stores.
New book: Regular readers of this column will know I don’t tout books on a regular basis. There’s a new one, however, that looks like a must-own for serious Washington hunters, or even semi-serious ones.
It’s a very attractive, hard-cover tome called “Record Book for Washington’s Big Game,” put together by Oregonian David Morris. A similar book, on Oregon records, has been popular enough to prompt three printings.
The reason I bring it up here is that Morris also runs the “Tour of the Northwest’s Big Game Animals,” a collection of great heads (see above), and will be at the Seattle Sportsmen’s show. He will not only be selling the book ($39.95), but will be measuring heads brought in by hunters for inclusion in the second edition. There will be a second edition, Morris guarantees, and he urges hunters to bring trophies to the show for measuring by certified B&C and P&Y measurers, along with photos, for inclusion.
The book covers all measurable Washington big game, including cougar and wild turkey. It has a youth division, an artist’s portfolio, and pages of photos of Washington hunters and their once-in-a-lifetime trophies. Especially interesting are the hunting stories of some of the listed record holders – where they went, what they expected, what they didn’t expect.
You can buy the book at the show or order by phone and credit card at 541-421-3385; or by mail (include $5 for shipping) at NW Big Game, Inc., HCR 58, Box 2, Long Creek, OR 97856. Web site, for more information, is www.nwbiggame.com.
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