Frank Sargeant Outdoors Expo

We had a little down time on Sunday so I decided to take my youngest son, Connor, to the Frank Sargeant Outdoor Expo at the fairgrounds on Sunday. We've been to a few but never to this one so we weren't quite sure what to expect but assumed it would be like most others.

Arriving around the time the show opened we were initially taken back by the number of people that were already there and they continued in a steady stream throughout the day. Another pleasant surprise was the overall number of presenters and the wealth of booths dedicated to tackle and supplies. It was a nice break from the traditional boat show where you have only a few areas of interest for the recreational fisherman in the family.

There was something to see or do almost everywhere. There were three presentations going on, scuba lessons, boat wrap demonstrations, as well as food, tackle, clothing and accessories almost everywhere you looked. For the kids there was a climbing wall, a tethered bouncing area and a push button fishing contest going on at the retention pond. Connor couldn't do the bouncing or the wall (broken foot) but enjoyed the retention pond fishing. Being around and fishing exclusively salt water he was rather amazed that worms could be used as bait.

If not for the cold, blustery weather we'd have probably hung out at the retention pond a little longer. It didn't help though to find out that only two fish, of any species, had been caught that day.

My primary purpose, other than getting out of the house, was to look at offshore boats and there wasn't a very good representation from what I saw. Tons of bass boats, Jon boats, Flats boats, Bay boats and almost everything inbetween but only a couple of real offshore vessels. I didn't spend any time with the ones that were there as I was already very familiar with the Hydrosports from Thunder Marine.

All in all it was a very nice diversion and very much worth the $8 admission price, even if I had paid it (Thanks Capt. Doug). We'll definitely go again next year but I'll probably either leave Connor behind or bring someone along to watch the kids so I can have a better look at the wealth of fishing equipment that was available.

A few pictures of the show are below.