3/8/07 - fred hall tackle show - long beach, california

[alantani]

it's the biggest tackle show in the western united states.  never been before and it was overwhelming.  next year, i'm flying down for a couple of days, staying at the mariott hotel across the street, and having dinner at hooter's every night!  this trip, i flew down in the morning and flew back in the evening. 

i don't travel much and have never gotten over the novelty of flying.  i caught the 10am commuter flight from san jose to los angeles, but booked too late to get the $80 special.  i ended up paying $254 for my flight!  ouch!  i'll know better next time.



it was only a 50 minute flight to los angeles.  the smog was surprisingly light.











my good friend ben picked me up at los angeles international and we headed out for burgers, then on to the long beach convention center.





we snuck in early with vendor badges complements of george valenzuela of senortuna.com.  once inside, i was in for the surprise of my life.  i could not believe how huge this show is.  we have a fred hall show in san francisco and the international sportsmen's expo in san mateo.  i was told that the long beach show draws more people in a day than the other shows draw in a week!



this is two hours before the opening.  everyone is frantically rushing to get set up. 





meet socalslew, george valenzuela (proprietor of senortuna.com) and my ride and good friend, ben ouano.





so while these guys were working to get set up, i had two hours before the opening to cruise around and take pictures.







the turner's booth is HUGE!







johnson hicks had a nice booth.  i spoke to darryl and galen about a new temp sensor, so we're going to get one more thing added to my boat!  this darned galen is always costing me money!









this is mr. hightower from newell.  we spoke briefly about greased carbon fiber drag washers.  he will still not come over to the darkside!





the izorline guys had their knot testing machine out.  my 6 turn uni knot did not perform very well the last time i tested it on their machine, so i kept moving.....



my favorite rods!



my friend frank on the right, still getting the daiwa booth set up.



i didn't get a chance to talk to these guys, but i've heard lots of good things about ken's!





eye candy!  couldn't pass up this shot!









my good friend steve from penn!  we missed him at the fred hall show in san francisco. 









shimano's new "a" series tiagras!



this lady makes the most beautiful tackle boxes i've ever seen.  my wife would probably be willing to use one as a jewelry box!



avet!!!!!!!!



and bloodydecks.com!



this is dean takahashi.  he's the guy that is importing this new thinner japanese braid.  i'm going to get all of my new accurates strung with his hollow core spectra.  no more bimini's and albright's.  everything is going to be spliced from now on.  i was amazed at how busy his booth was for the entire day.



jonah from hi's tackle. nice to see a familiar face!







did i mention that i was thing about a new boat?  hmmmm, 33 might work......







i finally got to meet one of my most favorite people in the whole world.  this is dawn, of smoothdrag.com.  she has a new handle nut wrench and a basic tool box for any of you guys thinking about breaking into reel repair.  i spoke to her about expanding her website.  that way i can post up a reel repair tutorial for ever reel that has a carbontex upgrade. 









the world famous captain frank lopreste of the royal polaris!







these next four shots are a panoramic of the main floor.















hmmmm, built-in live well!





2pm and the doors flew open!!!!!!!!!!

















hey, a cute japanese girl that actually fishes!



baker frames, great stuff!



the true masters, cal and eric sheets of cals2speed.com. 







harry from avet!





kevan from noah's tackle!











i want to go to costa rica!









mark hilliard!  it was amazing!  i ran into about 50 people i knew during the day!



ben and i grabbed a quick dinner at the show, then back to the senor tuna booth to get his rod blanks, then off to the airport to catch my 8:30 flight. 



good bye, los angeles!



hello, san jose!



you guys should check this out next year.  well, it runs until sunday, so you still have time this week!  i am definitely going back next year and it will be for several days, not just 8 hours.  hope you enjoyed the show!  alan