St. Cloud/Duluth Sport Show Recap

A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say.   This photo sums up the St. Cloud Sportsman Show.   Do you notice the steps leading up to one of the entrances of the auditorium?   Yup, no tracks in the snow (btw, that's the Mississippi River in the photo).   No doubt, the weather influenced the attendance this year.   The good news for us is that the people who did come to the show were definitely committed to researching and exploring new vacation destinations.   That being said, I'm glad we had the opportunities to talk all things Alaska with them.

Besides spending time with our friends, Dick and Kim Miller, the highlight of the show was the return of Twiggy the Waterskiing Squirrel.   Twiggy is always a hit with kids and big kids like me.  

After the St. Cloud show ended we packed up our booth and headed north to the Duluth Sportsmens show.  This was the first time we've been at this show and we were definitely pleased with the venue and the overall attendance.   You'll probably recognize Dan and Mary Meyer in the photo above.   They drove all the way from Peoria, Illinois to spend the weekend with us.   Of all the shows that we've done and that they've come to, Duluth is by far the nicest setting.   Maybe it's because the North Shore of Lake Superior looks a lot like places in Alaska.   Anyway, can't say enough about these two for helping us at the show.

Thought I'd include this photo of the main floor of the Duluth sport show.   Besides this there are two other similarly sized arenas that displayed boats, campers, and rv's.   We liked the placement of our booth (wood booth right in the middle of this photo) but not so crazy about the show stage that was set up to the right of it (elevated black platform).   Twice a day The Roy's performed bluegrass music for an hour and when the music started the lights in the arena were turned off.  Oh well, it gave us an opportunity to walk around the other areas of the show and get a quick bite to eat.

So that's it for the sport shows this year.   We'd like to thank everyone who stopped by to talk about Alaska and to listen to what we have to offer in the 49th state.

Kenai Profiles: Phil and Debbie Dreyer

Many of you regulars will know Phil and Debbie Dreyer (kneeling in the front in the photo above).   If you haven't met them at Beaver Creek Cabins I know you've at least met their boat.   The beautiful blue Willie boat that is tied up on the end of the dock belongs to them.     It's the "Cocktail Boat" as many of our neighbors like to call it.   I guess I'd be stating the obvious if I had to explain why it's called the "Cocktail Boat".

Up until Phil and Debbie bought their boat, they use to spend quite a bit of time in mine.   I didn't realize how much until I started looking through my photo album.  Believe me, the photos I've posted represents just a few of the trips we've spent together.

When you spend a lot of time in a boat with people you really get to know them.   It didn't take me too many trips to coin the term "Philism".    Basically, what this is is a clever or funny insight to the world around us.   For example, Phil was telling a story about catching a salmon shark.   I told him I heard they were very good to eat.   Phil said, "yeah, the first 400 pounds are pretty good but after that you get a little sick of it."   That, my friends, is a "Philism".

Here's a photo with Debbie with a nice Kenai king.  I always like it when a fish is too large for Debbie to lift up.

That's Phil on the bottom right.  He's a charter member of the original dipnetting crew.

This king was on the edge of being too large for Debbie to hold up.   If that's a problem give me a million of them.  

Here's Phil with a group of guys from work.  No question the silver bite was on that morning.

Here's one of the most memorable fish battles that Phil had on the Kenai.   If he looks a little fatigued he should be.   Phil must have walked around the boat 50 times before we could get a net around it.

How cool is this photo?   This king was just the right size for Debbie to hold herself.  If I remember correctly, she didn't want to stand with the fish because she thought it might get away over the side of the boat and she had worked way too hard to let that happen.   Sitting on the floor was the best way to prevent that.

I can honestly say that no one strikes a pose quite like Debbie.  "Catching fish is icing on the cake!"

The Kenai River is what draws Phil and Debbie to the peninsula and that ultimately led them to us.  However, as much as they enjoy the river, a close second is having a meal at Louie's Restaurant in Kenai.   Nothing quite like catching a few salmon and then sitting down to razor clams, chicken sandwich supremes, and patty melts.

Summer is just around the corner.  Can't wait to see you guys again.

St. Cloud Sportsmen Show 2/8-2/10

Jane and I have been getting ready for the St. Cloud Sportmen show that's coming up this weekend and out of the blue I received this photo.   That's my buddy Boo on the left, and a friend of his on the right, holding up three nice kings caught out of Homer.   He said I missed out on a great day on the water.

Hmmm, I guess I'm wishin' I could be fishin' right now rather than getting ready for a sport show.




  

 

Fish Whacker

Fish whacker.  Bonker.  Anesthetizer.  The Ol' Wood Shampoo.  Clubber Lang.   When it comes to dispatching a fish, fisherman are a crazy bunch.

Call it what you will but when it comes to taking care of your salmon one of your most important tools is the fish whacker.   It may seem neanderthal but thumping your catch on the noggin' is critical step in preserving the fish.  It neautralizes a thrashing fish which prevents bruising of the flesh and the build up of lactic acids.  Both will affect the flavor and it's not for the better.  Also, whacking your catch is the humane thing to do.   A blow to the head won't kill your fish but it  knocks it out.   This is good because the heart will still be able to pump out blood when a gill raker is cut.   You've heard me say this on the blog before but I'll say it once more:  whacking a fish and bleeding it are the two most important things to do to ensure the best table fare possible.

Fish whackers come in many shapes and sizes.  I wish I could take credit for being the first to use a bowling pin, as pictured above, but this style of fish whacker was used years ago by my mentor Jeff King (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery).  His words to me,  "it's all part of the show, Grasshopper...."
 

Here's a photo of the collection of fish whackers that are in my boats.

Here's the natural, wood line up (major league level).

Here's the metal line up (college level).

And, this is a souvenir wood bat that my friend Sam made up for the 2012 silver/pink season.   He wanted me to use it while he was here but I told him it was too nice to be used.   It's now proudly displayed in my office.

So, the next time you're out salmon fishing, don't forget to bring a fish whacker with you. If you forget one, keep in mind that a rock or stick will work just as well.  It doesn't have the same panache' but it will work in a pinch.

"Whack 'em and stack 'em, me boy....."

Bananas

On one particularily tough day of king fishing in 2012 my buddy Gary decided to have a little fun with the dreaded banana "curse".   On all four of his rods he had a banana peel draped over them.  When asked he said he was daring the salmon gods into proving him wrong.   Apparently they weren't amused.  12 hours later they never had a bite.   Thanks Gary for convincing four more people that bananas are bad luck in the boat.

A note to Rick Zweig:  I know how you like fishing with bananas so if you want Gary's phone number let me know.

MN Sportsmen Show Recap

 



 

 

 

 

 

Jane and I had a great time at the sport show in St. Paul.    This was our first of the year and I have to say I get the same giddy excitement waiting for the doors to open that I do when I make the first troll of the year on the Kenai.   Another reason this show was fun was Mac, who is on break from college, was able to join us for a couple of days.  This was his first time seeing the other side of running a cabin rental and fishing guide service.

 

It was nothing but pleasure to visit with quite a few of our old friends/clients at the show.   Peter Medchill, Dave Anderson, Lory Brasel, Rick Zweig, Ed Bauman, Fred Glidden,  Myron and Cindy Angel, Don Anderson, Tom, Jacob, and Mitch, Johnson, Steve Collette, April and Duane Schuman. and Pat O'Connell.  If you're reading this post and you were at the show and I forgot to mention you, I apologize in advance.   That's the problem with lists, inevitable someone is left off of it.

 

Jane and I were very encouraged that the interest in Alaska continues to be very strong and we look forward to introducing new guests to the Kenai and Beaver Creek Cabins.  All in all, this was a good show for new business, and to our surprise, we were even approached about using our facilities for a destination wedding.   Jane is still putting together a package for the bride and groom to be.  Kind of fun.       



I thought I'd share a few photos of the unique items that were being sold at this show.   It's been a habit of mine to walk the aisles each morning before the doors open just to see what other vendors are selling.   This was a new product line for one vendor.  I wonder if they'll give you a can opener if you buy these by the case.      

 



 

Ah, no explanation needed for this product.

 



 

This was at the Brainerd International Raceway booth.   Brainerd is a couple of hours north of Minneapolis/St. Paul and when they're not hosting a racing event they offer a driving school to the general public.    Definitely a booth that stands out at a sport show for outdoorsmen.

 

A staple at the sport shows is the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wall of Shame.   It's a booth of confiscated fish and game.

 

This angle gives you a little better view.

 

That's about it for the recap.  One sport show down, two more to go.  We still have a few free tickets available for the St. Cloud and Duluth shows, so, if you're interested in going, let me know.

 

 

 

 





Sport Show Season 2013

This year Jane and I will be attending 3 sport shows and they're all in Minnesota.  The first one is in St. Paul and the show dates are January 10th through January 13th.  The second one is in St. Cloud and the show dates are February 8th through February 10th.  Show details can be found at www.cenaiko.com.   Our final sport show will be in Duluth and show dates are February 13th through February 17th.  Show details can be found at www.shamrockprod.com. 

We have a limited amount of complimentary tickets available for each show.   Drop us an email if you're interested.  As always, first come first served, and when they're gone, they're gone.

Hope to see you at the booth!