Don'T recall every seeing such a small amount of vendors at the fairgrounds before.show is quite a bit smaller than past years Les boat dealers guides & outfitters & vendors no beer garden .Truly a sign of a poor economy.

there is a beer garden...nice try!

The Beer garden was the busy spot today!

To find the beer garden look for all the people drinking beer!!!!.......I found it first thing.......

I was working a booth so I didn't get a chance to look around. We were busy, but then again we were not selling anything. However, it didn't look like the Guide booths were doing too well. A sign of the times, I guess. I wish them all the best. I know a couple of full timers, one wasn't booking any trips.

I will be at the boat show for the rest of the week. It will be interesting to see what happens there. Should be some good deals on boats because the dealers are hurting and from what I hear, are ready to negotiate and finance.

Tough time for the industry, as it is all over.

Oh yeah, there was beer, that will never change.

i went to it, super good! got a sweet willies boats hat for $5, a free admission for sunday and am going to buy another St croix from the rep with a %15 discount on the sportco price.. swet tims

I was there today and didnt see much for deals, but managed to pick up some yummy Garlic Gormet spice and A few flashers. hittin Hooters on the way home was the highlight of the day.

Props to the CCA booth. Got my buddies to sighn up.

Hey, for those of you that haven’t been to the show yet… If you stop by the CCA Booth and Sign-up or Renew your CCA membership ($25) you also get a raffle ticket for a chance to win a Gun Safe (donated by Sportsmans Warehouse)… So, stop by and renew or sign-up and say howdy .

Shawn

"PS... we are also, selling some nice hats and "new" design t-shirts"

I went Wednesday and really wasn't impressed. The current poor economic times definitely took a toll on the vendors. I didn't see any real bargains on gear, but there definitely were some deals to be had on destination trips. I was able to negotiate a BC trip for a prime week at late 80's prices. The dealers showing boats were higher priced than last year. I guess if you're not selling anything you might as well put a high price on it and hope someone falls off the turnip truck.

"No Beer Garden" PaaLLeeeezzzzz.Most likely the #1 money maker of the whole show.I've been to one in the past 10 years,before that I went to both every year.Just didn't get the kill deals like 15-20 years ago.Same stuff @ the same price it got real boring.Hopefully they will get back to what they were years ago.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Just got back, the whole place is a beer garden, first year I have seen people walking around with beers. Decent show, lot longer drive than to Monroe. Looked like a few retailers missing, heard some chose the boat show instead.

Good to meet ya Joe/Winterrun.

There are deals. A Lowrance LCX 28HD, retailed last year for about $1400, $850 at Auburn Sports and Marine. That's a great buy.

Just got back from working the boat show. Slowest I have ever seen it. Hardly anyone on the floor where the boats are. You could negotiate a hell of a deal on a boat, I bet. If it continues this slow, I would guess there will be some killer deals near the end.

There are more people looking for accessories, then boats. Get your negotiating skills fine tuned and you should do alright.

$5 beer and all the hot P*ssy you could care to look at.

The merchants I miss are, The Duffel Bag, (GI) Joes, The Fishing Hole, The Sportsman's Warehouse and several Publications. It just shows how far things have fallen. For that matter, where was Cables?

It was boring, not to many deals

I enjoyed the show yesterday, found a couple deals on a few small items I was looking for. Didn't notice it being much different than last year.

Went for the 1st time today. We had tickets waiting for us at the booth. Went to the steelhead river and took in two jig seminars. Learned quite a bit like how the jig should be tied and how it lays at a right angle. The guys from Hawg Quest were entertaining and informative. I liked the jig with dropper setup and bought some afterwards. They hooked some steelhead in that shallow pool and we got splashed in the front row. A few of them foul hooked also. We also picked up some Blue Fox spinners for a good price. I was hoping they had some more tackle at a good price but didn't see too much. The Canucks were offering good deals on their fishing packages.
The brat and beer hit the spot.

I made buds with the St croix rep and bought a new avid 12-25 casting rod for the river boat. $207 instead of $240, good deal..St croix IS the best.