The first show of the winter season is ready to tee off Sunday, January 14, at Ward Melville High School, 380 Old Town Road in East Setauket. Striper Day, hosted by Surfcasters Journal, will feature more than 80 surf fishing related vendors, including manufacturer representatives, well known authors, guides, tackle shops, local plug builders and more. If you are into surf fishing, this is a “must attend” event.
A wide range of ongoing seminars by some of the region’s best known surf fishing experts will help you sharpen your skills for the upcoming season. There will be a full feature surfcasting movie “Magic Hour” presented during the show by Pete Utschig followed by a Q&A session at 12:45. Jake Hardy will cover essential swing presentations for every surfcaster at 9:30, Al Albano is going to touch upon darter strategies after that at 10:30, Billy “The Greek” Legakis will be sharing 60 years of striper info at 11:00 and Montauk sharpie Brandon Sausele will be divulging info on new age Montauk surfcasting at 11:30
If you are into custom plugs, whether you are fishing them or collecting them, there will be an impressive collection of plug builders to choose from. You will also find many tackle shops and local tackle manufacturers that cater to the surf fishing community, making this show a great opportunity to replenish and stock up with tackle for the upcoming season. And be sure to purchase tickets for the giant raffle featuring lots of great prizes. More important, proceeds from the raffle go to support the student members of the Ward Melville High School Fishing Club, led by their advisor, Bob Wilson.
And be sure to stop by The Fisherman Magazine booth present at the show. Matt Broderick will manning the table doing subscriptions the entire time. As an added bonus, to sweeten up the subscription even more this year every paid subscription this year will receive a $20 Shurhold gift card via email. Shurhold is the industry leader in detailing products, whether it’s home, auto or marine, they make the best products for cleaning and protecting your investments. Check them out at www.shurhold.com to see a greater scope of what they offer and how you might spend your free $20! You will also receive a 4-inch Tidal Pro iPop popper from Tsunami. These wide-bodied, floating poppers are quickly becoming favorites for boat and surf anglers alike. They cast like rockets, produce a loud-yet-natural pop and feature a low-frequency rattle that drives fish crazy. They also boast a natural profile that mimics a wide variety of inshore baitfish species, from mullet to peanuts, from herring to mackerel, these plugs will get a lot of looks and draw vicious strikes from predatory fish. Perhaps best of all, they are equipped with Salt-X trebles which are sharp and durable, and the feathered tail hook adds that final touch of realism to seal the deal with finicky fish.
Show hours are 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the first 100 attendees will receive a Super Strike lure. For more info, go to the show website at www.striperday.com. Tickets are $15 for adults and children under 12 are free. Tickets only available in person on the day of the show.