As the Ottawa, Boat & Sportsmen’s Show hits Landsdowne Park next Thursday; outdoor enthusiasts are being reminded that it’s not all about the acres of water craft.
For the 24, 000 outdoors enthusiasts who stop-by, the annual Sportsmen’s Show is more about the passion and love for the great outdoors, than it is the 40-foot yachts.
Each year, hoards of people tramp through Lansdowne to gaze at the boats, kick a few tires and perhaps inquire about the available financing options – and there is nothing wrong with that, you know, whatever floats your boat as they say.
But for other visitors, the Show is more about the little things near and dear the average sportsmen’s heart. It’s about getting tips with professionals like JP Ostiguy, Blake Rankie, Paul Shibata, Dave Chong or Grant McAllister, trying your luck at the Minto casting pond, or filling your bag with as many brochures as you can stuff-in.
With over 200 exhibitors on-site, the Sportsmen’s Show gives me a chance to see old friends like Big Jim McLaughlin or Jamie Pastilli of the new Big City Fishing television show. It’s an opportunity to walk the floor; visiting with folks you may see but once a year, and exchange hunting and fishing stories.
(Big Jim McLaughlin)
It is the people and the exhibitors, you see, that make the Sportsmen’s Show a real success – a diverse and dedicated bunch of outdoor nuts just like myself, which is the true appeal of such a show.
(Jamie Pastilli of Big City Fishing)
Hey, if you think about it, the Sportsmen’s Show is really just a huge support group for hunters and fishermen.
A place where you will find folks like master knife maker Murray St. Amour – enjoy nothing more than sharing their craft with visitors to his booth. His knives are his pride and joy; all custom handcrafted from the steel to the leather casement, and he is tickled if visitors stop-by to check out some of his and other master knife makers’ work. Murray‘s passion helped fuel the Canadian Knifemakers Guild, of which, he was founder.
Visit the world’s first Blind Fishing Boat developed by legally-blind inventor, Lawrence Euteneier; his boat incorporates mainstream and assistive technologies that allow him to navigate his12-foot fishing boat across lakes on his own! Come meet Lawrence and his dog Maestro to discover the man with a passion for fishing which led to innovating boating. (I have featured Lawrence many times in my SUN Outdoors Column)
(Lawrence Euteneier)
Hey, and if you’re interested in wild turkey hunting, the OFAH will be on-site to provide information on the Ontario turkey seminar. The Ministry of Natural Resources will also be there; gladly answering any hunting and fishing regulation questions you may have.
The Show also offers ‘one stop shopping’ for the latest gear and information on where to go and what to do to make this your best year ever in the Great Outdoors.
The heart of soul of the Sportsmen’s Show, in my opinion, is the passion of its visitors and exhibitors, and to be completely honest, I could care less if I saw another boat but that’s just me.
The Ottawa, Boat & Sportsmen’s Show runs from Thursday February 24 at 11:00 AM to Sunday at 5:00 PM.
Perhaps I will see you there!
Outdoorsguy
Oh the Ottawa Boat, Jacuzzi, Boat, Hot-tub, Fishing, RV, Boat, Cottage, Boat, Dock, Airtight Wood Stove, Boat, Patio Furniture, Boat, Gazebo Boat Show is back in town 🙂
ha! hit the nail right on the head, it’s a townie’ s sportsman show, for the yacht lovers and the people who sit on the Rideau Canal sipping their wine thinking the outdoors is wonderful kind of show, nothing wrong with that, they need their wilderness feeling too
Iggy & ChokerHater, you guys must have high standards when it comes to entertainment…sure, the Ottawa show may not be perfect, but there’s usually something there of interest and you always run into people you know.
Anyone ever go to the Toronto Show..I hear its the biggest? I have fond memories of the Montreal Sportsman SHow and the Outfitters Show..use to love those!
Outdoorsguy
Hey Jeff you never know i may end up going besides i would like to get some more alagator jerky the real hot ones !!!! How come you don”t have a booth there ?????? You shoud be giving out free outdoor guy tattoos. LMFAO.
benthooks, that’s a great idea, and since you thought of it first we can share in the profits!
Outdoorsguy
Benthooks, when I was in Florida last month, they were selling that gator jerky at every street corner…is it any good??
Outdoorsguy
How is Big Jim anyway, I know he was quite sick there for a while
Iggy, the last I heard he was doing very well..he is one tough son-of-a-gun..hardly missed a committment even during treatments.
Outdoorsguy
I never was one for boat shows or sportsman shows for that matter and I agree with ChokerHater and Iggy. On the other hand I go to at least 4 Trapping workshops/show a year as a participant. I guess the difference here is that we don’t candy coat things with frilly shite and sales pitches. At a trapping workshop/show you’ll see hands on fur preperation.
Looking forward to going to the Pennsylvania convention this year June 16 to 19 ….
http://www.patrappers.com/
Hey Trapper, you ever been to that big Show in Harrisburg, PA??
Its suppose to be the cat’s meow as far as shows go..
Outdoorsguy
Jeff, a buddy of mine from SC hunts gators and says it’s delicious!!!! I hope to go down one year and get me one with the bow….the stories he tells me are awesome.
Serge
Serge, you’d be doing your part to control the gator population in FL too…I never heard anyone down there preaching about ‘save the gator’ or anything since the population, as far as I know, is flourishing and actually causing some concern in local lakes, ponds and golf courses!!
Go get those gators, Serge!
Outdoorsguy
I like the Carp show, it’s more country, they don’t serve cafe latte’s and if your wearing Birkenstock’s with socks on you can’t get in, no yachts and lots of hunting instead of it being stuffed into some back corner, never seen a hot tub there and no Jacuzzi’s either
Haven’t been to PA yet. This will be a first.
We usually go to North Bay’s but going to PA’s in lieu.
Always participate at Lindsay’s, Minden’s and Apsley’s trapper’s workshop. All of which are open to the public.
Trapper, where/when is the Lindsay workshop usually held?
Outdoorsguy
Oh CRAP my wife has been going through your blog , now she wants me to learn how to do up furs . NOW WHAT DO I DO . any advice out there guys ???????
OK Paul, so lemme get this straight, your wife has been reading the Blog and now she wants to bring some more fur into the marriage….like a neighbour or something..hehe
Outdoorsguy
Lindsay workshop is held in Cambray at the community centre. It was Sat 5th of Feb.
I think it’salways the 1st Sat in Feb.
Paul, good luck with that.
hahahahahahahaha
and you call us nuts Jeff
hahahahahahahahah
Iggy, he said it not me.
Outdoorsguy
ya i was kinda hoping to hit the pa show. but reading week is late this year and missed it however .. i will be fishing for more stripers next week. and it is suposed to be warm . in the 50s …. i hit a show in roanoke one year it was a gun show … talk about crazy stuff to buy down there during one of them shows
Chessy, you’re heading back down to Virginia again…ah man, the life of the rich and famous…what sort of firearms did they have for sale in Roanoke?
Outdoorsguy
so Chessy, let me get this straight, your going to PA, looking for stripers, possibly carrying VD gifts.
I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the winter
ah man, we are the masters of innuendo…is there some sort of prize for that??
Outdoorsguy
Hey Chessy if you bring any back I love to mount stripers.
I will comment on jeffs question first … any gun you can think of. they had a hood mount semi 50 cal. . i am not rich i just trade off my house and river and lake salmon and rainbow fishing for hunting and fishing at there house . i have made a large number of friends in va doing this.. it only cost me the gas to get there( i have to eat weather i am at home or not. . and a 36 buck fishing lic for the year. it is cheap cheap which the last phrase leads me to iggy . stripers or strippers they smell differntly . and if you ever met my wife you would know better than that… if would be the last striper or stripper i would ever see lol
i know rick … if i ever got a 30lb striped bass .. i would mount it to . the others have fungus on them
Man, I’ve seen some stripers on the QC-side with fungus on them…sorry, we’re still talking about fish right?
Outdoorsguy
your the moderator…. so i guess we are 😉
Chessy, I suppose that means Im the responsible one..oh no
Outdoorsguy
Gator jerky is a Brand name for ordinary jerky, it is not made out of gators.
This is what a Major Food Chain operator I met in Florida told me. Plain old beef.
Reality.
Ahh LeGrand, that is a huge disappointment..guess they set-up those jerky shops to catch tourists like me!
Outdoorsguy
i know .. like leaving the fox in charge of the hen house….
omg a stripper with fungus
aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh eeeeeeeuuuuuuuwwwwwwwwwwww
I said striper Iggs..the fish…you know, striped bass like the ones Chessy catches in Virginia or they catch off the New England coast…come on, lets be more mature here.
Outdoorsguy
ohhhhh all of a sudden Mr. “I’ve seen some stripers on the QC-side with fungus ” wants to be MORE MATURE
more mature striped bass that what i want to hook this trip
Chessy, how do you fish them down there..I have gone for stripers and bluefish off the coast of NH/Mass many times….caught lots of blues and mackeral but never any stripers!
Iggy, comes a time when everyone needs to grow up.
Outdoorsguy
we catch shad and use down rods or we look for gulls and cast for them … with bucktails… i am fishing for landlocked striped bass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxYLZ1s_4P8&feature=related
i found this for you ….
Holy cow, that looks exciting…you can see dozens of them rolling on the surface.
You said gulls, right Chess, as in seagull(herring gull, ring-billed gull)
Outdoorsguy
I will try to take some video and pictures . this trip … by the sounds of it i am going alone .. guy just backed out of trip…. so it will take 2 days for me to get down there as i cant drive all the way with my back in one day
yes .. you look for the birds diving at the water…. they are ontop of the striped bass.. the striped bass usualy dirve the shad to the shore or shallow water and the shad surface and then the fun is on .. usually it is at first light if not cloudy if cloudy they usually feed all day… the smaller striped bass are on the top the big ones usually hang down in deeper water and get the hurt shad.. you want to go deep to get them
Hey Chess….When You goin ? I drive fer ya……..
What about the trapeline, Trapper? Do you have a helper??
Outdoorsguy
i might not be going … was at school last night and my cell phone went off while writing exam never took the call of course got out of exam it was my wife. my hotwater on demand broke and filled the utility room full of water i have the heating guy coming this morning and guess what it may or may not be covered under warrentee. i will have to see how long it takes .. Even I cant leave my family alone with no hotwater and which is my heat source for my radiant floor heat.
Ah man Chessy, I’m really sorry to hear that…as a house owner there are always things like this pop up it seems…like the time when I first owned my house, a failed septic system backed-up into the basement…ugghh!
Hope you get it worked out without costing you too much..at least it is mild for the next few days.
Did you ever think that maybe someone is conspiring against you when it comes to Virginia..I can recall another not so great phone call you received when you were down there at Christmas.
Hang in there
Outdoorsguy
well he has it jimmy rigged to a part comes in he said the water will not be a correct heat it might read 120 but be 130 or 110. i watched him tear it apart and put it back together again . lets just say i wont even touch the thing but im smart enough to know the install was a little messed up…water was backing up from the vent into the unit the pipe was not on a downward angle causing water to come back in especially with the strong south winds we have had. my trip may be delayed a day but i want to see what he expects me to pay
Trapping season is at a stand still now Jeff. We’re quota’d on on the must haves, some seasons closed 25 Jan and we’ve taken enough of the misc. critters. We don’t want to deplete the entire population, it’s about balance remember ?
We’ll set for some late season Beaver in March then some Muskrat once the creeks open up.
good point, Trapper.
Did you catch any of really nice muskrats in recent weeks…its so weird how they vary from region to region..
When I was going to school in Lindsay, I use to trap the sewage lagoons for rats, and also back home in QC near Tremblant over the Christmas holidays..the diff between the muskrats was unbelievable. Id bring my big ‘QC rats’ into College and everyone freaked over them..the fur was twice as thick and even the hide was different – either really clear or had this sort of mottled appearance.
Man those were the days!!
Outdoorsguy
Rat trapping is fun isn’t it. We get a good mixture of big ones and little ones.
Yes Trapper, it is a lot of fun.. of course, trapping in general is fun but a lottttt of hard work too!
Outdoorsguy
I don’t consider it work let alone hard work. To me it’s like playing hockey in a beer league or golfing. It’s just something I do as a hobby. It’s challenging to beat the odds…
Trapper, of course it is a labour of love for most and a thoroughly enjoyable outdoor activity, but there’s denying that all the skinning and stretching is a fair amount of work too.
And hey, if you need any more coyotes(without mange) I saw a great big fluffy one trotting through my backfield yesterday…of course 6 of the deer came back on Friday, so I knew the coyotes wouldn’t be far behind!
Outdoorsguy
just checking in .. 15.5 hours for a 12 hour trip… people dont know how to drive…. 61 down here … got in late last night no fishing today. tomorow we will be out at daylight. have a good week guys
Chessy, glad to hear you made it down there ok in the end…best of luck with those stripers!!
Outdoorsguy
What an enjoyable article with great pictures! Looks like this boat show is one of a kind and an event worth waiting for too! Thanks for the post!
Thanks Boat Wax..I have a feeling we’ll see you at the Show!
Outdoorsguy
this years sportsman show in toronto is 19 bucks. they say they promote families .. at that price . i will not be going to that dance
Chessy, that does sound high to me, any idea what it was last year?
Outdoorsguy
That’s the price you pay when you want to live or hang out in the centre of the universe
Come to the Valley Sportsman Show later in the spring, enjoy the country, smell the manure,
and enjoy a real sportsman show 😉
it was 17 last year. there are alot of on line fourms that are mad at the price . and a few booths that are mad because of the cost for people to get in . alot of people refusing to go due to high cost to get in plus park.. i know i know take the go train . and that is twice as high as the parking for a family
ALL you hunters the huntfest is coming to orangville in july… it is going to be awsome ..