Learning to catch

By Dan Armitage, OCJ outdoors writer

As an Ohio kid growing up in suburbia, I loved to fish. The problem was, winter meant mean weather and with my Dad being a fair-weather fisherman and my sole transportation source to and from local waters, the closest thing to wetting a line this time of year was going to the local sport show. Luckily, my Dad obliged.

Before cable TV and all the outdoor shows became available, the local winter boat or sport show was the only way to get to see famous fishing experts, see all the new boats, and check out the latest fishing tackle. The local sport show was the highlight of my winter.

Fast forward a couple of decades and most winter weekends you’ll still find me at the outdoors shows, albeit not just the local one. Through fate and a stint as editor of a couple of fishing magazines (Ohio Fisherman and Great Lakes Fisherman), I find myself leading some of the same fishing seminars that I watched so closely as a wide-eyed 10-year-old.… Continue reading