Right off the bat I met Hemi, (in)famous fisherman!
Anyone who knows this guy can't deny he's quite a character.
He's larger than life, either on the internet or when you meet him in person. Full of laughs and ball bustin jokes, if yer fishin with this guy and not having a good time laughin, then ya might just be a little too uptight.
Hemi was making bucktails for awhile.
Now his friend Steve Petri has taken over the selling part of that venture, and Hemi started making rods.
He's only been doing it awhile. The one I shot a video of wasn't finished yet, but it will be a cod rod to get in on the notable Montauk cod action.
Good luck with the rod building, dude, nice meeting ya again.
I've seen Ralph around at a few shows over the years. He has many years of fishing experience and knows his stuff.
Today he gave a seminar on fishing the surf with tins.
One of the things he's involved with now is a full line of Charlie Graves tins. For anyone who wants to learn about the old-timers at Montauk, tins, rigged eels, bucktails, and eels were a staple in Montauk fishing for decades. No surfcaster should be without a few tins of different sizes in his plug bag.
Also ran into Larry Carlucci and some others I haven't seen in awhile.
Larry is at many of the fishing shows and flea markets. I think he and a buddy might have a table at Asbury again this year selling used plugs. If ya see him, walk on over and check out the prices, some good deals.
I first started talkin to Tom because of his hat. He was at the door directing traffic into the auditorium.
His hat would stand out for a country mile.
Anything related to fishing you could imagine is on that hat.
It took him 20 years to create it exactly the way he wanted it.
It's definitely one of a kind.
He's been offered $500 for it, but says it's not for sale, ever.
About Tom and Reels Unlimited.
From what I understand, he and a friend find reels, repair and sell them. They may also repair and service reels as well. He's been fishing for 81 years, so I think he may know a thing or 2 about reels.
Feel free to contact Tom at his e-mail if you have questions about getting a reel fixed:
I went over to meet the NYSF guys. I thought the RFA would have a table there too and wanted to meet some of them as well.
From what I understood, the NYSF was the show proxy for the RFA, as the RFA wasn't there. Instead, there was a lot of literature on the March to Washington, and other NYSF / RFA things for sportsmen to get involved in.
As I mentioned previously, I think the NYSF guys did a great job putting the show together. This is the 28th year of them running this show.
If you get a chance, take a look at their website which tells you about them in more detail:
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