Thrill & draw of Schaumburg Show: Opens Thursday

It’s the show.

The Chicagoland Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo opens Thursday at the Schaumburg Convention Center.

The Schaumburg Show nicely combines national impact with Chicago-centric.

Yes, Mike Iaconelli will be there Friday. I enjoy “Ike” because he is an intriguing mix of old-school bass club guy and college-schooled marketer.

Mix in Chicago’s own nationally known, guys like Jim Saric and Mark O’Neil; throw in top presenters from the Midwest, guys like Tommy Skarlis, Capt. Ralph Steiger, Dustan Harley and Capt. Chris Taurisano, and you have the basis for something special.

The local scene is not just a sideline.

For the third year in a row, the father-and-son pairing of Denny and Aaron Sands from Lakeside at Shabbona Lake will open the seminar schedule (1 p.m. Thursday).

Yet the Schaumburg Show is also big enough to draw people like Jen Ripple. I am not much of a fly fisher but she is more than just fly fishing.

And there’s new to see and to buy.

Nationally revered outdoors marketer John Mazurkiewicz, of Catalyst Marketing in South Bend, said G. Loomis will have its IMX – E6X Walleye Rods at its first big Midwest show; Shimano will have its Stradic FK Spinning Reels, the ICAST Show award-winning series, in many sizes for any type of fishing; and PowerPro will have Maxcuatro Braid, also ICAST awarded, in newly introduced sizes.

It’s that kind of show.

There’s also the mom-and-pop booths.

I don’t know if suburban Lee’s Global Tackle is mom-and-pop or national, but I know it is my favorite booth.

True mom-and-pop is Geneva Lake Bait & Tackle. Brian Gates has been excited for weeks about bringing different plastics, including larvae and spider imitators, and plastics and wedgies in super glow colors.

“If you do find glow, it is usually glow green,” Gates said. “I will have glow in different colors.”

Of course, Gates will also have many colors of a jigging minnow lure, a favorite winter lure of Chicago lakefront legend Arden Katz.

Every day I will be at the Stray Casts Media booth (by the entrance), except when walking the show. I already have interviews scheduled with several people; it’s that kind of show, players in the business are there.

And “Bobby B” Bergren, Pat Renwick and I will unveil our debut date for live streaming the miscellaneous mayhem of Stray Casts Outdoor Cartoon Television.

It’s that kind of show.

BOBCATS: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has its proposed regulations for the first modern bobcat season. The restrictive regs (one per season, limited permits, limited counties) will be reviewed by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR). Comments may be made until March 7 to Anne Mergen, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Legal Counsel, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702.

WILD THINGS:Ice thickened enough to concentrate eagles along area rivers. For somebody like me who remembers when bald eagles were on the brink, it’s amazing how they have recovered.

STRAY CAST: Super Bowl 50 will be like watching a 53-inch muskie pull a broken-wing wood duck underwater.