I arrived at 10:30 and left at 1:30 and had a great time.

Met many old friends, although could not find the MegaStrike booth and I looked a few times.

Picked up a sonar/GPS DVD from The Professor; a number of coloring  books for grandkids from the Coast Guard and VDG&IF; some tungsten weights; and received some wonderful information on my Lowrance unit.

The most fun was when I spoke with the Corps of Engineer guys about Buggs Island and the new club ramp fees. A few years ago we had a 2,000 year old Corps man charge up to us at our club weigh-in demanding to see our ramp permit. We had them (I gave copies to six guys) and when he saw it he was the nicest guy you could find. He spoke with us; told us some funny stories; and we were actually glad he stopped by.

When I told the story to the two Corps guys it seems the old guy in their booth was the one that had visited us. He got a kick out of the story and said he approaches the clubs in attack mode but when they produce their permit he becomes his loveable self.

Did not see Swindle or the other pro's seminars as there was just too much to see outside the seminars.

And I also met Chuck once again, our official kayaker on the Forum, and we discussed the different kayaks available.

Hope anyone who could go actually went. It was a good show.

The wife and I  went up today got there about 2 small crowd. Picked up a few things, we enjoyed it. It was our first time going to the expo. I wanted to look at the Ranger aluminum 188 bass boats to compare with the Tracker 195.

Been a little MIA on here lately and late to the expo party discussion this year but I really like this years expo...... but I go with a different approach..... I spend most of my time in the seminars with a notebook and do very little shopping..... There are some great deals but I really want to try to learn some little tips and ideas that can make my fishing a little better.  I was there from start to finish basically on the Saturday and really thought Crews and Nixon had some good info to share, especially as Crews was a more local guy.  Swindle was very funny.  

Looking forward to catching up with a lot of guys on here .  Been stuck on the shore beating the banks of the tidal basin in DC and some of the smaller lakes in Northern VA for a while.... but I plan on being back in a boat for the spring.