When the phone rang a few weeks ago and hearing Big Jim’s voice on the line I knew I was in for a treat. Big Jim in talking to one of our new supporters (Fin-tech Tackle) wanted to have me join him for the weekend down in Oshawa for the Gagnon’s Sports Annual Yard Sale. Spending time with Jim is always a blast so of course I said yes and plans were put in place.
Leaving Brock-Vegas at 6:30 AM we boarded the Big Jim traveling road show. Stops at Bass Magnet Lures north of Peterborough then another stop at an old friends of Jim’s broke up the trip nicely. We then arrived at Shimano headquarters. Shimano marketing guru Bob Mahoney gave me a quick tour of the plant. Really neat to see the behind the scenes of the warranty and promo departments.
Then we were off to meet up with Andy Pallotta. Andy runs the CSFL and also the Spring Fishing Show in Toronto. I had met Andy while working the Renegade booth at the Ottawa Sportsman Show. He’s a barrel of laughs and we enjoyed a good lunch with him.
Then off to Normark/Rapala. I’ve never seen so many X-raps in my life! What a warehouse. Tom from Normark gave me a full tour, which is quite the operation.
Then we made our way to Gagnon’s. Jim setup for the evening to tie custom bucktails for folks in whichever colour they chose. This was a big hit with one fella buying 21 Rapala Husky Jerks just so he could have Jim tie the tinsel onto his back hooks!
Saturday morning came early and we made our way back to Gagnon’s. Jim was due up on the tank for his seminar at 12. Well as he said, “It’s the first time I’ve ever done a tank seminar with whitecaps in the tank!” The weather was nasty but Jim and the eager listeners stuck it out.
Dave Mercer arrived and so did the crowds. Mercer Mania was on big time! The fishing funnyman did his thing then hung around to talk to folks, snap photos and sign autographs.
Saturday afternoon we ran down to LeBaron’s in Markham to lend a hand to them for Shimano. Jim touched base with some old friends there and I made some new ones.
The day ended with Jim and I challenging ourselves to down 2 monster burgers from Mr. Burger next to Gagnon’s. They never had a chance!
Sunday came and so did the sun. But the overnight temps had the fish in the tank shut right down. Saturday the stocked largemouth in the tank were aggressive towards baits but the freezing overnight temps simply turned them right off!
David Chong fresh off his Basstalk seminars at Paddletales started the seminars off. He just couldn’t get a bite!
I was asked to hop up on the tank to show a few baits in the tank. I couldn’t get a bite!
Big Jim hopped up and ended our weekend with his last tank seminar. And guess what? of course he got a bite.
Big Jim threw out a bunch of product to the audience and we were back on the road. Mission complete. Happy Fisherman, Happy Gagnon’s, Happy Shimano and Fin-tech, Happy Big Jim and myself.
Having looked up to Jim for as long as I can remember this weekend was a real treat for me. The knowledge of the fishing industry I was able to draw on was simply invaluable to me as I move forward with this site. But I learned so much by simply watching him with people. Everywhere we went people were absolutely thrilled to see him. From customers to staff to other pro-staffers to people driving down the 401 and waving to him, he is loved by so many people it’s incredible to see.
Thanks to Big Jim, Fin-Tech, Shimano and Set the Hook for having me be a small part of this weekend, it was a great time and a better experience looking forward.
