2019 Top Attractions

Mark Menendez is a professional angler from Paducah, Kentucky angler has spent the past 24 years competing on the Bassmaster Tour and Elite Series. He is a veteran of 231 Bassmaster tournaments, winning three of them along the way. He has finished in the top 10 in tournaments 25 times, and has made five trips to the Bassmaster Classic, and won nearly $1.2-million in career earnings along the way. While he is a skilled and talented angler, Menendez is known for his loyalty to his sponsors, and for his tireless effort in promoting them off the water. He is the host of Mark Menendez TV show in his hometown, and is a sought after educator and speaker throughout the country. His presence here is brought to you by Rapid Fishing Solutions.

Brad Knight is an FLW Tour professional from Lancing, Tenn. Knight is a veteran of more than 100 FLW Tour events, and has competed on the Bassmaster Opens as well. Throughout his relatively short professional career, Knight has finished in the top 10 seven times, and has amassed more than $750,000 in career earnings. In 2015, Knight won the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita, cementing his place in the history of that event as one of the few anglers to accomplish the feat. He appears courtesy of Rapid Fishing Solutions.

Bill McDonald is a professional angler on FLW Tour from Greenwood, Ind. with over twenty years of tournament fishing experience from the Indiana State Federation to the FLW Tour. Throughout his career, he has won multiple tournaments and has numerous Top 10 finishes to his name. In FLW competition, McDonald has earned four victories, tallied 18 top 10 finishes and eclipsed $300,000 in earnings. He is a tireless promoter who spends multiple days each year working on behalf of his sponsors, and has become one of the most respected and requested presenters in the business. McDonald loves to fish the waters of WNY and the picture of him is with a 7lb smallmouth he caught in 2018 in the Lower Niagara River during an outdoor media event he often attends in May. His appearance this week is courtesy of Rapid Fishing Solutions.

John Murray is a professional angler from Spring City, Tenn. Since he graduated from high school, he has been a full time professional angler since 1985. He is the only professional angler to win a fully rigged bass boat on every major western waterway from New Mexico to Washington State; his total number of boats won in competition is 31. He has qualified for the Bassmaster Classic seven times and is a two-time US Open Champion and has earned $2.5 Million during his career. In 2019, Murray will be competing in the newly formed Bass Pro Tour. He appears at the courtesy of Rapid Fishing Solutions.

The founder of Walleye 101 and the Fishing Education Center, Lance Valentine has turned a life-long passion for fishing and teaching into one of the foremost fishing education programs in the country. Started in 1998, Walleye 101 combines Lance's years of experience fishing national tournaments (PWT, RCL) and thousands of hours of guiding into seminars and DVDs covering all aspects of walleye fishing and marine electronics. Recognized as an expert in marine electronics, Valentine's Sonar and GPS seminars and training DVDs are considered "must sees" by both beginner and professional anglers. Entering his second decade as a full time walleye guide and seminar speaker, Lance's friendly demeanor and high energy speaking style have made him a favorite of show goers throughout the Midwest.

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Dylan Nussbaum has been tournament fishing for ten years. At his current age of twenty years old he broke out on his own to fish professionally on the Cabela's National Walleye Tour. He definitely set the bar for himself pretty high being the youngest angler to win an NWT or FLW event. Taking 1st place in the third NWT event of the 2018 season in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Nussbaum also took home the 1st place trophy for the Champions Tour which was held in Lake Mille Lacs, Minnesota and 4th place in the National Team Championship in Wisconsin. This goes to show that Dylan is not afraid to chase the walleye, traveling all across the United States and fishing in many different bodies of water. Fishing in these different bodies of water have taught Dylan many techniques. Ranging from the weirdest techniques such as pulling flies and casting willow cats to the most common techniques; jigging, trolling, bottom bouncing, etc. Although these different bodies of water have taught him so many new things he always comes back to bottom bouncing and jigging on the Kinzua Reservoir, what he calls his home body of water.

Steve Hurst is Chief of the Bureau of Fisheries in the Division of Fish and Wildlife for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Steve has been with the DEC for over 30 years and has a wide variety of experience with the Bureau and Division's programs. He began his career as a Fish and Wildlife Technician, working on field studies out of the Cortand office. He then worked at a Fish Culturist at the South Otselic Hatchery, and as a Biologist and Unit Leader in Albany overseeing the comprehensive Fisheries data base. Before his re-appointment as Chief of Fisheries in 2017, Steve also served as the Chief of Administrative Services for the Division, where he helped lead division-wide strategic planning. In his current capacity, Steve is predominantly responsible for leading and administering the State's freshwater fisheries program. He oversees 137 employees, 12 Fish Hatcheries, one Fish Disease Control Lab and two Great Lakes Research Stations.

Steve has an Associate of Applied Science degree from SUNY Cobleskill, a Bachelor's of Science in Natural Resource Management from Cornell University, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Rockefeller School of Government (2004) where he focused on Policy & Decision Science and Systems Dynamics. Steve is a fellow of the National Conservation Leadership Institute and also serves on multiple interstate advisory panels and boards including the Council of Great Lakes Fisheries Agencies and the North East Fisheries Administrators Associations

Since returning to the job of Fisheries Chief, Steve has been focusing on responsible program planning and greater accountability in program delivery. He strongly believes in the delivery of good and transparent government, particularly one that includes the angling community in an open decision-making process. Steve views management of our fisheries resources as an intersection between fish communities, habitat, and anglers. As such he is always interested in hearing from anglers and engaging in dialog to help inform better management decisions for our fisheries.

He'll be on hand at the Expo to provide anglers the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion in an open forum about fisheries management in New York. As an avid angler himself, Steve also welcomes genial conversations about the fishing experiences of our state's fishing public.

Capt. Vince Pierleoni, native of Rochester NY. Currently resides in Newfane NY. Has fished since he was 4 years old, has fished Lake Ontario since 1976 and has fished professionally since 1984. Owner/operator of THRILLSEEKER Sportfishing Charters and Owner/Captain of Team THRILLSEEKER tournament team. Currently and since 1999 calls Olcott Harbor home port. Prior to that Oak Orchard was home port.

Capt. Vince Pierleoni/Team THRILLSEEKER has won 14 professional tournaments in both NY and Canada. He has also won 7 Lake Ontario Challenge Cup Championships, the Canadian King of the lake Championship (2016), and the Canadian "Kings Cup" (2016). Capt. Vince Pierleoni and Team THRILLSEEKER hold the record for 1-day catches in 5 fish format events, 6 fish format events, and 12 fish format events.

Capt. Vince Pierleoni is extremely active in fishery issues and serves on the Niagara County fishery advisory board, the Lake Ontario binational committee, and the NYS Lake Ontario panel.

Born and raised in Western New York along the Niagara Escarpment, Joe Fonzi has spent most of his life in the outdoors: fishing, hunting, and trapping. Joe began his outdoor adventures as soon as he was old enough to keep up with his dad and grandfathers, who did it all from fly fishing to trapping. He still owes much of his success to the lessons and ethics that were set forth by these early mentors.

Joe is a graduate of both, New York State school of Environmental Science and Forestry (BSF); and SUNY Brockport, where all of his emphasis was placed on environmental studies. His graduate work was in fisheries management with importance placed on freshwater ecosystems; he participated in a 2 year fisheries inventory study of the New York canal system from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. For the past 16 years Joe has held a US Coast Guard license he's used turned his passion for fishing into a successful fishing charter business. Captain Joe, charters fishing trips on lakes Erie and Ontario, spending almost two hundred days a year in his Ranger boat, targeting smallmouth bass, perch, and walleyes.

When Joe isn't guiding, he tries to fit in as many fishing tournaments as possible. With finishes in the top 5 of both the National Bass and Walleye circuits Joe has accomplished something that most anglers don't even attempt. Other tournament accomplishments include: 3 top ten finishes in the FLW and qualifying for the FLW Costa championship both years he completed the circuit. Joe has also had success north of the border with several wins and top 10 finishes in both the Canadian Sport Fishing League (CSFL) and the Renegade Bass Circuits.

Joe holds pro-staff positions with several outdoor equipment companies including Mack's Lures, Warrior Lures, and most notably Ranger Boats (for the past 8 years.) Joe is entering his second year as a Cabela's pro staffer, he often participates in the Cabela's day's events at the Cheektowaga location. Joe also does several seminars each year for local sportsmen's clubs and outdoors shows in both the US and Canada, talking on a wide range of subjects from fishing ethics to tournament-winning strategies.

Scott Brauer of Gasport, NY is a professional angler and the owner of Maki Plastics, an innovative ice fishing bait company. He is an Ice Team Pro Staffer for Clam Outdoors. Scott spends much of his time travelling the ice belt promoting the great sport of ice fishing. It's not uncommon to see Scott at just about any ice fishing venue, especially here in Western New York where he conduction on-ice clinics and in-store promotions involving hard water angling.

Wil Wegman is an award winning Canadian outdoor writer whose ice fishing articles have appeared in most Canadian and many US Outdoor magazines. He has been a guest on several Canadian Fishing Shows at ice fishing locations from Lake of the Woods in the northwest to his home waters of Lake Simcoe. For more than three decades he has been recognized as a Lake Simcoe Specialist and he is the fishing columnist for Lake Simcoe Living magazine. Wil taught ice fishing courses at several colleges in southern Ontario for 20 years before hitting the seminar circuit, speaking at venues across the province about ways anglers can ice more fish. He was a member of Team Canada at the 1991 World Ice Fishing Championships, has several top ten finishes in the Canadian Ice Fishing Championships, has won the Perch Attack on Lake Simcoe and the 2011 Perchin for MS event there. He has been on the HT Pro Staff team since the mid 1980's and is also sponsored by Rapala and Tourism Simcoe County. He is the only two-time winner of the Bill Bond Memorial Award, for his dedication to "conserving and promoting the fishery of Lake Simcoe." In 2017 Wil was inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame and won the Rick Morgan Professional Conservation Award and the National Recreational Fisheries Award. Wil is excited to present south of his border and letting US hard water enthusiasts know all about the Ice fishing capital of Canada- Lake Simcoe. Wil's presentation will include tactics to ice more of this lake's legendary jumbo yellow perch, as well as lake trout and whitefish. As an added bonus he'll talk about ice fishing northern wilderness lakes for Brookies and Splake.

Capt. Frank Campbell of Niagara Falls with Niagara Region Charter Service is a full time guide with over .20 years of guiding experience on Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the Niagara River. Spending an average of 200 days a year on the water has enabled Capt. Frank to be one of the most knowledgeable skippers in Western New York. He has been featured on numerous television shows including In-Fisherman, Keith Warren Outdoors, O'Neil's Outside, Bob Redfern Outdoors, Mid-West Outdoors, and Angling the Great Lakes along with the CBS Morning Show. He has also been featured in media print for many magazines including In-Fisherman, Outdoor Life, Fishing Facts, Salmon Trout & Steelheader, Great Lakes Angler, New York Outdoor News, Lake Ontario Outdoors, as well as in ESPN Outdoors.com. Campbell also gets involved to give back, serving as the chairman of the Niagara County Fisheries Development Board for over 10 years and also served as chairman of the Board of Directors for Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation. His seminars are extremely informative, whether you are someone just starting out or a long time veteran on the water.

Rick Kustich is a fly-fishing author, photographer, and instructor who began fly-fishing over forty years ago on the lakes and streams of upstate New York. Rick's work has appeared in numerous national and regional publications, including Fly Fisherman and American Angler. He is the author of Hunting Musky with a Fly and Advanced Fly Fishing for Great Lakes Steelhead as well as four other fly-fishing titles and is featured in the DVDs Tube Flies for Steelhead and Spey Daze. He has also spent time as a guide, fly-shop owner, travel host, and fly-fishing book publisher. He lives in Western New York.