Tournament Tactics with the Bass Pros Clinic

Friday, January 1 8 th - 5 pm - Room #1
Instructors Mark Menendez and John Murray

Mark and John will be sharing their knowledge and insights on what has made them so successful fishing Bass Tournaments over the course of many years. They will also address questions from the attendees.

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.

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.

Eastern Lake Erie Super Walleye Clinic

Saturday, January 19 th - 10am - Room # 1
Instructor - Joe Fonzi

This clinic is given by well know Western New York charter-boat captain Joe Fonzi who depends on catching fish every day. Captain Joe has been fishing the waters of Lake Erie since he was a child and has been guiding on Lake Erie for 17 years. He is a respected pro staffer for Cabela's, Ranger Boats, Traxstech, Warrior Lures, and Mack Lures. Captain Joe has top 10 finishes in both National bass and walleye tournament circuits. With his education in fisheries management and 40 plus year s fishing experience, it makes his clinic one you don't want to miss.

In this clinic, Captain Joe will provide the details that he uses to catch walleye consistently from Buffalo to Barcelona from the May walleye opener thru November. Joe will cover the impact that weather, water temperature, currents, structure and bait have on locating and catching walleye every day. Captain Joe needs to produce fish for his clients throughout the season and his arsenal of methods is quite varied. He will cover all his most successful techniques for each set of conditions Lake Erie throws at him. These will include fine details of his boat set up and how he uses his electronics; he will cover jigging, bottom bouncing and trolling and when to apply them; he will cover his "go to" baits, along with how he fishes structure in the different locations. Much of Joe's success can be attributed to properly using his electronics. He has spent a significant amount of time this year capturing screen shots from his sonar that will be used throughout the clinic to help attendees better interpret what they are seeing and how he uses it to target where and how to fish for walleye.

This is a unique opportunity to learn the details from one of the best walleye fishermen in WNY. It will help attendees to make the best of their time spent on the water chasing walleyes!

Fly Fishing for Trout in WNY Clinic

Saturday, January 19 th - 12 pm - Room # 1
Instructor - Rick Kustich

Well know Fly Fishing guru, Rick Kustich, will present Fly fishing techniques and strategy for both inland and migratory trout including steelhead and lake-run brown trout. Trout continues to be the most sought after species with a fly rod and a wide range of opportunities exist throughout western New York and the entire northeast.

The seminar will provide a detailed focus on rods, reels, lines, rigging, casting, and flies used in the pursuit of trout. The key to successful trout fishing is proper presentation of the fly. Learn how to:

• Get the proper drift with a dry fly
• Naturally present a nymph and other subsurface patterns down in the water column
• Strip large streamer flies for trophy trout
• Swing flies for both inland and migratory trout on water large and small

The seminar is designed to increase fly fishing skills and knowledge for beginning and intermediate fly anglers.

Bass Tips from the Pros for Young Adults

Saturday, January 19 th - 2 pm - Room # 1
Instructor - Mark Menendez

Mark is passionate about getting you adults more involved in fishing. Mark will be giving this Clinic which is specifically for our High School and College attendees, who are currently the largest growth area for fishing, and are looking for additional education that will help them improve their catches
.
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.

Tournament Tactics with the Bass Pro s Clinic

Saturday , January 1 9 th - 4 pm - Room #1
Instructors Brad Knight and Billy McDonald

Brad and Billy will be sharing their knowledge and insights on what has made them so successful fishing Bass Tournaments over the course of many years. They will also address questions from the attendees.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.

Billy 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

Catching more fish with electronics - How to get the most from your sonar and GPS Clinic

S unday , January 20 th - 1 0am - Room # 2
Instructor - Lance Valentine

You can't fish if you aren't fishing where they are! Join Captain Lance Valentine of Walleye101.com for an in-depth clinic designed to help Anglers catch more fish by fully utilizing the features / functions available on their Sonar and GPS units. This is a "practical" clinic focusing on HOWto use electronics on the water to catch more fish. As the sophistication of these units continue to increase and the prices continue to drop, most serious Anglers have both Sonar and GPS units on their boat. However, Angler education on how to most effectively use them has basically occurred thru word of mouth and trial an error. This two-hour class is targeted to fill this education void and teach Anglers how to make their units the most valuable tool on their fishingboat. Lance spends
thousands of hours on the water each season both using and teaching Sonar/GPS usage and excel at teaching the basics and advanced features of today's
sophisticated electronics units. Topics covered include basic unit setup, Sonar Interpretation, Side/Down Scan, Advanced GPS usage, Waypoint management and custom mapping. Even though Captains Lance is an expert in Lowrance units the clinic is taught so that it is relevant for all anglers, no matter what brand units they own or type of fish they fish for. Be sure to bring a notebook!

New Age Great Lakes Trout & Salmon Clinic

S unday , January 20 th - 1 0am - Room # 1
Instructor - Russell Gahagan

Russell owns and operates Anglers Avenue Pro Shop/The Reel Shot Sheboygan. Russell has been one of the pioneers of fishing tackle on then Great Lakes over the past 15 years. Russell has designed tons of color patterns used today by manufactures like Michigan Stinger, Dreamweaver, Silver Horde and many more. Russell is a tournament winning fisherman on the Tournament Trail which travels around Lake Michigan. Russell's dad is a 35+ year charter captain so the skills are in the blood. If you are into salmon and trout fishing on any of the Great Lakes this will be a must attend seminar.

Ultimate Walleye Clinic

Sunday, January 2 0 th - 12 pm Room #1
Instructors: Mark & Jake Romanack

Every year Mark and Jake Romanack of the Fishing 411 TV series create new and interesting seminars for the Greater Niagara Fishing Expo. The Ultimate Walleye Clinic on Sunday amounts to a crash course in walleye fishing. This intensive two-hour long clinic uses video clips from the Fishing 411 TV series married to a Keynote graphics presentation to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Topics of interest include... Lead Core and Spinners for Suspended Walleye--Bottom Bouncing Deep Water Walleye--Using the Precision Trolling 50 Plus 2 Method for Crankbait Trolling, --Casting Strategies for Structure Loving Walleye, --Using Sub-Surface Probes for Finding and Catching Walleye, --Two Motor Trolling Tactics for Walleye the Ultimate Walleye Clinic is free, but seats are limited. A free - will donation for charity will be taken during the seminar.