Headline Speakers

Brad Brodnicki is a local bass tournament angler who was born and raised right here in Western New York. He has been fishing and competing in the waters in New York for more than 25 years. He has vast knowledge about almost every body of water in New York from Lake Erie to Lake Champlain. If he's not fishing for bass he can be found in the streams fishing for trout, ice fishing or in the woods hunting deer.
When Brad is not chasing his passion of bass fishing he is teaching and coaching high school students in the City of Buffalo, where he's been working for the last 25 years. He enjoys teaching and educating fisherman on techniques and strategies that will help them grow as an angler. Some of Brad's fishing accomplishments are multiple victories and top ten finishes in B.A.S.S. and FLW Events. Just Last year he placed 2nd in the FLW National Championship at Table Rock Lake in Tennessee. His is currently on pro staff with Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas, Nitro Boats, Mercury Marine, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Lowrance.

If you're in Northeast Ohio and want to kayak fish the big waters of Lake Erie, there is only one guy - Chuck Earls. Chuck has been fishing Ohio waters for over three decades and is known for three things: Safety, extreme weather fishing, and catching monster walleye! Chuck is a licensed Lake Erie Kayak Fishing guide, YouTuber, Podcaster, storyteller, Cold Water Kayak safety expert, and kayak outfitter. When you fish with Chuck, you get a lot of information to help you build your angling skills. He takes the time to explain the "why" not just the "how." He targets walleye, steelhead, and smallmouth bass although when you love to fish as much as Chuck does the species is secondary. Chuck is a member of the USA Kayak Fishing Team, Team Native Watercraft, Team Torqeedo, and Team YakAttack and is also a FishUSA ProStaffer. Chuck took his love for kayak fishing up another level in 2022 by adding a new kayak division to the 2022 Fall Brawl and the Lake Erie Walleye Trail. Interested in tournament fishing? Let Chuck get you ready to rumble.

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 22 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: 6 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, Steelshad Lures, Warrior Lures, and most notably Ranger Boats (for the past 14 years) and member of the Mercury Marine pro-team. Joe is entering his fifth 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.

Capt. Ross Robertson has made his complete living as a full time professional angler for more than 20 years. Through the years he has worn many hats including time as a fishing guide, boat salesman, TV host, outdoor writer, product designer, tournament fisherman, speaker, radio host and podcaster to name a few. You may have seen him in publications such as In-Fisherman, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, MeatEater or his self published book Walleye Trolling. While his fishing career has taken him anywhere from Alaska to Europe, he spends most of his time fishing year around on Lake Erie's Western and Central Basins.

Jake Romanack is one of the rising stars on the Great Lakes fishing scene.

The Co-Host of Fishing 411 TV and the son of outdoor writer and TV host Mark Romanack, Jake has been fishing since he was old enough to hold up a fishing rod. "Jake grew up on the Great Lakes mastering both the fundamentals and the finer points of walleye, trout and salmon trolling," says Mark Romanack.

These days Jake specializes in educational efforts including Co-Hosting TV episodes, creating multi-media seminars, shooting and editing YouTube videos and also working closely with Fishing 411 TV sponsors to develop new products and communications. In recent years Jake has been instrumental in helping to design the Bill Lewis PWC and PWC Lite crankbaits, the Eagle Claw StarFire X Trolling Rods and the new Eagle Claw Hair Jigs.

Jake Romanack lives in Northern Michigan with his wife Paige, their son Cadence and daughter Jayla.

Mark Romanack, "the Outdoors Guy" is a lifelong outdoorsman and one of the nation's most active members of the outdoor media. A graduate of Northern Michigan University with a B.S. Degree in Conservation, Romanack has spent his entire career working to help others better understand and appreciate the outdoors. Romanack's outdoor career started in 1981 as an Environmental Educator. While working as a naturalist, he began to write outdoor articles for hunting and fishing magazines to supplement his income. His first article was published by Michigan Out of Doors Magazine (the nation's largest independent conservation organization). This part time hobby quickly grew into a full-fledged career with to date more than 3,000 writing credits in over 60 different local, regional and national magazines. Currently Romanack writes frequently for host of magazines and also produces a weekly outdoor blog on Facebook and the https://www.fishing411.net/ site.

Romanack made the move to outdoor writing full time in 1986. Since that time, he has published 13 different printed books on fishing, including the widely popular Precision Trolling Troller's Bible series of depth guides. Romanack has also released a growing number of Kindle e-books including Spinner Fishing Secrets, Walleye Jigging Tactics and Walleye Crankbait Trolling Strategies. In addition to writing and photography, Romanack has become a sought-after public speaker on a variety of freshwater fishing topics. Considered one of the nation's leading authorities on walleye fishing and all things trolling, Romanack conducts more than 40 multimedia seminars annually on a variety of fishing topics. In 2007 Romanack plunged into the television world by hosting and field producing a new TV series called Fishing 411 broadcast nationwide on World Fishing Network. Currently filming season 10, Fishing 411 has grown rapidly both in distribution and popularity reaching millions of homes on Dish Network and a host of cable TV providers. The Romanack family is also very active on the popular social networking venues. In addition to maintaining two Facebook accounts with over 20,000 followers, the Fishing 411 team provides social networking content in the form of video, photography and written communications for all of their sponsors.

Mark is a Fly Fishers International Certified Casting Instructor and a licensed guide from Erie PA. He is involved with the Gem City Outdoorsmen Fly Tiers and is a Director for the FFI charter club Keystone Fly Fishers based in Franklin, PA.

Mark competed in several regional American Casting Association events, is a helper/instructor for PA Fish & Boat Commission fly fishing seminars, teaches Fly Fishing 101 class at state parks in western Pennsylvania, and is a volunteer with Project Healing Waters & The Mayfly Project.

Mark is involved at the state level as a member of the Lake Erie Advisory Council. Their purpose is to present new projects, easements and land acquisitions that are funded through the monies generated from the Lake Erie Stamp fishing permit.

Last year Mark was a featured demonstrator at both the Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival & The Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster, PA.

His first article has been published on midcurrent.com entitled "So you received a fly tying kit for Christmas - now what?" When not teaching, Mark is an avid steelhead, trout and bass fisherman.

Captain Bob Songin has been salmon fishing Lake Ontario since 1980 over 40 years, he became a captain in 1984. He hosts many clients from all over the US. Has fished both the south and north shores with many top 10 derby and tournament finishes to his name. He has always been willing to share information and current and new techniques with the fishing community as Lake Ontario has evolved over the years. He was instrumental in the founding of the original Lake Ontario on-line fishing report "At the Oak," and continues it today on Facebook as "At the Oak" when fishing out of Oak Orchard/Point Breeze and "At the Bar" when fishing in the spring in Wilson, NY.
He targets the trout species in early spring, specifically brown trout, then turns his focus to king salmon from early May until September.
He was the founder in 1988 of the Lake Ontario cooperative net pen program with the DEC for raising salmon and steelhead for the promotion of increased survival and imprinting of both species when stocked.
He is currently on the Pro-Staff of Dream Weaver and A-Tom-Mik and in the early years Pirate Lures and has been instrumental is the founding, development and promotion of some of the most successful baits on Lake Ontario over the years. Including but not limited to, 42 second spoon, spin-doctors and fly's, the Stud fly, the Bam Fly and Flashers.
Capt. Bob Songin, Reel Excitement Charters, 585-733-5829, www.reelexcitement.com

The founder of Walleye 101 and creator of "The 8 Steps to Catching More Fish", 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, programming, workshops, Fishing Education Weekends, DVDs, and live events covering all aspects of walleye fishing and marine electronics. Lance and the Walleye 101 staff are experts at making the tough fishing questions easy to understand with information any angler can quickly use to catch more fish regardless of species or location. Recognized as an expert in marine electronics, Valentine's Sonar/GPS seminars and training DVDs are considered "must sees" by both beginner and professional anglers. Entering his third 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.