DENTRY: Another winter tradition comes to Denver

By Ed Dentry, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 23, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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It's the Denver International Sportsmen's Exposition, formally. But most folks just call it the Expo.

As much a part of Denver's winter tradition as the National Western Stock Show, the Expo is a giant bazaar. It lures the hook-and-bullet crowd with lectures and demonstrations, then reels them in with shiny new fishing, hunting and camping gear.

If you haven't spent your life sequestered in a boathouse, you've heard of it and probably have attended most of them. Same old Expo, yes?

Not exactly. When the Expo opens Thursday for its 31st incarnation - a four-day, 300,000- square-foot run at the Colorado Convention Center - it will bring a batch of new seminars, special activities and fresh faces.

For example, new Expo experts will delve into the nuts and bolts of ice fishing, which has grown so popular in Colorado that specialized outfitters and guides have emerged.

Speakers and exhibits will tantalize with other tips from down home, plus exotic hunting and fishing expeditions around the world.

Take it from one old Expo veteran who has learned that simply daydreaming at the outfitter booths can provide a wealth of entertaining flight from cabin fever.

I've seen others with that glazed look, pondering African safaris, Alaskan fishing excesses and clear, coastal flats ripped with cruising bonefish.

Here are some notable 2008 Expo attractions:

Fishing

* Getting into fly fishing, at the Casting Pond, with the American Casting Association and with Ethan Emery, of Denver, director of The Flyfisher Angling University.

* Remote saltwater fly-fishing destinations of the world, presented by traveling angler and professional photographer Brian O'Keefe, of Powell Butte, Ore.

* First showing of Fly Fishing Colorado, a feature-length DVD, new at the Colorado Division of Wildlife booth. Available for $20, it takes anglers to the top fishing spots and helps them plan a year of fly fishing, from plains to high lakes.

* Walleye fishing tips and tactics, with Morrison-based anglers Nathan and Stephanie Zelinsky, guides and pro anglers on the Master Walleye Tour.

* Ice-fishing tips from Larry Falk's guiding experience at Elevenmile Reservoir and Bernie Keefe's lake trout guiding adventures in the Granby area.

Hunting

* Dog training, from pups to finished gun dogs. The canines alone could steal the show, if they weren't so well behaved, thanks to their expert trainers at the Sporting Dog Arena.

* Elk calling and Muzzleloading for Dummies, by Chad Schearer, world champ elk caller, guide and owner of Central Montana Outfitters. Schearer also hosts the Best of the West Elk-Calling competition.

* Hunting the West's public lands, with Guy Eastman, publisher of Eastman's Hunting Journal.

* Eastman's Hunting Journal Trophy Deer display. This year, watch for a potential record mule deer, which a 14-year-old Divide resident bagged last hunting season.

* Hunting turkeys, with Frank Parker, of the National Wild Turkey Federation. This one's especially timely, considering Colorado spring turkey hunters have until Feb. 14 to apply for limited licenses.

dentrye@RockyMountainNews.com

Get going to the Expo

* What: 31st Denver International Sportsmen's Exposition, specializing in hunting, fishing, camping and boating, gun dog training, new equipment, fly fishing, world and regional lodges and outfitters.

* Where: Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St., downtown Denver.

* When: Thursday and Friday, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

* Tickets: Adults, $12; 12 and younger, free.

* Information: Sports Expos.com.

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