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Behind
the scenes at the fish tank
Barry
Featheringill
When
you attend a fishing show one of the major attractions is the fish
tank used by anglers to do a short presentation. I recently had the
opportunity to meet up with a long time friend Dave Stewart at the
Indianapolis Boat, Sport & Travel Show to get a view of some what
it’s like to be up there on the ‘hawg trough’ stage.
Dave
is professional bass guide on
Kentucky
and Barkley lakes and is widely recognized through out the
Midwest
. He has been hauling the ‘hawg trough’ to show all across the
country for the last five years during the winter months when his
guide business is slow. This year he only did three show;
Lexington
,
KY
;
Worcester
,
MA
; and
Indianapolis
,
IN.
In the past he has normally be on the road going to at least five
shows.
 When
I met up with Dave at the show he was busy cleaning the lexan panels
in preparation for the days show. Before the show opens he arrives
early to get set up for the day. This includes checking on the fish
and getting the sound system checked out. He then checks the pumps,
which are two Jacuzzi pumps that circulate and filter the water.
The
day I was there four different anglers made seminar presentations on
the stage atop the hawg trough. Each angler did an thirty minute
presentation and then answered questions along with some autograph
signing. Those making presentations were Mike Delvisco on bass
fishing, Roy Yepez on South
American exotics, and Chris Walker on Indiana stream fishing and of
course Dave Stewart.
It
is really a different look from up on top of the hawg trough. With the
aeration system going you cannot see the fish like you can from out in
front. The person doing a presentation has to feel the fish and in
order to not injure the fish the hook points are taken off the lures.
The
fish are the responsibility of each individual show. They may come
from the state Department of Natural Resources or a private hatchery.
Dave
said that when pulling the trailer people really like to pull along
side to look. The trailer is mounted on three axles and weighs in the
neighborhood of 12,000 pounds with out any water in it. The tank hold
5000 gallons of water and
requires regular changes depending on the length of the show.
Dave
Stewart is one of the most recognized bass guides in the
Midwest
. You can check out his fishing reports for
Kentucky
Lake
weekly here on FutureBass.com.
Dave
works with both the novice and the experienced angler to get them on
fish regardless of whether tournament prep or just pleasure fishing.
During Dave’s seminar he got a young man from the audience up on the
tank with him to  catch
his first bass. This was a thrilling experience for Bryan Webb from
Indianapolis
. Since the demonstrators
take the hook point off their lures for this first time bass angler
the hook was left on and you can see just how proud he was of his nice
catch.
At
the end of the show Dave had to drain the tank and get the fish back
to Jones Fish and Lake Management’ of Cincinnati, Ohio (http://www.jonesfish.com/)
who provided the fish for this show. Then the hawg trough was off to
another show.
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