I certainly get a great kick out of the weekend of the Angling Expo.
I enjoy meeting up and putting faces to names etc. The angling chat is perfect for the time of year!
I found plenty around the show to keep me occupied. If I had been there for the day I think I would have had little trouble passing the time. In fact there were a few stands that I did not get to and I did not dally long at shops that did not have stuff of interest to me.
I enjoy the manufacturers stands. Pure fishing had a large range. Mike Trussell and Terry Jackson were on hand. Tronixpro had a fair selection including a lot of High-End beach rods. Incredible to feel these rods, many with big price tags. Daiwa had a huge selection of gear on show. Its not often you get to paw a €1000 spinning reel

IFI were around the place and had a great stand with fish tanks and one of the highlights of the weekend was "SIKA" the sniffer dog. She sniffs outs nets along the banks of rivers and stashed fish - superb. I also picked up one of the new longer measuring mats - A blue shark "by Length" specimen would be nice.
As John points out, the charter skippers are worth a chat to. Plenty skippers from up the country. Luke Aston from Carrigaholt had a fine stand. Cork was not well represented.
After the show (I could not get away to collect my specimen cert!) I met up with many specimen anglers at Belwey's Hotel. The ISFC had a stand at the show too.
I was delighted with the crowds at my talks. It created a great atmosphere. Here's a blog report from a young lad from Kerry that was at the show on Sunday:
http://eoinangler.blogspot.ie/2015/02/a ... -show.html