HARRISBURG - A fishing trip on the Susquehanna River with Rod Bates or any of the guides from his Carlisle-based Koinonia Guide Service is many things - not the least of which are them being productive and educational no matter the target species.
"What makes our Susquehanna River fishing trips different is that the emphasis is on having a relaxing and enjoyable experience, rather than on strictly catching fish," Bates said. "Our guides share their expertise based upon years of fishing the river and show clients how to target big fish and the techniques needed to land fish.
"We never know how many fish will be caught, but the one thing we will guarantee is that we'll have a great time trying to catch fish. By limiting our trips to two adults or one adult and two children we can provide the kind of personal attention that will make the day memorable and educational.
"Still, when we're out on the water, clients want to spend most of their time fishing and not getting fishing tips. For that reason, I always enjoyed doing seminars at the Harrisburg outdoors show and the Bass Pro Shops store in Harrisburg."
At this year's Great American Outdoor Show, Feb. 1-9, at the Pennsylvania State Farm Sow Complex in Harrisburg, Bates will present a series of seminars at the Hawg Tank that are designed to make anglers more successful on state waters, and following the sessions will accept questions at the Koinonia Guide Service booth. His seminar topics are "Susquehanna River Bass Fishing Seasons and Patterns,'' "Susquehanna Catfish Fishing," "Lake Fishing in Central Pennsylvania" and "Walleye Fishing."
In addition to Bates and other regional guides, many nationally known guides will present seminars with basic information that can be applied to most fishing and hunting situations. Here are some of the highlights:
- "Pattern Fish for Bass:" Professional tournament bass angler Roland Martin is credited for developing the term and methods called "pattern fishing" years ago and it is still in use by all successful recreational and professional anglers. He will cover developing and fishing patterns for bass for the tournament fishermen along with the weekend angler and following the presentation will accept questions from the crowd on pattern fishing and other types of fishing.
- "NRA Wild Turkey Hunting Clinic:" Tom Hindman and Mike Horst of the National Rifle Association will present a condensed version of the four-hour NRA clinic with an educational "how-to" course about hunting the wild turkey.
- "Hunting Dominant Bucks:" Stan Potts has earned a reputation within the hunting community for his success in hunting dominant bucks with a fine-tuned system for scouting, placing treestands, using decoys and other tactics such as rattling and calling to fool older age-class bucks into bow range. He will discuss these tactics and explain the techniques that helped him take four 200-class bucks and numerous other dominant bucks.
For the seminar schedule and other information about the Great American Outdoor Show, and to purchase tickets online, access the website at http://www.
greatamericanoutdoorshow.org/.