Salmon jumping over Brooks Falls Katmai Alaska

When Pete realized he couldn’t live without me and we alerted all my friends and family I would be moving east, my bestie Marjorie told Pete, “You are going to have to stop fishing so much.”

Twenty years later, Pete and I are in a fishing business together. Who would have thought? Definitely not Marjorie.

Since Marjorie and I aren’t roommates any longer, don’t live in the same state any longer, and we don’t fish when we’re together, I don’t think she understood exactly what “fishing” really means to me. However, she was gracious enough to visit our booth at the Chicagoland show, and I was thrilled to hear what a non-angler had to say about it, as well as about the show in general.

Marjorie: Hi! I wanted to tell you how impressed I was with your booth and what you have created. You should be so proud of yourself!

If you were not exhibiting, I never would have come to the fishing show. Fishing is not my passion and I had thought it would be boring, but I was clearly wrong. We enjoyed so much at the show.

HPFC: Did anything surprise you?

Marjorie: Yes, I love looking at creative items for practical issues. One vendor was showing his sunglasses, made from bamboo, that float. Genius for those fishermen and women who drop their glasses in the water. As an added bonus, they are polarized, which I understand all anglers need in order to see in the water for a variety of reasons other than just looking at the fish they catch.

Another vendor was selling handles that fit on any water bottle. Both my bestie and my husband bought one for their respective water bottles to make carrying them easier. They are made from parachute cords, which are water resistant so that they can go in the dishwasher along with the water bottle.

I was also surprised by how many women were at the show, both with their significant others for support and because they enjoy fishing themselves.

HPFC: Which booths or exhibitors intrigued you the most?

Marjorie: Well, of course yours. My husband even suggested going on the Alaska trip. When I reminded him that we did not fish, he pointed out that we don't really need to know how to fish, as everything would be supplied for us and explained. To that end, perhaps on our next trip. We also enjoyed looking at the pontoon boats. As we are non-anglers, we were not all that interested in the fishing boats, but the pontoon boats looked like great fun and geared more to people like us.

We also enjoyed looking at the kayaks, as we love the outdoors and have kayaked on a great deal of our trips, both locally and far away. It was fun to see the new designs, including kayaks from which you can fish, kayaks with pedals and one that was even electronically assisted.

HPFC: Did you purchase or consider purchasing anything?

Marjorie: We considered purchasing a kayak, until we realized that there was no way my husband could transport it on his Mini Cooper. We did purchase the water bottle handle. My husband certainly considered buying the jerky from the jerky vendor but did not.

HPFC: What could have been done to make the expo more female friendly?

Marjorie: This is a tough one, as I do not want to appear to stereotype women. However, as a woman, I would have liked more fishing clothing geared toward women, in brighter colors and more form fitting, as opposed to the mostly camouflage green, gray, black and navy colors that I saw. I would have also liked to see more food-related exhibitions, like examples of campfire cooking or snacks to bring on the boat (power bars, trail mix, etc.)

HPFC: What could have been done to make this more appealing to non-anglers?

Marjorie: Well, it is a fishing expo, but other things that would have interested me, if perhaps my significant other was an angler I accompanied him or her: More hands-on demonstrations or things to do. It would have been a good opportunity to bring in PAWS or another pet organization looking for homes for dogs. There were a great deal of trips for fishing, but I would have liked to see trips that perhaps combined fishing with something for the non-angler, such as fishing in the morning and horseback riding in the afternoon. It would have also been fun to see a booth that was displaying gifts I could get for my angler significant other.

HPFC: What were your overall thoughts?

Marjorie: I found the show much more interesting than I thought I would. It was fun looking at the boats, all the places people could travel to fish or hunt. We love free giveaways (pencils, pens, candy, stickers, hats), but there was not a great deal of that. Nevertheless, it was a great experience, and we loved supporting our good friends, Hanna and Pete who work tirelessly to help people create precious memories that will last a lifetime.