Opening-day seminars on turkey hunting, bass and walleye fishing, and fishing from a kayak await visitors to the Northwest Sportshow when the extravaganza begins its five-day run at 1 p.m. today at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
An annual harbinger of spring, the show dates its origin to 1933, the year it was founded by Frank (Nick) Kahler, a hockey promoter who also loved to hunt and fish.
Kahler's business plan, still in force at the show today, was to provide hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts a forum where they could touch and feel new products and also learn about vacation destinations they might visit someday.
Valuable as the concept has been over the years to show attendees, it has been more so to major Minnesota manufacturers such as Alumacraft, Crestliner and Lund boats, and to many other businesses in the state that cater to outdoors types.
Rapala lures, for instance, made its statewide debut at the Northwest Sportshow, as did the Green Box depth finder — forerunner to the highly sophisticated electronics available to today's anglers.
Also, when the world's first aluminum fishing boat was manufactured in Minneapolis in 1946, a 14-footer called an Alumacraft, the boat was displayed at Kahler's show.
The show bills itself as the longest continually running spectacle of its kind in the nation, and one exhibitor, H.F. Wellman Co., has been in attendance every year. That company (now Wellman Sports Marketing) will again have a booth this year, touting the features of Minn Kota motors and Humminbird fishing electronics, which it distributes.
Hours today and Thursday are 1-9 p.m.; hours Friday are 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; on Saturday, the show runs 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; and on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is $12 for 16 and older. Kids 15 and younger are admitted free. Senior Day is Thursday, when adults age 62 and older are admitted for $9.
DENNIS ANDERSON
