RISAA 2023 New England Saltwater Fishing Show Is Back

For 19 years the New England Saltwater Fishing Show has attracted national and local companies determined to outfit us with everything needed to get on the water and on the fish. Show veterans have favorite booths and friends to find after a long absence but there’s real joy in winding our way through the aisles to discover new businesses, small and global. The Show highlights boats, gear, tackle, technology and thankfully, some amazing food. For 2023, here are a few favorites to visit.

It’s okay to start the Show on March 10 by dreaming big. Deadhead straight from the front doors to Oyster Harbors Marine’s display of Everglades Boats. Everglades are designed to accommodate families and friends as well as hard core anglers who need to get on the grounds quickly and comfortably. It’s a new age and we don’t need to lash ourselves to the foremast when seas get big or get soaked from lack of cover. We can sit in thick chairs behind glass center consoles as a suite of navigation aids guide us to fast canyon turnarounds or back home to the Bay. They offer seaworthy luxury without forgetting you live to fish. Life is short, so have a conversation with them at booths 1332-1335.

While we might use the interweb to buy things, nothing is finer than meeting and speaking with the people who actually build and sell the gear we love. One serious local fan favorite are Albie Snax from Fish Snax Lures. Few plastics are as reliable and well-constructed as the Snax.

Albie Snax produce all winter

From first migration stripers to those big girls we thankfully release to August albies, Snax lures are well proven. With a strong Fall into Winter bite, I continue to catch holdover bass on white/pearl and pink Albie Snax rigged with jig heads with a slow retrieve. They offer sand eel patterns which have unreal action and a series of hooks to properly rig the whole deal. Leave some room in your shopping bag for a fill up at booth 1109.

Albie Snax

New to the Show is WolfPack Tackle. They will offer you a slew of new products for shallow and deep waters, all shining from their mix of technology, common sense, angler participation and precise attention to those details which fool fish. Their power swivel on Ahi Casting Lures looks ingenious, as do most of their creations. WolfPack will have bunker spoons, Outrodders, Casting heads, Ahi heads, Dredge heads for towing ballyhoo or their own Ahi tails and Jet heads available to help you catch inshore and offshore game fish. Wolfpack and all their innovative designs are at booth 1023.

So trippy and cool

There’s always an excuse for a new rod and Dark Matter has a line of Psychedelic casting rods which definitely are a new face on the market. As a veteran of a hundred or so Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia shows, I will attest that these 7’ medium heavy, fast action rods with Fuji guides are pretty super groovy, extra trippy and flat out far out. Dark Matter will showcase their through wire plugs like the Astro Spook. Big search baits will call in anything with an appetite and you have to see the Thicccle Rick pattern. There will be plenty of new options for a new year at booths 1024 and 1025.

Who doesn’t get hungry carrying those bags full of plugs and handfuls of squishy plastics from the Worm Bar? Crab cakes are a show favorite each year so follow your nose to Stone Silo Foods. Try some sizzling lump blue crab cakes or one of their famous Stone Silo crab cakes made with Blue claw, Jonah, Snow and Rock crab. They specialize in a variety of seafoods and their stuffed clams might give  your favorite secret recipe a serious challenge. Stone Silo will be set up and cooking at booths 112 and 113.

A very young Miles Corayer gives his thumbs up for the Worm Bar

After all the rods, lures and snacks are stowed, we know safety is paramount for good days. Life Raft Survival Equipment will showcase important gear for any sized vessel, including rafts for small recreational boats and offshore commercial draggers, Mustang and Spinlock life vests, satellite communications, even pump activated water makers. If “Just in case” is your motto, LRSE, at booths 310 and 311, provides safety products to give you ease while you lean back into that Everglades captain chair to enjoy a warm Stone Silo lobster cake.

The Show runs from March 10 through March 12. Friday march 10 is military appreciation day, sponsored by the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs and RISAA. The first 200 military members and veterans get free admission! Please bring your DD214 or Military ID to qualify. For the rest of us lucky to have such military support so we can be free and safe, regular admission is $12.

You can get plenty of information about the show at  www.nesaltwatershow.com. You should check out past stories from the show at https://fishwrapwriter.com/2017/04/01/saltwater-fashion-show-comes-to-providence/ and https://fishwrapwriter.com/2017/03/06/meet-captain-jerry-sparks-me-at-the-ne-saltwater-fishing-show/.