The second annual Fishing Expo of Indiana Smallmouth Conservation is scheduled for January 13-14 at the Johnson County Fairgrounds’ Scott Hall with hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p. m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission fee will be $3 for adults and free for anyone under 16.

The inaugural Expo last year played to good crowds, and organizers of Smallmouth Conservation, the show organizer, are hoping even better attendance this year. Exhibitors have added some new exhibitors for this second edition to mesh with most of the originals. As a result, this show is shaping up as one of the premier winter attractions for any one who fishes for any species. But it centers on smallmouth bass and the tackle available.

Presenters of the show will includeMick Thill, Fishing Technique; Greg Mangus, Smallmouth Bass; Charlie Hildreth, Crappie; Jimmy Lang, Walleye; Willie Williams Striped Bass; Gilbert Huxley, Carp; Kenton Smith, Mulkellumge, and Jimmy Hearn, Catfish.

That comprises most of the fish species we (meaning all of us) are after in the warm months, but there are some others, and those in attendance will be rubbing elbows with them. Little shows of Expo status tend to breed a comradeship that you will find as scarce as hen’s teeth at big expos, although our Sports Show, and the people who attend our show, have been termed the finest of the Midwest . . . on many occasions, and by exhibitors who attend them all. It is difficult to beat the affinity found among Hoosiers interested in the multi-phases of the outdoors.

 If the thought of picking the brain of other fishermen--or sharing the angling tricks of others doesn’t put a gleam in your eyes, counting the Indianapolis Fly Casters, the Indiana Wildlife Federation, and Indiana Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists, should turn the trick. And, there are others already on the staff and more to come.

This is one you won’t want to miss.

HO, HO, HO--And away we go. Away we go again . . . and away we go again on the deer situation, much kicked around by everyone from the legislature, the Department of Natural Resources (Even the new politico in charge), the governor’s office (including THE MAN . . . quietly), the little old man on the street (whose desires mean nothing to the legislators), and anyone else having a flitting thought on the issue. No election for a while, now.

Who knows? Maybe even the welfare of the resource (and the deer herd is a very viable resource will get some attention . . . don’t mortgage the farm and put the proceeds on it . . .but they--and they alone-- should be Numero Uno, any place and every place).  

Sounds more complicated than my sentence, eh? Well, it (the sentence) may help you understand the loblolly situation that exists in deer-pen hunting as it now stands. (Yep! It is that bad.)

Elsewhere in the coming legislative fiasco, (whether or not we like it), the quagmire is full of questions, few of which will be solved to satisfaction. More, as it develops.  

But deer-pen hunting will be with us, again; as in again, again, and again.