'Pure hunting and fishing show': Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show has 200 vendors ready to go

For centuries, theaters, concerts and circuses have lived by the motto “the show must go on.” And right about now, that’s how Jody Witzky feels.

Witzky, the owner of JW Promotions, is set to host the 15th annual Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Mt. Hope Event Center, but it’s been a struggle recently. Not with the show, as he has a record number of vendors signed up, or with the seminar schedule, but it has been one thing after another for Witzky himself.

Illness pushed back a heart procedure, and just this past Thursday, his mother passed away. But, the show must go on, and Witzky and his crew will be at the Event Center putting on what he believes will be his best Sportsman Show ever.

“We’ve got over 200 vendors coming in and we’re trying to get as pure a hunting and fishing show as possible,” Witzky said. “Just by word of mouth, we’ve picked up a lot of new outfitters, new charter captains. Parma Marine and their Extreme Boats will have a large space there. We have more fishing vendors, more booths selling calls … actually, we have more of everything.

With 215 vendors filling up the 81,000-square-foot Mt. Hope Event Center, even if you have visited in the past, you are sure to find something new this year.

That’s not to say a plethora of the old favorites are missing from this year’s show. A lot of the show’s staples from past years will be back, including such vendors as America’s Best Bowstring, Hillcrest Lumber, Kidron Sports Center (longtime sponsor), Merit Seed, Miller Gun Supply, Mid Ohio Sporting Goods, Mossy Oak Properties, Night Eyes LLC, Premier Outdoors, Smokey’s Deer Lures, The Bearded Butcher and Ultimate Land Management with Tony LaPratt will all have booths.

Charters from British Columbia to Maine, Florida and back

As for booking a hunting or fishing trip, the show has you covered from British Columbia to Maine and as far south as Florida, where you can sign up to hunt alligators and wild boar. Want to get in on some great Lake Erie walleye fishing, or tangle with a toothy Northern pike in Canada, there will be vendors at the show to schedule a date.

Barry Wensel, author of several hunting books, will be new to the show, as will vendors specializing in such things as thermal drones, silencers, bow sights, side-by-sides, electric bikes, taxidermy, hunting blinds, pond management and BBQ, just to name a few.

As for the seminar stages, a lot of the past favorites will be back, with Jim Vitaro and Nate Boldman anchoring the “Hawg Trough” fishing talks. Vitaro will do bass and panfish seminars, while Boldman will specifically talk about putting more crappie in the boat.

Charter captain Bob Balli will be new to the Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show fishing stage as he will offer his tips and tricks on catching walleye. Another newcomer, Joe Mafrici, will demonstrate the fishing-catching advantages of his “Death Shimmer” lures.

For the younger crowd, Dan Armitage will be at the Hawg Trough on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for his not-to-be missed kids fishing seminar.

And on the hunting stage will be experts dogs, deer management

On the hunting stage, Bill Epeards, Jim Riggle, Herman Rice and LaPratt return as featured speakers, while a newcomer will be RPM Retrievers, which will do talks every day on teaching your dog to retrieve shed antlers. Other seminars on the hunting stage will include Anthony Pappas with a talk on how to manage your hunting land and cut your taxes, as well as Bryan Grossjean on the advantages of hinge cutting for better deer management.

One thing not at the Show this year that was a big hit in 2023 is the panel discussion on deer hunting featuring a host of experts.

“We thought about bringing it back,” Witzky said, “but we thought we would give it a year before doing it again. We’ll bring it back next year with maybe some different people on the panel.”

Hunting seminars start on the hour, and fishing seminars on the half hour. Check at the show for exact times for each presentation. All seminars will be held in the upper 27,000-square foot Horse Arena Building. The seminars, though, aren’t the only places to pick up valuable information.

'Booth speakers' are just like seminars

“A lot of the booths are just like seminars,” Witzky said. “I consider them ‘booth speakers’ as they still have a presence in the show. Every one of them is willing to sit and talk with you.”

And, if you can’t make it to this year’s show, you can get a glimpse of what it’s like as Fox8 in Cleveland will feature Witzky and the Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show on its New Day Cleveland telecast 10 a.m.-noon Friday.

The 15th annual Northeast Ohio Sportsman Show opens Thursday at 2 p.m. and runs through Saturday at 5 p.m. Show hours are Thursday 2-8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Admission is $15, with a two-day pass available for $25. Children 12-and-under are admitted free. Parking is free.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Sportsman Show 200 vendors strong starts Thursday in Mount Hope