It's almost time for the annual Fun N' Sun In House Boat and Tackle Show, and it's the kickoff to the 2016 season for Finch Nasty Bait Co. My goal for this event is to make it fun for everyone who comes out and to give back as much as I can. It's my way of expressing thanks for everyone's support over the years. I hope to meet more of you at this year's show, January 15th-17th. Here's some of what I have planned.

Giveaways
Every year, we try to give back in as many ways as possible. At this year's FNS show, we will be giving away two guided fishing trips and one all-inclusive fishing trip.
1) Lake Fork Guide Richie White - Richie has donated a half-day trip every year, since I began my company. He is donating a half-day trip again. To find out more about Richie's guide service, go to www.bassfishing.org.
2) Lake Palestine Guide James Williams - James is donating a half-day trip on Lake Palestine. He is a part-time guide on Lake Palestine, and the trip will be scheduled around his availability. Last year, James donated a half-day trip that almost resulted in a personal best for the FNBC customer that won the trip.
3) Drum roll....An all-inclusive day on Lake Fork with me - This year, I am donating a day on the lake with me on Lake Fork. I am not a guide, and I will accept NO FORM OF COMPENSATION for the trip. We are just going fishing together, and I will be buying the winner's lunch. Breakfast and a one-night stay at the Minnow Bucket are included, compliments of Tony and Frankie. I'm going to tell this story, because I think it really goes to show the support that the businesses show for the fishermen that come to Lake Fork. When I thought about offering this fishing trip, I gave Tony a call to see if the Minnow Bucket would be interested in sponsoring the breakfast. Tony agreed, without hesitation, and offered a room for the night before the trip, too! For those who haven't visited Lake Fork in a while, Tony and Frankie are building a bunch of NEW ROOMS that should be ready early this year at the Minnow Bucket. http://www.minnowbucketmarina.com/
4) Drawing for a fully stocked tackle box of Finch Nasty Bait Co. Products (valued at $150) - This drawing will be separate from the fishing trips. We will be selling tickets for $1 each, exclusively for the benefit of the Texas A&M Fishing Team and Crandall High School Fishing Team. Both schools are tax-exempt organizations, and all money collected will be divided between the two schools. The winner will come away with a big box of lures and weights, a T-Shirt, Finch Nasty hat and a FNBC sticker.
5) $25 Gift Certificate for Finch Nasty - This will be donated towards the hourly prize drawings by the FNS crew.
6) 2 FREE THUMPERS (3/8 or 1/2 oz) - Anyone who purchases a new boat from FNS during the show will get two free Nasty's Thumpers in any color of their choice. If you purchase a boat during the event, stop by our booth with proof of the purchase and we will give you two bladed jigs to help you catch a new personal best out of your new boat!

Products
We're going to have more products at this show than ever before. I've been building lures and pouring weights for over two months to get ready for the show. I think we will have over 200 different items available, and supply will be limited. Here's what we'll have to offer.
The Lunker Thumper - Our 1 oz. bladed jig has been very popular with trophy fishermen and tournament fishermen since the release in September 2015. It has a massive 8/0 hook and a custom hand-tied skirt (around a silicone core) and comes in 10 different colors. We will have every color available for sale, so if you haven't seen them, please stop by and see why we were so excited to bring this lure to the market.
Nasty's Thumper - We will have our 3/8 and 1/2 oz. Thumpers in 12 different colors at the show. All of the Nasty's Thumper bladed jigs have an ultra-sharp and strong Gamakatsu hook. For the first year, we will have a really special deal on these. While supplies last, whenever you buy two Thumpers, you will get two LFT swimbait trailers for free. After tinkering with my bladed jig for a couple of years, we realized that the LFT swimbait trailer is the PERFECT trailer for our Thumpers. When paired with a swimbait trailer, the Thumper has an erratic hunting action that emulates a wounded baitfish; in my opinion, the best action and the best results come when you throw a matching LFT trailer behind it.
Jigs - I've been putting jigs together for a month and a half. I have not put them in stores, because of how much time goes into each one. I have a very time-consuming process to produce these, but it results in a QUALITY jig. We'll have 11 awesome colors to chose from and several different head designs: Flipping Jigs, Football Jigs (3/8 and 1/2 oz added for 2016), and Finesse Football Jigs (new for 2016). All jigs will come with hand-tied skirts and some will come with rattles, and the price on these will be competitive or better than the competition.
Drop Shot Weights - We will have our Skinny Shot and Nasty Shot drop shot weights for sale at a great price. We'll even have BULK BAGS of 25 available for sale to help you save money and get stocked up for the 2016 season. A few years ago, I improved the line-grip swivel on my drop shot weights. It is the tightest line-grip out there. I've tested them out with 2 lb test, without tying a knot, and the weight has stayed on the line. I will also have a "misfire bin", which will have weights that were mispours. These weights will still do the trick and you'll get an amazing price, I just can't sell them in packages.
New for 2016 - We added a swing-head football jig for 2016. The Swingin' Head will come with 5/16 or 7/16 oz and in three different colors (Black, Brown, or Green). All of the Swingin' Heads will have the same durable paint job found on our jigs and will come with a great Mustad hook. We will also be releasing a Shaky Head in February 2016. We will have them on display in the aquarium at the show, and will accept pre-orders at the show. The Shaky Head is extremely popular on Lake Fork (the Big Bass Splash was won on one last year), will come in SIX sizes and will have a custom 4/0 or 6/0 Gamakatsu hook.
T-Shirts and Hats - I'll have our new for 2016 T-Shirts and Hats available for sale at the show. I hope you like the back of the T-Shirt design:

My booth is set up and almost all baits and weights are boxed up. Hope to see you guys there this weekend. I will be located directly in front of the entrance with the double doors.

Awesome!!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, because I'm just plain worn out. I'm overwhelmed by the support many of you have shown by stopping by my booth at the Fun N' Sun show. It means a lot to me, and I hope that you'll be pleased with your new baits and weights. We worked for two months with hope that we would have exactly what you were looking for when you stopped by our booth. If you haven't had a chance to stop by, then I hope that you will tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be the final day of the show, and it's the last opportunity for you to get in the drawing for the three trips we're giving away or to get in on the raffle benefiting the Crandall High School Fishing Team and Texas A&M Fishing Team.

I'll do a write-up on my takeaways when the show is over, but my hat is off to Monte and his team for what they have put together this weekend. They've given us local guys a venue to show our products to you and they've given you, their customers, an opportunity to meet some truly Professional anglers. From what I've seen, the Pros have interacted with EVERYONE who attended, and I felt honored to have most of them stop by my booth and to hear their thoughts about my products.

Again, THANK YOU TFF and Fun N' Sun for your support!

Nice to meet and chat with you Alex. I look forward to throwing the Lunker Thumpers in the coming months of fishing. Keep doing what you're doing, because you clearly have a passion for it.

Hope your final day at FNS is another great one.

Jim, it was nice to meet you and I hope you catch one of the fish The Lunker Thumper was designed to catch! I have always had a passion for bass fishing, and I really enjoy sharing it with others. When you guys catch a fish on one of my baits, no matter the size, I get a ton of satisfaction from it. I know the feeling when that rod loads up, and just knowing that you guys are getting that same feeling... it's awesome!

I spent a pretty penny in your booth Alex on saturday. I think James was his name, your partner was informative and gave me lots of helpful info with your jigs and thumpers.

Thanks for the help. Who Won the guide trips? Haha

Kyle, thank you for your support! James has a lot of experience on different lakes, so I bring him along to help educate folks about various lakes and my products. He loves to talk fishing! We were also fortunate to have Fun N' Sun Pro Staffer Steve Hodge and Lake Fork Guide Richie White in our booth for a few hours on Saturday.

The winners of all the giveaways were as follows. I haven't called them yet because we just got home, but I'm sure they are going to be thrilled to find out they won! We held the drawing on the stage at Fun N' Sun, and it was quite entertaining. Feel free to go over to our Facebook Page to watch the drawings.

Raffle for HS kids, which included a tackle box with over $150 of baits and weights and a decal, a hat and a T-Shirt: Shawn Kelsey

Half-day guided trip with Richie White on Lake Fork: Brian McCollum

Half-day guided trip with James Williams on Lake Palestine: Monty Roberts

Full-day fishing trip on Lake Fork with me lunch provided by Finch Nasty Bait Co, including breakfast and a one-night stay courtesy of the Minnow Bucket Marina: David Siedal