Eric Haataja
Premier Speaker

Eric is the owner of Big Fish Guide Service & Big Fish 365 Television and Social Media located in West Allis WI.   Eric guides for just about every fresh water fish species available here in Wisconsin, with an emphasis on catching “Big Fish”.  He is considered by many to be one of the best multi-specie guides in the Midwest. He is one of the highest skilled guides in just about every application modern fishing has to offer.   More importantly Eric is an educator offering fishing schools, seminars, and on-line “how to” fishing video’s.

He has appeared numerous times on the nationally televised show’s such as North American Fisherman, In-Fisherman T.V. and Magazine, Babe Winkleman’s Outdoors, ESPN Outdoors with Mark Zona, City Limits with Mike Iconilli,  and Midwest Outdoors.

Eric currently holds the IGFA World Record Brown Trout caught in December of 2011.

Spence Petros
Guest Speaker
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Spence Petros is one of North America's most versatile and well-respected anglers. Author, fishing educator, tournament angler, tackle designer and veteran of over 125 television shows, including three years on ESPN's national show "the Outdoor Writers". In 1989 Petros was inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, and is listed among the "Living Legends of American Sportfishing", a book authored by Larry Colombo profiling 100 of the top people in the sportfishing industry.

Dave Kranz
Guest Speaker

Dave Kranz, owner of Dave's Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy, has been in crystal lake on Rt.176 and 31 since 1989. He says,"I have the best job in the world! I get to teach people about hunting and fishing". Dave also fishes bass tournaments on the fox Chain O Lakes and madison chain, as well as other bodies of water in south east wisconsin,where he is very competitive.He enjoys speaking to fishing clubs and groups. Bow hunting is also a passion of his and he has taken seven Pope and Young record bucks. He writes a weekly fishing and hunting report for Steve Sarley's outdoor column and can be heard most weeks on the outdoor experience radio show.

Mark O'Neill
Guest Speaker

Mark O’Neill is an engineer by training, which gives him an advantage in understanding the electronics used to locate structure and fish.  On the pro staff at Lowrance, Doctor Sonar and Navionics, he teaches seminars and demonstrations designed to help fishermen understand the complexities of what lies beneath the surface and catch more fish.  He is a member of the Lake Geneva Fishing Club and the National Professional Anglers Association. 

Kip Vieth
Guest Speaker

Kip Vieth and his family have owned and operated Wildwood Float Trips since 2003. Wildwood is a full service guide and outfitting service located in Monticello, MN. Kip has been exploring the rivers and streams of the Upper Midwest for well over 30 years. He has also traveled from Hawaii to the Caribbean, to the Smokey Mountains in pursuit of the fish that call these locals home.

He lives and runs Wildwood Float Trips float trips on the banks of the Upper Mississippi. The business is located right in the heart of the Catch and Release section which is home to some of the largest Smallmouth Bass in the country. He spends over 200 days on the water mostly in pursuit of Smallmouth Bass and Musky. On most days during the season you can find him rowing his drift boat on one the Upper Midwest premier warm water fisheries.

In addition to his guiding Kip also writes for Eastern Fly Fishing and Midwest Fly Fishing. He is also a popular speaker at the many shows and club meeting throughout the Midwest

Nick Shafer
Guest Speaker

The Founder & Guide of Crappie Predator, Nick Shafer, established this crappie fishing guiding service for Southern Illinois because he wanted a work life that resembled not only his hobby life, but his overall lifestyle. Nick spends every possible minute on the water pursuing crappie, bass, cat fish, and white bass. When Nick isn't crappie fishing he can usually be found at his other passion hunting waterfowl.

Nick has fished tournaments for crappie and bass.  He has placed in the top of the field in many crappie tournaments including 1st place in the Illinois state Crappie Masters championship, qualifying for many Crappie USA and Crappie masters classic's, and 5 time angler of the year and 2 time classic champion in the Southern Illinois Crappie Association.  He has also qualified and fished in the USA Bassen and Bass World Sport Classics.

P.J. Smith
Guest Speaker

PJ is a trout fishing guide who specializes in fishing the "driftless" area spring creeks found in SW Wisconsin. In this seminar you will get a chance to see some of the area creeks and hear about a variety of fishing techniques. PJ will share some of his most successful flies used to catch browns and brookies in what he calls his "home waters".