Notice the great Emmet Kelley.

DonMan wrote:

I went ... it sucked ... I probably won`t go back anytime soon. I spent 45 minutes looking at BORING boats. I want my $10 back. seriously.

It did suck,at least the beer was cold. I bet it starts to get smaller and smaller over the next few years. It will probably end up like the old Ft Worth show and include RV's.

They've been dropping like a rock since 07 and have been waning steadily since 1999. They'll get rid of Bron, realize the board of directors is boring and out of touch and hire a showman to run the thing. Or you'll be right. They'll blame the economy but this is when they should be doing great. people want escape and fantasy at a reasonable price. The old show ideas are perfect for this. Especially when it's the only game in town during a depressing ass winter for many people.

Besides location and weather one of the reasons the Miami and FT Lauderdale boat show are the biggest is the fact they have
half the show on the water.
It boggles my mind that with decent sized lakes near the
major cities the boat shows here are nowhere near any body of water.
It just seems very wrong to me.
Think about what a difference it would be if they just had 50-60 cool boats and exhibitors plus some cool giveaways and drink specials at a place like Sneaky Petes, probably get a bigger turnout than the entire Dallas show.

Naw, in the water boat shows are only of interest to people very near the show. It works for Miami because... well, it's Miami. No one is going to drive from East dallas to sneaky pete's in the middle of winter to see 8 or 10 boats.

Dunno,, lots of people on here including me drive couple hours to see a bunch of boring boats in a boring tent.
put that same tent by the lake throw some boats in the water and put a good band inside and we have ourselves a boat show for pirates.
Doesnt have to be in winter, they can do it closer to spring break.

Most major lakes (inlcuding lewisville and texoma) have at least one "in the water" show each year. They aren't a big deal. It narrows it down to local boaters even moreso than the current show.

the one ON THE WATER SHOW At Conroe SUCKS! I have had it.. I'm moving.. besides.... Got to!

The high point of the entire show was talking to Brain about a topwater striper fishing trip in Sept. Boat show sucked- the fastest boat there probably wouldn't do 65mph!

Great old pics! What year??

50's and early 60's.

was at the show on Sat. It was weak. You know it's bad when they have a huge vendor booth for mattresses and another booth for a guy doing card tricks.
Marine Max brought the biggest boats. largest was 45'. We hung around the Marine Max area for a while and they were selling boats. They ring a bell every time they sell a boat. They rang it about 4 times within 1.5 hours.
Got to see a sucker (and his better half) pay $65k for a 2010 26' open bow Sea Ray.

A few of us went Saturday. Had a good time, saw some folks I know, drank a few $6 beers. Didn't see a whole lot that captured my attention, although it was good to be able to visit all the marina booths and get pricing/info. Also talked to the Upholstery Shop folks, they're supposed to come out today to give me a quote.

If you get a chance, say hi to Matt at Custom Boat Works, he's got a table on the backside of the Slalom Shop booth, he does boat detail, fiberglass and gelcoat repair, he's A-1.

What were those price tags on those boats? One was $50.95 and another was $40.95, was this a monthly payment? Cool old pics.

Bowing it up the $50.95 is adjustable boat canopy.

The sign underneat is:

Dyno Flite Deluxe $750

Mark 58 $761

Voit trailer $207

Running Light $22

Remote Control $72

Total $1861

LP-1 wrote:

They've been dropping like a rock since 07 and have been waning steadily since 1999. They'll get rid of Bron, realize the board of directors is boring and out of touch and hire a showman to run the thing. Or you'll be right. They'll blame the economy but this is when they should be doing great. people want escape and fantasy at a reasonable price. The old show ideas are perfect for this. Especially when it's the only game in town during a depressing ass winter for many people.

So true. People would flock to cheap family entertainment in this economy and this is ready-made for that. I have several of these same pics from archives I picked up off the website a few years back. We used to go when I was a kid as well. It was always more of an event than it is now, although most of those pictures pre-date my attendance. Too bad someone with some imagination doesn't get a hold of it, or these shows are going to fade into history.

don't fall for the ringing bell trick. The sales people on the floor get a bonus for writting up a deal. Usually they get a $500-$1000 deposit which is refundable. A company like them will get 50-70 deals written up durinig the show but will actually only close 15-20% of the deals.

went saturday as well. Kudos for marine max being there in more force than anybody else (by far). The whole show took about an hour...and that counts stopping and talking to everybody you know. Disappointing to say the least. I look forward to the boat show every year and had kind of ignored all the negative comments about it getting smaller and smaller. Well, this year it really sucked.

first one I've missed since I was 16, I heard legend wasn't going, so, figured it would suck. saved my beer money for a kegerator for the dock.

Sat there were two girls walking around passing out stuff that made Hooter girls look over dressed.

Great pics from the day when you could call a broad a dame and smoke inside.