Fish tales abound at show

Nothing like a boat show to bring out all the liars.

Fishermen, that is – the guys with the lures and plenty of tales.

“We’re going to take a Bible next time so these guys will tell the truth,” said Leroy Slinkard, teasing his longtime buddies, Bob Durrant and Tom Young.

The trio of retirees shared a few fish tales Saturday morning as they wandered around the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center for the 50th annual Spokane National Boat Show. With fishing boats displayed in all their aluminum glory, it was the place to be for guys with steelhead dreams and salmon fantasies.

“You can’t go to a boat show and not want everything you see,” said Durrant, 74.

From kayaks and canoes to cruisers and luxury yachts, boats in every shape, color and size covered all 120,000 available square feet at the fairgrounds. “From big to small, you’ll see it all – that’s our motto,” said Scott Thompson, manager of the boat show. “The weather right now is bad for skiing but good for boating.”

Thompson and others are expecting more than 20,000 people to come to this year’s show, which is sponsored by the Spokane Yacht Club. The club was started in 1954 by about five or six families with boats who gathered every weekend at various lakes in the area. A year after its founding, the yacht club organized its first boat show, which for years included a parade in downtown Spokane. Today, the Spokane Yacht Club has nearly 200 members and the boat show is bigger than ever.

“There’s a lot of water in the Spokane area,” said Thompson, noting that North Idaho and Eastern Washington have about 160 lakes. “It’s all about fun and it’s a good way to spend time with the family.”

Many who flocked to the show Saturday reacted with awe when they walked into the room displaying three 40-foot yachts that could easily have been featured on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” One of those vessels was the Carver Cockpit Motor Yacht, which featured two bedrooms, two bathrooms, flat-screen televisions, cherrywood interior and a wetbar.

“I’m just dreaming for the day,” said Michelle Hooper, as she stepped off the yacht with the $324,434 price tag.

Slinkard and his pals, however, skipped the luxury boats and headed straight for the AlumCraft Trophy 180, a gem of a fishing boat with its gigantic four-stroke outboard engine, leather seats and canopy.

“People are just fanatic about fishing,” said Jeff Cass of Specialty Recreation and Marine, the salesman who showed the Trophy 180 to the trio of fishermen.

After working for years as bus drivers for the Freeman School District, Slinkard, Durrant and Young decided to retire and spend their days fishing. Among the three of them, they have four boats to choose from, although there was once a time when they actually had as many as seven. Boats are like shoes for die-hards like these guys – the vehicle has to match the body of water and the kind of fishing they want to do.

These days, they fish twice a week, driving all over the area with a boat in tow, usually the 19-footer. They’ll catch rainbow trout and silver salmon on Lake Roosevelt; blue-backed kokanee and chinook on Lake Coeur d’Alene; and on the Snake River, it’s steelhead.

“I usually have to show them how to fish,” quipped Slinkard, 72.

“That’s not true,” replied Young, 75. “He lies a lot. His 6-inch fish always ends up being 12.”

In the end, however, it’s their wives who know the truth.

“We call them and tell them to have supper ready,” said Durrant. “That’s when they know there’s no fish for dinner.”