The Long Beach show ran from March 3rd to March 8th. Nothing was explicitly stated but Shimano had pulled out following the directive from Shimano Corporate in Japan to not put their employees at risk of exposure to the Coronavirus, and other smaller brands pulled out also.

The following week March Madness was canceled and the NBA season was suspended. The Fred Hall San Diego show has been pushed out a month ’til the end of April.

There was a slightly subdued feeling to the Long Beach show but the show did go on. I’m excited to try out a few products I saw but was more stoked to be able to spend time with the sales guys and get a better understanding of how the retail fishing industry works because they were less busy with customers! That and the good Mexican and Italian food I had with friends made it worth the trip.