The Somerset Saltwater Fishing Expo opens from noon to 8 p.m. today in the Garden State Exhibit Center (Exit 10 off I-287), and runs through Sunday. Most national tackle manufacturers have full exhibits along with some local tackle companies, such as Pete Meyers’ Run-Off Lures — featuring his new Epoxy Plugs. Clubs and conservation groups are represented, along with exhibitors offering charters and travel opportunities. Among the features at the expo is the 3,412-pound great white shark mount provided by Capt. Greg Dubrule. Anglers can test themselves on a fishing simulator at that exhibit. Best of all, there are lots of free seminars — all of which are of interest to saltwater fishermen. Gary Quon, of Tady Lures in California, is making sure that many anglers will come out ahead on tackle as well as information because he’s offering one of his valuable jigs to the first 100 attending my seminar on Raritan Bay-area striped bass fishing at 11:30 tomorrow morning. Tickets will be provided at the Lobby Theater on the way in, and the lures distributed at the end of the presentation. Tady made their first East Coast appearance at this show last year, and I stopped by to let them know I’d caught my IGFA All-Tackle World Record 27 ½-pound leather bass while reeling one of his wahoo casting "irons" off bottom at Isla Clarion, Mexico, during a long-range trip on the Royal Polaris out of San Diego in 1988. Quon wanted to test his jigs on stripers during a trip east in June, and we set up a charter for June 14. A tropical storm blew in the previous day and, with friends coming over from Brooklyn, he was leery of the wind forecast for the charter day — opting to put it off until his next trip east in November. As it turned out, I joined Chuck Many of Annandale that afternoon, along with Nellie Greer and Greg Prestosh from Pennsylvania on his Tyman from Highlands to run down the beach until we found a striper school feeding on bunkers that ended up producing 28 releases of bass over 25 pounds — including five from 40 to 42 pounds. After Quon missed the finest ocean striper fishing imaginable that day, I was afraid the Nov. 5 trip might be a disappointment. Yet we hit the early bite between the channels just right with Capt. Hans Kaspersetz, on Sheri Berri from Baker’s Marina on the Bay in Highlands, and Quon’s group caught lots of stripers. Those bass weren’t as large, being mostly in the 15-to-20-pound class, but they responded to his west coast jigs and techniques. The expo runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Adult admission is $12, with youngsters 5-11 paying $3 — and no charge for those under 5. During Family Day on Sunday there’s no charge for kids under 5. Today’s seminars in the Lobby Theater begin with surf pro Shell Caris on Advanced Surf & Jetty Tactics at 1. Capt. Jimmy Gahm covers tuna fishing tips from inshore bluefins to canyon bigeyes for Shimano at 2, and Capt. Frank Tenore details Raritan Bay variety from March to December at 3. Capt. John Kolias is on at 4 with Bucktails for Fluke, and David Schunke winds up today at 5 for Shimano with Small Boats for Saltwater Big Game. Capt. Frank Crescitelli provides a cast net demo at 2:25 in the rear of the Exhibit Hall. Tomorrow’s seminars begin with Kolias repeating his fluke presentation at 11 a.m. in the theater at the rear of the Exhibit Hall, with Schunke following there with his offshore small boats. Champion caster Ron Arra covers distance casting tackle there at 1, and provides an outdoor surfcasting demo at 3 that shouldn’t be missed. Crescitelli’s cast net demo is at 1:45 in the rear of the hall, and Gahm’s tuna show is in the theater at 2, before Tenore repeats his Raritan Bay program at 3. My 11:30 presentation in the Lobby Theater tomorrow will be followed at 12:30 by Bill Carson of Humminbird with Understanding Electronics from A-Z, and at 1:30 by the underwater videos of The Diving Fisherman, Mike Laptew, with The Amazing Underwater World of Game Fish and How to Hook a Monster. Capt. Gene Quigley comes on at 2:30 with Trophy Spring Stripers — Bunkers, Poppers and Soft Baits. Check my blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing for Sunday’s seminars plus product highlights after I cover the expo tomorrow — and other show and fishing information.