Category Archives: 2026 Schedule and Events

Farmington River book news: August 4 it is, pre-orders, and who wants to buy a signed copy directly from me?

The Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River is getting closer. I had my first conversation yesterday with my book publicist. (I’m going to let the fact that I have a book publicist go to my head for about 15 seconds — it feels good — and now I can get over it and move along.) We have a lot to talk about.

As was foretold by fearless forecaster Chuck G., the official release date is Tuesday, August 4. That’s about 4 months of wait time. If we keep busy fishing this spring and summer, it’ll be here before we know it.

There will be multiple ways for you to get a copy. The first is to pre-order from your favorite bookseller. (The publisher encourages pre-orders.) You can also inquire at your favorite fly shop to make sure they’re aware of the book release. I will be reaching out to several popular fly shops in the state to set up book signing/promo events. (Naturally, I’ll tell you about those here and on social media as they come to fruition.) If you attend the Fly Fishing Shows in Marlborough, Edison, and Lancaster, the book store at those shows will certainly be selling copies. If you’re taking a lesson from me, or having me speak at your club, I’ll try to always have a few copies with me.

Then, there’s this way, which is beginning to roughly take shape: get a copy directly from me, which I will personalize and sign and ship to you. The cost is TBD; the cover price is $39.95, plus I’ll have to add on shipping/materials cost. While I’m researching that, if you’re interested in going this route, please do this: Send me an email or reply to this thread saying that you’re planning on getting a personalized copy from me. I need to gauge the interest before I commit to this. Also, please note, if this happens, it will be a one-time situation deal. I have no desire to be an online merchant. Payment will likely be by cash, check, or P2P payment app like Venmo or PayPal. There may be a chance that I can get these copies out before the official release date, but don’t quote me on that. Sorry, no international orders — way too hard.

It’s all tremendously exciting. And I thank everyone for your patience and interest and readership.

Lancaster Redux and no fishing today.

I should be out on the river today with two clients, but I could tell yesterday from the rising gauge heights and the rain yet to come, we’d be cancelling. So here we are today at currentseams.com headquarters. Aside from high water, I’m sure this cold front and wind isn’t doing the bite any favors. We’re looking at almost 1,800cfs in the PTMA. It feels really good not to be second guessing my decision.

Back from Lancaster, and it’s bittersweet now that show season is officially over for me. I still have three talks this spring — one this week at the Cape Cod Flyrodders — but I never realized how much I love doing the Fly Fishing Show until I thought about this being the last blast until IFTS in November. I’d never done the Lancaster Show before this year. Here’s what I can tell you. It has a very chill, comforting vibe. The people are pleasant and inquisitive and enthusiastic. It’s a small show, which adds to its charm. I can’t wait to do it again.

Saturday was typical busy for me at the FFS, with two talks and a class. The wild card this weekend was that my wife was with me. She planned to golf while I was doing my thing. At 10am Saturday, I made my way up from my tying table to the seminar room. That’s when I discovered that my laptop was missing. Rut-roh. It’s in the Jeep! Fortunately, I had the talk on a thumb drive, was able to borrow a laptop (thanks, Emily!) and get it configured with the projector (thanks, Frank!) and start just about on time. I can’t thank the show staff enough for coming to my rescue. I didn’t know what to expect, but I drew a great crowd for my 10:30am Modern Wet Fly Strategies talk. The post-talk Q&A was likewise excellent. Meantime, my wonderful wife came back to the show to drop off my laptop, which I had in time for my noon Farmington River talk. Another strong showing, so, as they say during a rock concert, “Thank you, Lancaster!”
Sunday was far more relaxed; I had only my tying table (a FFS first for me) and another noon Farmington talk. I took the time to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to learning. I had Lou DiGena show me how to tie his wonderful crayfish jig pattern, the CE (Close Enough) Crayfish. I had Fritz Miller demonstrate how he ties in bucktail to form a thin, veiled collar (Fritz also sells some exceptional bucktail). I asked Bart Lombardo about tying small poppers for smallmouth. The Fly Fishing Show remains a tremendous opportunity to watch and talk and ask questions and learn from the best.

And then, it was over. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat about wet flies. Thank you to the girl who was so excited to see a Snipe and Purple that she was jumping up and down (you made my weekend!). Thank you to Fritz Miller and Alan Rupp for being such swell tablemates. Thank you Heather Purvis for the fly. Thank you for the opportunity to talk and teach and share the wonderful sport of fly fishing. See you at the IFTS in November.

Steve Culton Lancaster Fly Fishing Show Schedule and class space still available!

Come one, come all to my debut appearance at the Lancaster, PA, Fly Fishing Show. I’m really looking forward to this, and as usual, I have a fairly tight schedule on Saturday, March 14. It starts with my 10:30am Seminar in the Release Room, Modern Wet Fly Strategies. At noon, I’m in Destination Theater Room E, presenting The Farmington River. And from 2:00pm-4:30pm, it’s Classes With The Experts: Tying & Fishing Wet Flies with Steve Culton. These classes are a tremendous opportunity to learn in a very favorable student:teacher ratio environment. Click HERE for more info or to register.

Sunday gives me a wee bit more breathing room. At 12 noon, I’m Destination Theater Room D, The Farmington River. And at this show, I’m be doing something I’ve never done at any Fly Fishing Show: tying at table on the main show floor. You’ll find me there both days when I’m not talking. Please come say hello!

Here’s a PDF of the above image:

FVTU Chapter awarded the Merit of the Cheeseburger with IPA clusters

What a treat to return to see my friends at the Farmington Valley TU Chapter last night. FVTU understands that a fed presenter is a happy presenter, and I relished my delicious burger, piled high with mushrooms and onions, washed down with a tasty Headway IPA draft. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you! The subject was “Wet Flies 2.0,” which takes a deeper dive into the subject. This group is filled with many dedicated, inquisitive anglers, and I particularly enjoyed the post-talk Q&A session. There was a palpable excitement in the room for the Farmington River book, and I’m planning on returning in the fall for a talk on the book and the river.

Photo courtesy of an unknown FVTU member. The meeting room at the Back Nine Tavern in New Britain is a terrific venue for presenting.

Steve Culton Winter-Spring 2026 appearances update and Lancaster Fly Fishing Show March 14-15 schedule

I hope this Monday finds you happy and healthy and ready to fish! Or, at least think about fishing. I believe we’ve all had enough of this particularly loathsome winter, and the warmer weather this week should continue the melting trend. I haven’t fished since the first week of January, and I could really use some time on the water. The Farmington River beckons….

No fishing doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. I spent most of last week working on my tying area, cleaning and organizing, and I think I’m in a place where I’m ready to tie with a minimum of frustration (where the heck is my patch of rusty deer belly hair?) You’ll get to see it all in a future post/video etc. I’m also gearing up for the Lancaster, PA, Fly Fishing Show, now less than four weeks away, so for those of you in the area, be there or be square. Talks, classes, tying — I’m going to be doing it all. This will be my first time at this show, so I’m hoping for a strong turnout.

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with my friends at the FVTU Chapter this week. Note also the rescheduling of the Cape Cod presentation. If you’re the person in charge of hiring speakers for your club, I do in-person and Zoom presentations. Send me an email or call me, and we’ll get the ball rolling.

I’ll be posting more details on Lancaster here and on Instagram — @stevecultonflyfishing if you’re not already following — in the coming weeks. Thanks as always for reading, and for your enthusiasm.

Edison 2026 Redux

If it weren’t for the weather, this might have been the best show ever. But you don’t get to decide on such things, and when a once-in-a-decade snowstorm is thrown at you, you deal as best you can. But I come not to bury this year’s show (certainly not under 18″ of snow!) but rather, to praise it.

The Edison show is the largest fly fishing show on the east coast, and, perhaps, in the world. It has it all: vendors from rods and reels and gear and fly tying and books to guides and shops and lodges and fishing/destination travel. It’s got dozens of some of the best fly tyers in the world. If you want education, you’re in the right place: you can partake in presentations and seminars and demos and classes put on by some of the best anglers in the world. (If you want to be a rock star, you can’t hang out with Aerosmith for a few hours. If you want to become a better angler or tier, you can take a small class with George Daniel or Tim Flagler.)

Seminars! Getcher seminars here! What an honor to be included on a list with such fly fishing luminaries. All seminars are included in the price of your admission ticket. That’s a win for everyone. Classes require an additional fee, but it’s money very well spent — I get people telling me years after they’ve taken a class how much it improved their fishing. Thank you to everyone who took a class with me this year.

As a presenter, the Edison show is, for me, a multi-faceted journey into fun. I get to speak to (hopefully) large groups of people; that’s something I love to do. I get to reconnect with old and distant friends, and make new ones. I get to wander the show floor and discover all the fly fishing and tying items I didn’t know that I needed. I get to be a fanboy. And, I get to teach classes and turn other anglers on to new concepts that will help them catch more fish.

I did multiple talks on the Farmington River and was delighted by the size and enthusiasm of the crowds. The book is generating a lot of excitement, which seems to be growing exponentially. The Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River is at the printer, with a projected release date of June 2026. Stay tuned here for release details as they come in.
Fly fishing is serious business. Or not. A little pre-seminar festivity with Landon Mayer, Jason Randall, and Chuck Furimsky.
My annual pilgrimage to Wu’s Shanghai Dumpling in Edison. This is THE place for authentic Chinese dumplings and udon. I always make sure I get enough to take home. Not exactly low-cal dining, but oh-so-scrumptious.
My buddies Chris Steinbeck and Pat Dorsey from the Blue Quill Angler. The BQA booth is my safe haven in Edison; I can hang out between gigs, take a load off, and socialize with passers-by. If you’re going fishing in the Denver area, these are the people to see! I managed a little bit of shopping, coming away with four wet fly capes at a bargain price, and another pair of Renomed scissors. You’ll be hearing more about Renomed on this site soon, these scissors are, by far, the best I’ve ever used.

And then on Sunday, the snows came. But the show went on, as it always does. This year, I’m doing the Lancaster show, which is March 14-15. I’ll have a tying station. See you there!

Thank you all for another terrific CFFA Expo!

I still owe you an Edison Show report, but I wanted to take a moment today to say thank you to the CFFA for hosting me on Tyers’ Row, and for the opportunity to speak about the Farmington River. The Expo drew a good crowd, and I had a seemingly constant stream of people at my tying table. On the the things I look forward to most at this show is being able to connect with fellow tyers, vendors, and people in a scaled-down setting. The CFFA show always has a pleasant, chill vibe. I made off with some of Charles McCaughtry’s wonderful fly fishing-themed art greeting cards, some beads, and a small pack of indicators to try for low-water steelhead situations.

The highlight of the day was my standing-room-only presentation on the Farmington River. Thanks so much for coming out to see me, and I hope you buy the book when it comes out in June. Stay tuned to this website for details as they come in!

CFFA Show Saturday, January 31 in South Windsor

Back from a terrific Fly Fishing Show in Edison, NJ, freshly dug out, and now prepping for “the best little fly fishing show around” — the CFFA Fly Fishing Expo & Banquet. It’s all happening this Saturday, January 31, from 9am-3pm at Nomad’s Adventure Quest in South Windsor, CT. This show is wonderful cure for cabin fever — I mean, it’s brutal out there, even by steelheading standards. I’ll be on Tyer’s Row for most of the day, probably focusing on wet flies, and taking a few walking breaks to stretch my legs and see what goodies the vendors have (I seem to always find a hidden gem that I didn’t know I needed). Stick around, because at 1:30pm I’m doing a new talk on the Farmington River. Even if you are a Farmington veteran, I guarantee you’ll learn something new. See you there, and don’t forget to come by and say hello.

Steve Culton Edison show schedule and class space still available!

This is the biggest fly fishing show on the east coast, and I’m ready and rarin’ to go! While my plate isn’t quite as full as Marlborough, I’m still going to be out and about and meeting and greeting and presenting and teaching and…whew. I guess I’m going to be pretty busy. Here’s the rundown. Friday, January 23 at 10:15am: Seminar, Catch Room, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass; 2:00pm: Destination Theater Room C, The Farmington River. Saturday, January 24 at 9:45am: Seminar, Strike Room, Modern Wet Fly Strategies; 12:00pm: Destination Theater Room D, The Farmington River; 2:00-4:30pm: Classes With The Experts: Beyond Cast & Strip – Presentation Flies for Stripers with Steve Culton. Click HERE for more info or to register. Sunday, January 26 at 8:30am-11:00am: Classes With The Experts: Tying & Fishing Wet Flies with Steve Culton. Click HERE for more info or to register; 2:00pm: Destination Theater Room D, The Farmington River. I know snow is forecast for Sunday, but we can get you in and out of that class before it gets bad. The show will go on!

As of this writing, I still have room in both classes. If you’ve never taken a FFS Classes With the Experts, this is a terrific way to spend some quality instructional time with me. It’s always a low student-to-teacher ratio, so you can be sure you’ll receive plenty of individual attention. And it’s fraction of the cost of a guided trip, so bonus, you. You can sign up HERE .

When I’m not speaking, I’m attending other talks and walking the show floor. Please come say hello. I’m expecting another strong turnout from currentseams followers!

Here’s a pdf of my Edison schedule:

A terrific Marlborough Show, and a heartfelt thank you!

I love show season. For me, the front half of January is almost like the buildup to Christmas. And then, suddenly, it’s here. But in the case of the Fly Fishing Show, you have multiple days to enjoy things. It’s rarely, if ever, an emotional letdown. And in the case of this year, it was perfectly excellent.

For starters, I was busy. Like talk here, then race down to there, get a bite to eat and say some hellos, and then setup and be Featured Tier, then zip back up there for a Seminar, and suddenly it’s 5:45pm busy. But it’s an extremely satisfying busy, especially so at this show. For my Friday noon Farmington River talk, I had standing room only, with people spilling out into the hall. Wow! More SRO at my Subsurface Caddis Lifestages tying demo. Then 35-40 people at my 4:30pm Seminar, which is a tough time slot to draw just a couple dozen. Double wow! If you were one of the people who showed up, thank you again. And if you’re one of the people who show up to my talks every year — I know who you are — I’m truly both humbled and grateful for your support.

Yeah. You know that guy. I had two Featured Tier gigs, and I had a blast tying and teaching and talking.

I was so busy, in fact, that I got to spend far less time walking Tyer’s Row and socializing and meeting and greeting and — dare I say it — shopping. But, you make time.

One thing I did get around to was meeting Tom Ames and attending his excellent presentation on modern hatch-matching. Ames’ original Hatch Guide to New England Streams was an invaluable reference material for the Farmington River book. He recently published an undated second edition.
Don’t know where I’d be without my pour-over coffee. Oh, wait, I do — I’d be stuck with dreadful hotel coffee. Lost Shoe also makes beer, and I walked away with a four-pack of their double IPA for enjoyment at a later date. Lost Shoe is about 10 minutes away from the show. How convenient!
The “Most Hysterical Moment of the Show” award goes to the gentleman who, while I was sitting at Joe Cordeiro’s booth (Joe was off doing a class), mistook me for Joe. When Joe’s assistant told him that I wasn’t Joe, the guy says, “Well, you two look exactly alike!” I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. Cue the laugh track!
It was cool to see so many familiar, local faces, among them pal Antoine Bissiuex who was there with The Local Fly Company. I can’t thank Antoine enough for all his help with the book. I think you’re going to really enjoy his contributions, his insights, and experiences.