I always have a good time at the Fly Fishing Show. But looking back at this year’s Edison show, it might have been my favorite — ever. I think it’s because I reconnected with so many old friends, strengthened some newer friendships, and had more first-time meetings. I gave away and traded a bunch of flies. My classes drew well, and I had some impressive crowds for my talks. Oh. I also bought stuff — some I wanted, some I needed, all of it putting a smile on my face. Here’s my show experience in pictures.
I knew Jeff Currier was an exceptional angler. I didn’t know that he’s one of the best — really — on the planet. I’ve been saying hi to and chatting with Jeff and his significant other, Granny, at these shows for a couple years, but at Marlborough I spent more time hanging out, getting to know him, and giving him some wet flies. At Edison, I gave him some smallmouth flies to try, and I bought one of his mugs. You see, in addition to being a world-class angler, Jeff is also a talented artist. The mug isn’t for coffee. I’m going to put it on my fly tying bench and use it as a stash container. (I bought the striped bass mug, not pictured.) I also picked up a new chest pack for guiding on the Farmington, the Umpqua Overlook, and some zingers and a fly box and some spiffy new Dr. Slick nippers that are way too expensive for nippers — but they look so damn good. Reviews on all to come.I also picked up Joe Cordero’s new flatwing book, Colors In The Current. You can get it from his website, and I will be reviewing here in the future. Here’s Joe signing my copy. Speaking of signing, I also finally got Ed Engle to sign my copy of Trout Lessons, and Landon Mayer to sign my copy of The Hunt For Giant Trout. Yes, I’m a total fan boy. Dang! I missed George Daniel.Not a bad lineup to bat leadoff. I had a nearly packed house for my Friday talk, Modern Wet Fly Strategies. The 9:45am slot is the first seminar of the day, and it can be a tough draw. At 9:30am, the room was empty save for me. I needn’t have worried. A trickle became a steady stream, and 15 minutes later I had another strong audience. If you came out to see me, I want to thank you. I’m truly grateful for your attendance and your enthusiasm.Jonny King as featured fly tyer. I always tell people to come say hello on the river or at these shows, and I was delighted by the number of people who did so at Edison. Jonny was one of them, and now I have a new friend. Author John Field, whom I’ve spoken to, but never met, also tracked me down. He said he’d tried to get my attention earlier, but I hadn’t heard his shouts. Rats! I’m hearing impaired, and on a busy show floor, even with my hearing aid, a lot of audio information gets lost. So If I breeze on by, my apologies, and please don’t take it personally. I probably never heard you.Dinner time in Edison means a trip to my favorite Chinese restaurant, Shanghai Dumpling. It doesn’t get much more authentic than this. Tim Flagler turned me on to it a few years back, and I always get and extra order or two to bring home. Besides the dumplings, the spicy pork Udon is the bomb. We all like spending money on shiny new gear, but classes are a much better investment if you want to become a better angler. Thank you so much to the keen students and enthusiastic anglers who took this class and my wet fly class on Saturday. Fish on!All good things must end, so I left the show the way I started it: at the Blue Quill Angler booth. Pat Dorsey and Chris Steinbeck, on the bookends L and R, have become good friends. They let me park my stuff at their booth when I wanted to wander the floor, and I’m grateful for that. I got to know Landon Mayer better at Marlborough and this show — we trade flies like kids trade baseball cards — and he is an exceptional tier and so enthusiastic about fly fishing. I wish I was heading out west some time soon to see my friends and fish, but that will have to wait. So I’ll console myself with a little Colorado dreaming…and chuckle at Pat and Landon Bogarting my wet fly presentation board.
Whew! Three days of intensive fly fishing meet-and-greet, instruction, tying, speaking (plus a little buying) and I’m wiped out. But it’s a good kind of spent, like after a monster Block Island All-Nighter. I’ll try to tell the story of my busy weekend through these photos. Don’t forget, the Edison Show is this weekend! It goes without saying that I’m stoked for that, too.
Friday morning I ate my power fishing breakfast, then loaded up the truck and headed for the show. This was my first gig of the weekend, and it was very well-attended. No time to loll about, as I was the featured fly tier on the main show floor at 1pm. And then a seminar at 4:30, Beyond Cast & Strip: Presentation Flies for Striped Bass. I was appreciative of the good number of people who hung around so late on a Friday to hear the talk, and I think we all had a lot of fun.This is friend Ed Engle being Featured Fly Tier. Ed is a wonderful tier and his books are swell, too — you can find several of them on my shelves, and I reference them often. Ed was demoing small nymphs. Mine was Presentation Flies For Striped Bass. It was my third time being FFT, and it was the largest crowd I’ve tied for yet. I’d like to give a shout out to all my audiences for being so engaging and asking plenty of excellent questions. I also attended talks by Ed, John Shaner, Jason Randall, and Landon Mayer. If you’re not going to demos and seminars and other talks, you’re really missing out on some wonderful opportunities to learn from some of the industry’s best.You should be spending a good amount of time walking the floor and chatting with fly tiers like Lisa Weiner. It’s a great opportunity to learn a new technique, get exposed to fly patterns you might not know about, and just meet some genuinely nice, talented people (like Lisa). No rest for the weary. Here’s a Magic Fly’s (Pale Watery Wingless Variant) -eye view of my Saturday class, Tying and Fishing Wet Flies. Later in the day, I did a Destination Theater talk, Modern Wet Fly Strategies, that drew a near-standing room crowd. If you were there, thanks for coming! I did a second class, Presentation Flies for Striped Bass, on Sunday morning, and finished up with the debut of a new smallmouth presentation, Hot Bronze. And of course, the Fly Fishing Show means vendors. Here’s friend Joe Cordeiro’s Flat-Wing booth. I scored a nice grey saddle from Joe, and a few more high quality bucktails from Brad Buzzi. Everyone I spoke to seemed to agree that this show had a really good energy. After two challenging years, welcome back, Marlborough!
Another year, another Fly Fishing Show — or two — but we’ve already covered Marlborough, and so we shift our focus to last weekend’s festivities in Edison, NJ. I was there Friday only. Since my Wet Flies 101 Seminar was at 4:30, I had the entire day to walk the floor and socialize. Here’s a little photo journal.
The beard is back! Captains Hank and Chris holding court at the Block Island Fishworks booth. This is the place I visit when I want to get pounded unmercifully for wearing a “Celebrity” badge — or to talk BI stripers. Thanks, guys, for lending me a chair to take a load off.
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Here’s an interesting concept: Hank’s sand eel fly umbrella rig. Four flies, but only one hook on the front fly. I think the joints are 100# mono. Hank’s intent is a protein payoff for a larger bass. He says he’s tested it, and reports success!
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Sticking with the saltwater theme, here’s friend Bob Pop showing off one of his Beast Fleyes. There always seems to be a crowd around his tying station, as Bob is generous with his time and smile. We got a chance to discuss one of our shared interests: growing roses.
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The best consistent source for flatwing saddles continues to be the Keough Hackle booth. There are hundreds of saddles to pick through in dozens of colors, so be prepared to invest the better part of an hour if you’re particular (as I am) about your saddles. Nothing for me this year, as I continue my quest for the perfect red grizzly saddle.
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Flatwing tyer extraordinaire Joe Cordeiro discusses the finer points of one of his designs with fellow currentseamser Michael Silfen. Just before this photo was taken, Joe was showing me a lovely lavender saddle he scored from Keough.
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Here’s the latest I have on the Pearsall’s Gossamer Silk replacement: the company is called Morus Silk, and they’re attempting to duplicate the Pearsall’s colors with this new line. The spool appears to be the same small size as the original silk. I picked this sample up from Mike Hogue of Badger Creek Fly Tying. I haven’t used it yet (lots of August Whites in that spool) but I’ll letcha know how she goes.
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Almost last but not least, Wet Flies 101. It’s a little daunting going up against the legendary Joe Humphreys — in the next room, no less — but I had a spirited crowd, and we had a most excellent time talking about wet flies. The post-talk Q&A was one of the best I’ve ever experienced, both from a quality questions and a duration standpoint (we closed the show down!). I’ll talk about some of those questions in a future post.
Another great experience at the Fly Fishing Show. Thanks to everyone who took the time to come see my Seminar, Wet Flies 2.0. By my count it was one of the largest audiences of the day. If you were there, I truly appreciate it. Before my gig I had the chance to walk the show floor.
One of my best sources for flatwing saddles is Bill Keough’s booth. He’s got some higher quality saddles in packages, but if you know what you’re looking for and you have the time, a rummage through his bargain bins can uncover treasure. I managed to escape with three grizzly saddles — coming to a flatwing soon.
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The luck of this guy! Someone gifted Joe Cordeiro two original RLS saddles. Wow. Thanks for the water and the snack, fellow flatwinger.
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Anyone who can rock sandals on a cold January day is my hero. If you haven’t read George’s new nymphing book, you should.
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BobPop was nice to me, showed interest, and offered encouragement when I was a nobody. He’s on the A-list of cool dudes. Here’s a prototype he told me is over 50 years old. I’m glad I’m not the only tying nerd who saves works-in-progress.
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“I swear, it was this big!” I don’t know too many people who love fishing more than me, but Hank Hewitt might be one of them. He certainly loves talking more than me. Great to see the Block Island Fishworks crew (Hank, Eliott, and Chris). If you’re looking for deep domain knowledge of Block, you want a charter with these guys.
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Next up: the CFFA Expo, Saturday, February 2 at Maneely’s in South Windsor. I will be presenting Wet Flies 101, starting at 9:30am. I will also be on tier’s row, but I have a coaching commitment in the afternoon, so I’ll only be there until 12:30pm.
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