Winter Whirlwind!

Wow, what a whirlwind it has been since my last blog entry.  Show season is all around and I have been coming and going every weekend for the past month! 

Somerset at a quieter moment

After the Marlborough MA show I headed to New Jersey for the Somerset Fly Fishing Show.  It was my first time there and was thoroughly impressed.  As with the Marlborough MA show I was there with the New Fly Fisher TV show I co-host in support of the episodes we filmed in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Response to our show was overwhelming.  Living in the west you are never sure if people are seeing the show.  I was pleasantly surprised as countless people recognized the show and complimented us on the educational format we follow.  Fellow co-host Bill Spicer and I had one young fan drop by the booth that knew every episode and the featured flies.  He was a delight to talk too as he was so keen about the sort.  It seems people can never get enough learning in the fly fishing diets.  A good thing as it is my web site motto too! 

Bill Spicer and I with a young fan of The New Fly Fisher

Show attendance was up and on Saturday it was difficult to navigate the aisles.  They were completely clogged at times.  In addition to fielding questions about the great fly fishing Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer there were lots of questions regarding stillwaters.  Questions I was only too happy to answer. I saw enough pictures of some of the large brown trout inhabiting some of the local lakes to get me interested.
While at the show I had a chance to catch up with many friends and colleagues in the industry including Simon Gawesworth, Jeff Currier, and Bob Clouser to name a few.  I particularly enjoy catching with Simon.  Like me, Simon is a die-hard Liverpool fan.

After Somerset ended I drove back to Ottawa with the booth arriving back around 1:30am.  We unloaded the vehicle and I was asleep by 3am.  I awoke again at 6am, gassed up the rental car, dropped it off at the airport, checked in and boarded my flight back to Edmonton.  I think I was asleep before they pushed back the plane!

The following weekend I was down in Calgary attending the IF4 Film Festival and the Fly Fishing Events Show in Calgary.  This year I had no on the floor speaking commitments other than two tying demonstrations.  I did put on two workshops, Fly Fishing Alberta’s Stillwaters and Demystifying Bugs.  Both were complete sell outs.  When I wasn’t tying flies or teaching a workshop I divided my time between the Rio, Trout Unlimited Canada and Superfly booths.  Brian was in town and like myself did not have any speaking commitments.  Brian was tying up a storm of sorts in the Superfly booth promoting the Stillwater Solutions line of products he and I developed in partnership with Superfly. 

Simon was there once again and we had some ups and downs over the weekend as Liverpool signed Luis Suarez only to learn a few hours later that Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s premier striker put in a transfer request.  We couldn’t believe it,   ahh the ups and downs of Premier League Soccer during the January transfer window.

Talking to the the Central Alberta Tying Club about big flies

On Saturday February 5th I provided my annual tying clinic to the Central Alberta Tying Club.  This year over 20 students enjoyed tying ‘Big Flies for Big Fish’.

'Big Flies for Big Fish' tying seminar

We spent the day tying nothing but flies intended for fish that like their food large.  Students tied Pike Bunny’s, Articulated Popsicle Leeches, Intruders, tube flies, Shaving Brush poppers, Gurglers and Double Bunny’s.  I don’t think any fly was less than three inches in length!  We are already making plans for next year’s seminar.  At this year we will be exploring the ‘Fun with Foam’.

Cross section of big fly patterns

My whirlwind show, seminar and presentation adventure ended earlier this week when I provided a tying demonstration and evening presentation to the Spokane Fly Fishers.  During the day 20 tyers joined me as I toured them through six of my favourite stillwater patterns.  Thanks to Superfly for providing the materials so everyone had the right stuff on hand.  Later that evening I provided my ‘Tactics for Tough Days’ presentation to what I estimated to be over 90 club members and guests.  This was a fun trip and I enjoyed my visit and I look forward to returning in the not too distant future.  Thanks to Judy, Mike and the rest of the Spokane Fly Fishers.

My next trip is not until early March when I will be speaking at the BC Boat and Sportsman’s Show in Abbotsford.  In the meantime I will be busy catching up on a host of article deadlines.

Keep your calendars open in late March too.  If you are going to be near Boise Idaho why not spend the weekend with Jeff Currier, Pete Erickson and me as we provide a comprehensive weekend seminar on wide array of subjects such as river and stream techniques, stillwater tricks and tactics, warm water fly fishing, salt water, casting tricks to name a few.  If you are interested in attending please drop me an email at flycraft@shaw.ca.  Additional seminar details will be available shortly both through my blog and Facebook pages.  

Please don’t forget to check out my Calendar page on my site too for additional shows and seminars such as my Fortress Lake and Learning with the Pros seminars.  2011 is shaping up to be another crazy educational year.