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Today I went to the Fly Fishing Show (Pleasanton, CA) after a two year absence. I was sadden by the dramatic change. What used to be a full day of talking to friends, manufacturers, fly tiers and attending seminars was reduced to a couple of hours. I can't help but wonder if fly fishing is on the decline. What are you folks finding out there? Are your shows in decline?
Beats me, I quit going to them about ten years back. Might do it if there was a big one right here, but...
After five years of a down economy, everything is a bit less than it used to be. Only natural.
Went to the Toronto sportmans show and it was not that terribly exciting. Could be because I don't need anything.:rolleyes: The crowds are not there like they used to be. I think that the big shows will eventually fade away.
I stopped attending the Denver one a few years ago. Not because I had lost interest in the sport, but because the show had become very repetitive and a waste of time and money, IMHO. I don't think you can judge interest in the sport by attendance at the shows.
Similarly, posting counts are way down at all of the fly fishing bulletin boards I visit. Maybe that is because the novelty of having this form of interaction has declined.
I have not noticed any decline in the number of fly fishers I encounter on local waters, which may be the best measurement.
Brad
The spring show here in Atlanta was cancelled this year. It doesn't get much smaller than that. The local internet organization, North Georgia Trout Online (NGTO) is still planning their Spring Fling next month, it's pretty small however but it will be a good d ay to meet some of the guys we swap message with online and pickup a few tips. They have some accomplished anglers do some demos. At good day, if you are in the Atlanta area March 23, drop in at the Buford Trout Hatchery.
We too, JUST got home from the Pleasanton show. The vendors we care about and talked to said they were doing fine there. We did yesterday and today both and would have done tomorrow also, if not for previous committments. We MOSTLY BS around there. We DO do some seminars. Saw 3 of Gary B's and was pleasantly surprised with the amusement inserted into his very informative presentations. We saw Phil Rowley's stillwater presentation and picked up some great stuff there too. Saw Rob A.'s Peacock Bass present and sure want to try that even MORE now. 'course ya can't go by Ken and Jay's corner without a shout howdy for an hour or so. Dang! We were PLENTY busy for two days and thoroughly enjoyed "the show"! .....lee s.
PS-Can't forget Steve Potter and of course those we have forgotten. ;)
lee s,
I'm glad you had a good time. I didn't have a bad time, but found the show was significantly smaller and the crowds substantially reduced since my last visit in Feb '10. I did notice the number of seminars have increased. I guess that's a good thing. Still, I miss the days when it was a bigger and more lively show.
Somerset, NJ was packed last year and this year.
That's reason enough to stay home IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crotalus
John
Go to the Somerset show every year and this was the slowest that I had ever seen it.
There was a bad storm right before the show so some lower particpation could surely be attributed to the weather.
Did seem that most of the vendors had more "sale items" than usual. I have always been curious as to why they
would go through all of the trouble to set up everything there and have 99% of the items marked to full retail.
This year I can remember that there were at least 6-8 vendors that had very good pricing on a lot of stuff.....I know
because I came home with a lot of it.........LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crotalus
I'm looking forward to the Lancaster PA show March 2nd & 3rd. I found some nice bargains last year and learned a few things, too. This will only be the second time for the show in Lancaster. It moved here after Valley Forge became another casino.
Yeah Tyrone,
Guess we did get a bit off-track. The show did seem smaller......from the vendors present to the attendees wandering. I do believe gas and "blustering" economy effect the attendance. Of course diminishing attendance results in corresponding vendor participation. Too bad. It still seems the best place to compare a fistfull of rods, reels, and lines and see what is most comfortable for THAT day. ;-) They did seem to have a greater and more varied seminar presentation......good. Deals......? I don't know. Got enough STUFF already. As long as the vendors are satisfied, we DO like the seemingly lower attendance. When they do get the crowds, we do not enjoy bumping butts with all the old buffaloes. There always seems to be some attractive bait and bobbers present, but at our age and with the GF present, that is merely a quick visual adventure anyway. ;-) We certainly hope the fly show does not go the way of the SF boat show or the ISE show in the bay area.
....lee s.
The economy has something to do with it plus I think the supply side got out ahead of itself. By way of example, pricing on "premium" rods has risen to a very high level (my opinion) at a time when the number of individuals willing to buy them has shrunk. The lull the industry is in is a normal phase of the cycle all industries go through. The demand side will come back when the economy improves. It will improve, won't it?
lee,
SF Sports & Boat Show - now that brings back great memories of my childhood. My dad would take us kids to the show each year when he worked the booth for Raytheon marine division. I spent the better part of the 60s and 70s attending the shows. Those were great times hanging out with my dad and grandfather.
I do hope our Fly Fishing show survives. We are fast loosing our outdoor heritage in the Bay Area.
TIG:
I second that!
Same old thing,nothing new.
Complete waste of money.
The venue should have stayed at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
We in the Southeast are planning a different and fun sort of fly fishing show for our FFF council Conclave... err... Festival in May. Manufacturers can only spend so much money seeing the same customer faces year after year and those faces aren't getting any younger. The guest speakers or stars of these shows, Bless their hearts, have usually been seen several times by people who go to shows so doing that again and again and expecting different results is sort of silly.
A show recipe that worked when we had 3-4% unemployment and a lot of disposable income to spend has to change with the times or you won't get added attendance.
Went to Sacramento ISE for the first time in years. Would not have gone without the free tickets I won. Too expensive to go see too many outfitters selling trips that are too expensive. Saw a few new interesting products, but the usual same-o stuf, mostly. The youth building was great for the kids, though. They caught trout, casted a fly rod with the Fishing in the Schools folks...
Hey Jackster, it great to see you post again! I remember flogging the AuSable with you one night, several years ago, with Mato a little ways downstream. No fish, lotsa mosquitoes. It was great to be there. :) At least the raccoons livened up things for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackster
Ed
I'm with Brad.... and I met Brad the last time I went to a show (and that was a long time ago!)...Quote:
Originally Posted by oldfrat
I don't bother going. Not b/c I know everything about fly fishing, but honestly, am I going to learn that much for the effort of driving to Denver (1 hour away), and all the other overhead? I think there is a lot of BS in the flyfishing industry, and I think the marketing tries to feed the idea that it is complicated and full of secrets.... I think the shows are good like that. If you were new to flyfishing, it might be worthwhile.
I went to PA for the Cabin Fever Show this past weekend. I did notice that it wasn't as well attended as in years past. The guest speaker was Lefty Kreh and we thought it would be very crowded. We had very good seats for Lefty's casting demo bought what we needed, stayed for the bucket raffle and by then the place had cleared out.
So, yes I would say on a decline.
Yes, there seem to be fewer and less varied exhibitors than in the past. It's a vicious circle: a smaller show draws smaller crowds, whch at the margin makes it less worthwhile for a potential exhibitor to go to the trouble and expense of putting together and staffing a booth. I don't know if it's true, but my impression is also that the industry is becoming more of a closed community as it shrinks. A lot of the real industry insiders who wouldn't dare miss the AFFTA trade show can't be bothered to go to the public shows and rub elbows with the customers.
I'm guessing that the incredible amount of info available on the internet has had it's effect on the shows as well.
It is amazing to me that we have no shows in the Chicagoland area. We used to have two.
I enjoyed going to hear some of the presentations and talk to the tiers.
We have our Utah show coming up the end of March. Wasatch Fly Tying Expo. It just gets bigger and better every year. Plus incredible Guests.
I couldn't tell you if the one out here ( which is not a dedicated fly show ) is on the decline or not, I was fishing.
All I know is, the last time I went to it, you couldn't hear the guest speakers or carry on a conversation over the constant duck calls.
Here's a thought...
Let's drop all of the In-shop parking lot fly fairs.
Let's ask the ISE & Fly F. Show to put down their swords and work together towards forming a single quality show.
Get all of the manufacturers, retailers, outfitters, clubs, FFF and Cal Trout & TU to pull together and unite behind a single show that serves all of Northern and Central California.
Position it near a major population base, closely served by a real international airport, offering a wide range of accommodation and transportation options nearby. This should be no big trick for a state with the resources of California.
Pleasanton at its zenith, wasn't a large enough venue to handle all the vendors who wanted to take part in it ( I know this from first hand exhibitor experience ) and now that the shoe is on the other foot. There isn't enough there to lure many of us north and central Californians to travel to it.
It boils down to this, build a show that's worth our time to travel to and more of us will attend for multiple days.
How many of you here, that went to the Pleasanton show, bought the two or three day pass they offered?
When the I.S.E. in San Mateo was at it's high point, late 80's early 90's how many attended it for a second, third or fourth day?
Its not so much the economy as it is the product ( the number of exhibitors and array of interests to explore. ) and it's location. Pleasanton is simply to small a venue and out of the way for many of us.
...and for the out of area exhibitors and guest speakers, it's not like Pleasanton is a quick cab ride across town from OAK, SFO, SMF or SJO.
That's my two, plus two, plus two cents.
Dave
I dunno. I have never been to one. I don't think we have them around here in Murray and Whitfield Counties (N. Ga.). And I almost never see anyone fly fishing, which is strange because there are so many great trout streams, a few even within walking distance of the house. On the rare occasion that I do meet another angler, they are always from somewhere else. I feel pretty isolated, here. As far as I know, I am the only fly fisherman here. I am sort of in the hillbilly capitol of the world, here, and most people are content to just stick a piece of corn, or Power Bait on a hook, and toss it in. It a trout bites, fine. If not, many will put on inline spinners and try to snag them.
I have to go to Chattanooga, Tn. to buy fly tying supplies.
I have tried to promote fly fishing here, but so far, it's been an exercise in futility.