Opinions of the International Fly Tying Symposium, Somerset NJ

[wayneb]

Hi All;

I went Saturday was a little disappointed and wonder what others thought. Pretty much same tiers tying the same patterns and same lectures as last year. Tying was dominated by Atlantic Salmon flies and realistic flies. A couple new tiers, Bob Clouser & Bob Jr.(biut being from this area I've seen Bob tie quite a few times), A fellow from Spain who brought some Spanish wet patterns with him but was only tying realistic patterns, would love to have seen him tie Spanish Wets. There was a tier from Irland tying Loch patterns that were pretty interesting and Aron Jasper always ties something new, he was weighted nymph pattern with a new type of material that looked like mono with a pearlescent finish.

So, what did others that attended think?

Wayneb

[Normand]

thanks for the report. sounds like a saved putting some mileage on the car.

same old same old sounds exactly like the fly fishing show year after year.

check out some excellent "spanish wet flies" tied by "avelino" here

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=55202

[Cold]

Hi All;
A fellow from Spain who brought some Spanish wet patterns with him but was only tying realistic patterns, would love to have seen him tie Spanish Wets.

Should have asked, man. He was happy to tie me one, seemed glad that I showed the interest.

[teioneon]

My buddies and I went for the weekend and asked several tyers about issues regarding different flies and suggestions. Brad Buzzi stopped the fly he was working on and then showed us from start to finish a crease fly and a gooey fly when we talked w/him about what we were thinking of for a certain situation. And he even made some suggestions for some modifications. Enrico Puglisi did the same thing. I saw Alberto Calzolari help 2 people who wanted to pick his brain about tying full dress salmon flies. We talked with over half of the tyers at some point and found them to be friendly and helpful. And we found some materials that are tough to get in local shops sometimes. I attended one of the seminars and was reminded of a few things I'd forgotten to keep in mind.

Yes it is alot of the same stuff and people as before but it's also what you make of it. This was my second year going there and I plan on going again. These are wonderful people who will share w/you what they know but you have to ask. And having a beverage with some of them after the show is fun also.

My 2 cents worth, sorry you were disappointed.

[Heritage Angler]

Yes it is alot of the same stuff and people as before but it's also what you make of it.

Exactly. I had a blast, as usual. Not too often I get to see so many friends and fishing buddies in one place, at one time. Anything I learn, or any bargains or tying items I find is just a bonus. It's all about the people for me.

[CaseyP]

i agree with the others: if you stop and ask questions, you get focused, interested answers. there is not a more sharing group of people than were in that room. a "show atmosphere" can make you shy about adding to the demands on someone's good nature, but amazingly enough these folks seem to want to hear you and talk with you. "a cat can look at a king', and actually ask a question at that show. hence my preference for it over the January show, which i find too big and too loud.

like you, i thought there was a slim choice amongst the classes. signed up for deer hair spinning with Dick Talleur, but he was ill that morning. got put into Gary Borger's dubbing loops class. not a choice i would have made on a bet, but...turned out to be life changing. now i know how to easily approach big streamers and how to use "too big" hackle for my favorite wet flies. and he taught the group a quick and dirty sub for spinning deer hair!

[Cold]

Very cool, Casey. I didn't attend any of the classes, but easily filled my time both days with walking around, browsing at the vendors and watching the tyers. As I expected, the majority of the show focused on: realistic tying, classic salmon, and non-traditional (saltwater, "new" steelhead, etc). Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you came expecting a heavy focus on, say, trout nymphs, there wasn't much for you. I walked right by most of the 'new material' areas, just because I don't tie those kinds of flies much, if at all. The fish-skulls in particular, as cool as they may look, are something that just doesn't grab me at all, seeming to be a glorified conehead at triple the price. Realistic ties are of no interest to me either. As cool as they look, the genre as a whole just doesn't really grab me.

That left me with the classics, which I eat up. Love every aspect of it. I bounced around from tyer to tyer, quietly watching, grimacing when another observer would lean on the table, and eagerly engaging the tyer in conversation if they wanted to talk. Many tyers didn't talk much, but its fine, I understand that. I become an anti-social grouch sometimes at the vise. Others would stop the tying to chat it up, which was great too, and a few even conversed eagerly while tying. It was really great.

The young man with the spanish CDL flies stopped whatever it was he was doing, brought his vise around to the front of his booth and tied right there beside me, to give me a tyer's-eye-view of what he was doing. Very nice.

Even if you get nothing else from it, anyone in the market for a new professional-level vise had plenty of eye candy to see in action, at all levels of 'pro vise'. Everything from Regals and Renzetti Travellers, up to the Petitjean Rolls-Royce and several LAW vises.

[wayneb]

Hi All;
I think most of my frustration was due to lack of sleep. was up late the night before and had to get up early to attend the show. I did have some good experiences though. Met a few old friends and a couple of new ones. forgot my contact information so couldn't call people I had phone number for such as "Cold" from this site. Overall, I think my experience would have been much better if I had hooked up with some of the people I intended to meet such as Cold & CaseyP.

CaseyP: So, did you feel the tying class was well worth it? I've never taken one at one of these shows before.

Cold: I had a bit of trouble communicating with the young man who displayed the Spanish wets, I was trying to see if he was/would tie a pattern but guess I didn't get my point across well. I did learn a bit about Couq De Leon though, that was fascinatiing.

I'm hoping to attend the Fly fishing show at Somerset this January, if I do, I will definetly stay overnight.

Wayneb

[Cold]

Was it crowded at his booth when you tried? I stopped by on Sunday (when the entire show was far less crowded), and all I did was point to the wets he had on the table and asked, "How do you tie these?" Perhaps if he had a crowd he may not have been able to focus on one question, who knows? I had a nice long chat with him and his booth-mate, about differences between fishing in the NE-US versus fishing in Spain. Really interesting stuff.

[wayneb]

Hi Cold;

Yeah, pretty crowded. I can definetly see I need to attend both days.

Wayne