I’m done!
Never again will I dole out anther dollar to the Fly Tying Symposium and lackluster producer Chuck Furmisky.
That’s it bub…you got your last buck from me.
You can add the FTS to the long list of events that have long since served their purpose and exist nowadays only to separate you from your money.
I knew it was over when the first booth I stopped at was sloppy disorganized hackle vendor whose merchandise was so old and manhandled the chickens wouldn’t want the feathers back.
I’ve attended the FTS for more than 10 years…making the trip to NJ faithfully each year in the hopes of seeing/learning some new things…perhaps meeting up with some old friends and picking up a deal or two on supplies.
Now here’s what you get…
Disinterested vendors hawking old - third quality material at full retail prices
No friends to meet as they won’t waster their money anymore
Two maybe three full service vendors all selling the exact same stuff at the exact same prices.
Worn out booths and displays staffed by the most disinterested unfriendly group of mopes I ever seen in one place at one time…
Can fly tying really be so disagreeable?
Even your fly Tyers’s (most of which are excellent and do their best to reach out to guests) are busy hawking their latest book (no discount) or video or tying material.
Featured Tyers’s…tying the same fly year after year…Nice imagination CHUCK!
Must be busy counting money instead of paying attention to detail (that’s a free tip form me CHUCK…Attention to detail is the key to business success)
One booth made famous by the owner’s brand named materials hired a couple kids to man the booth. I felt sorry for the poor kids who didn’t know a hook from a hackle.
Shame on you CHUCK!
All the red jackets and childish sneakers will not make up for lousy worn out repetitive show defined by worn out presentations and underwhelming personalities.
Now that AK and Gerirach and Lefty and others are too old (or smart) to support your show…where are the next generation stars?
After seeing the forum you offer…it’s no wonder they won’t participate
Let me let you in on something…quality brings quality (That’s another tip CHUCK)
Who, of the top line fly tying personalities/vendors, would want their good name associated with this dog.
Where’s the quality control?
Has it ever occurred to you to rquire your presenters to change or at least update their presentations every so often. I’ve seen the same presentations by the same people year after year on your marquee…Shame on you
How about requiring your vendors to bring up to date quality materials
How about asking each to make sure a certain percentage of their materials are offered at “special show prices”…want to increase your gate…try marketing that instead of some tweed clad octangenarian droning on about he still ties flies with 30 year old India hackle…YEESH! (Which, by the way, you can find plenty of at your show…if you can make it through the moth ball fumes)
So when your counting your money up at Seven Springs and laughing about the increased profitability of Lancaster over Sommersett…How about you think about your customers…tighten up the reigns and put some creative energy and attention to detail back into your show
Who knows…people might even come back
Adios CHUCK
So I take it you did not have a good time…
The few (very) that I have attended seemed to all be as you described. Occasionally a new vendor and sometimes a “luminary”,Lefty, once, would appear but for the most part same old same old. Other than the vendors, I could not understand opting for THREE days of them.
BY the way, these were flyfishing shows and not exclusively tying symposiums.
Mark
Just to add some perspective - I saw where this guy made the same post on the PA Fly Fishing forum. The initial couple of replies to his post there were very different from his, and those guys seemed to enjoy it very much.
I won’t be as critical as the OP
but… this was my second fly tying symposium. The first was last year when it was still in Jersey. My opinion…, last years was pretty good. I saw and spoke to more “names” last year, there was more of a selection of “wares” for sale to look thru and the convention center venue seemed bigger to me. This year was way worse.
The lighting was absolutely terrible! Small overhead mood lighting, great ambiance for a romantic ballroom but not for picking out hackle. I was wishing I had brought my streamlight flashlight. I did see one guy using his iPhone flashlight trying to determine the color of something.
Although they advertised this venue as the “perfect size” with “more amenities”, it seemed like there was more aisle room last year and this year there were still guys tying at tables out in the hallway.
Amenities? Granted, the food selection at the Jersey convention center was “mall food” poor but I didn’t see any food vendors at all at the Marriott. Although there was what looked to be free ice water as you entered the “tying room”.
One positive…, I got lucky with some fairly close by on street parking.
If the show stays in Lancaster, this was my last year also. When it was in Jersey it was a bearable 2 hour ride and I would probably continue to attend even if it was a marginal event, but this year it was 4 hours, and if it were not for wanting to stop at Lancaster Archery, I would not have gone at all.
They’re holding the 2018 fly fishing show (January 26,27,28) in Edison, NJ
http://flyfishingshow.com/edison-nj/
wonder why the FTS didn’t hook up with them.
Kmichael, tell us how you REALLY feel :D!
Yes, since this seems to be getting spammed all over the place, here’s the reply I made on PAFF:
I, on the other hand, thought the show excellent. The only disappointment was the fact that Charlie Collins was a no show. I was looking forward to picking up a few hen sets.
Robert Smith’s talk was worth trip in itself. His tying demo was a bonus. (As was getting to talk to tctrout for a few minutes.)
I’m sure Charlie Craven was a big draw for many people; he’s a talented instructor, even though I’m not greatly fond of the types of patterns that he ties.
I only caught the last few minutes of the live “bugs” talk, but it made me wish I had seen the whole thing.
The amount of soft hackle materials seems to get larger each year. I was surprised at the number of vendors that now carry English red grouse, for example.
I came up to stay the night before; I wish I had booked the room for Saturday night instead and stayed for the Sunday show as well.
The only gripes I had were the lack of a printed agenda, and the venue. The actual room isn’t bad, but I wish it were held in some place with parking (and a snack bar.)
As usual, I spent way too much money, but that’s my fault.
2 sides to everything. Curious to know what types of Charlie’s flies you don’t like.
Not so much don’t like, but don’t tie/don’t fish. He was demo’ing a extended body foam hopper, and (IIRC) a caddis emerger. Both were tied with mostly synthetic materials, and were way too fussy to tie for flies that I would fish. I’ve come to prefer natural materials and simple ties. (I’m far more likely to toss a fly that took 2 minutes to tie into a brush pile or under a low hanging limb – you know, where the fish are – than one that takes 15 minutes to tie.
They were nice flies; he presented them well and described his think well. They just overkill to my way of thinking.
Understood - if it takes 20 steps, I don’t want to throw it in a tree.
If the OP is just discovering that the fly fishing shows (TFS & ISE) have been going down hill, he has not been paying attention. Has been an issue for quite some time. There are still plenty of regional tying events, mostly organized around clubs or the FFI (formerly FFF), that are much more worthwhile.
Would have really liked to have attended the Somerset show in its heydays, but those are sadly behind us I suspect.
I was sad they stopped holding the show in College Park, MD (how many years ago was that?), since it was an easy 40 mile drive. It had been going downhill for years, though; besides the tyer’s demonstrations, the only thing I was really interested in was Charlie Collins booth (sorry to hear he wasn’t in attendance this time). I went to the show in Somersert 2 years ago and it was like the last few in MD; a bit long in the tooth, and a 4.5 hr drive instead.
Regards,
Scott
While I did not attend the show in NJ this year, I have done so in the past. I’ve even tied at a couple of the shows. I have found that most of the large shows are so similar every year that it’s like going to see the same movie over and over and expecting the ending to change. I quit going to the shows as I find them to be pretty much a waste of time and money. Just one man’s opinion.Jim Smith
If you are going to travel a long distance to see fly tying, come to Mountain Home Ar the third weekend in March Thur,Fri,Sat…
We hold the Sow Bug Roundup with over 100 fly tiers from all over the world and it only cost $5.00 for all three days.
Any class you attend is free, and only the best vendors are asked to come.
You can also take some time off to fish the famous White And Norfork rivers.
The North Arkansas Fly Fishers hold this every year and over $10,000 of the money raised is given as scholarships to young people majoring in outdoor programs.
Does an individual need an ‘invitation’ to tie at the Sowbug and if so who would you contact? Anyone know?
If I had a ‘Bucket List’, which I don’t, I would have the Sow Bug event right near the top. I hear it is a great event.
Larry —sagefisher—
The availability of red grouse is interesting… I would like to know where it is coming from. It is actually the State Bird of Alaska and very readily available.
I tie a lot of soft hackles with it every year.
They were all either from Cookshill or Veniard’s, both sourced from England.
I didn’t realize that the red grouse is sometimes considered to be a sub-species of the willow ptarmigan. All my supply (and I use it a lot) comes from England.
It is not sometimes considered, it IS a willow ptarmigan… 
We can shoot large numbers here, though they are easiest to get, and most mature on average when they are white. Like blue fox in the Aleutians which do not turn white (even though they were taken from way up north where they do/did turn white) the red grouse do not turn white in Europe. Here they turn white pretty early. I have skinned 60 in a day a number of times…
They are quite edible!