Goodbye 2016 NW Expo

I think we had a great show last weekend and thought it appropriate to say “Goodbye 2016 NW Expo” in this week’s post.

This was my second year as Expo Chair and I’ll be handing over the leadership responsibilities to someone else for the 2017 Expo.

As I walked the venue on both days, I lost track of how many people stopped me to express their appreciation for such a well-run Expo. They mentioned the positive vibe in the room and the willingness of so many people to teach fly tying and fly casting.

Yes, they stopped to talk with me, but I’m only continuing the tradition of 27 previous NW Expo events. And I had help from the many volunteers on the Committee as well as those working set-up and the many stations during the Expo.

The Expo wouldn’t happen without the many vendors, many of which return year after year. Click HERE to see a complete list of those attending the Expo.

I believe the most interesting new vendor was Tinsel Trading Co from New York who were selling 100+ year-old tinsel…truly vintage.

It may be hard to believe, but this spool of silver tinsel was selling for $400! I marveled at all the old tinsel, but didn’t end up purchasing any. I need to continue working on my quest to tie Atlantic Salmon flies that would benefit from some vintage tinsel.

My friends Al and Gretchen Beatty manned their BT’s Fly Fishing booth and relayed to me that several of my readers stopped at their booth to purchase the LaFontaine’s Legacy book mentioned in last week’s Throw Back Thursday Flies post. Al was the guest author and presented the Lady Heather Double Wing.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I thought I’d provide a brief story through a few pictures I took during the event.

On Wednesday night, the building is empty as we arrive.

Then through a little volunteer magic, it comes into shape on Thursday morning. Here are the tyer tables ready to see some action.

And the casting pond filling with water. The pond is where casting demonstrations are held as well as an opportunity to “test drive” a new rod from one of the Expo vendors. Amazing to think the visqueen holds only a couple inches of water…that’s all we need.

Here is the casting pond in action.

The 72 table tyer venue is a wonderful way to watch our 200+ very talented fly tyers in action. It sure fills up quickly on Friday morning. Anyone is able to sit down across from a tyer and watch the magic happen. 

You might learn new techniques or a new fly imitation to try the next time on your favorite river or lake.

I was able to find time each day to tie a few of my McPhails Golden Stonefly Nymph Variant. I really like this fly and it has caught a few fish for me. I returned home with only 2 flies as I gave the rest away to those kind enough to stop and watch me tie.

McPhails Golden Stonefly Nymph Variant

Here I am at the vise.

I purchased a few feathers from Dale at Southern Oregon Fly Tying materials for my own Central Oregon Flyfishers Winter Fly Tying classes.

And a Jungle Cock neck for me.

In fact, I need to finish this blog post and pluck a few more feathers for the Clarks Lady Stone my friend Sherry is planning to teach tonight.

CLARKS LADY STONE

Lastly, I was presented with two awards…the Oregon Council IFFF 2016 Federator of the Year and a President’s Pin from Phil Greenlee, President of the IFFF.

Photo by Garren Wood

IFFF President’s Pin

I hope you were able to attend the Expo. If not, there’s always next year.

Enjoy…go fish!