Last weekend, I attended the 2015 NW Fly Tyer & Fly Fishing Expo in Albany, Oregon. I was the Chair for this year’s event, sponsored by the Oregon Council of the International Federation of Fly Fishers.
I was pleased to meet several of you who are frequent readers of RiverKeeper Flies. Thanks for stopping me to introduce yourselves as I walked the venue. It was nice to put a name and face together. And a HUGE thanks for supporting RiverKeeper Flies!
I took an opportunity to pause once each day from my Chair activities and tie a few flies. Maybe you were one of those stopping to talk with me as I tied my RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple or a Ray Charles. If so, I’m happy you did!
If you missed it, here are the two flies I decided to demonstrate:
RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple
The picture above is the tan version. Here is the white one with a red hot spot.
I went to Albany on Wednesday, a few days before the show opened. Here are a couple of pictures during Thursday’s set-up.
Just starting to install pipe and drape for vendor booths. You know, that is a BIG building without anything in it!
72 fly tying tables almost ready for a few creations.
And the morning of the event…waiting for the Expo to open.
Here is a picture my wife took. She must have been a little excited as the picture is somewhat blurry…must have been the excitement of the moment!
Or perhaps there was such a buzz going on, everyone was in hyper mode. 🙂
We honored Frank Moore, the Dean of the North Umpqua, during our Saturday night banquet. He and his wife Jeanne built and operated Steamboat Inn along the banks of the North Umpqua. Frank is a 92-year old WWII veteran. Perhaps you’ve seen a documentary of him returning to Normandy to fish the rivers he saw as a soldier. It was such a pleasure to meet him.
Here he is during a casing demonstration on Saturday. He still has what it takes!
What I like about fly fishing is you can make it be anything you want. And I believe the Expo celebrates that statement. I’m a fly tyer at heart. I really enjoy creating flies to fool picky fish. But I know those who aren’t and love to cast. Good for you. Don’t judge, just enjoy and revel in your own definition of fly fishing.
If you weren’t able to make it to this year’s event, make your plans now. The 2016 version of the NW Fly Tyer & Fly Fishing Expo will be March 11 & 12.
I hope to see you there!
