Impressions of the International Fly tying Symposiumch

[Moshup 0]

After many years of wanting to go and never quite getting there this weekend I was lucky enough to have time to travel down to the show in Sommerset. Spent an overnight there at the hotel and had a great time attending. I had a list of tyers I wanted to talk to and compliment on the works that I had seen of theirs on the internet. On Saturday I ran into Jay Smith the creator of the J Vise and he invited me to come behind the bench and tie a few flies on a beautiful anodized teal green J Vise !!!. Love at first sight but what do I tell the Missus ?

Collins hackle had a stall and I got a chance to talk to Charlie about his hackles and he had more than enough time to show me how they are graded. One of the great things was that he had some quality dry capes in unusual colors for only 15.00. They were a tad bit smaller than the other genetic capes that are available and the feather count was lower but if you wanted that unusual killer color and you know that you are not going to tie up hundreds of flies with that particular color these necks will more than fill the bill. I am very excited and happy to get home and explore these colors on the vice. Nice guy and you will get more than your monies worth but as always it's great to be there to pick your one.

Sunday morning I had a tying class with Marc Pettijean and I found myself in class with only three other tyers. Had great hands on instruction from Marc on the use of his tools and the tying of CDC and other materials. I could see sitting there that I would be spending many winter hours at the vise exploring the possibilities of now putting materials on the hook with a lot less bulk. Great stuff.

Also sat in on a seminar of John Shaner's with the subject matter being spiders and soft hackles and the seminar was very informative and I had my share of questions for him. Outside in the hall they had the featured tyer set up and I sat down and watched Charlie Craven tie a few flies and the camera work along with a large LCD screen made it easy to follow along. Again all great stuff. Worth the 12.00 admission.

Found some other nice deals on some hackle and skins and this trip help me replenish my much diminished material stash. Three years ago I figured I wouldn't be spending too much time on sweet waters anymore and I shipped off a lot of my accumulated materials to my three nephews in Colorado. Including all my necks and saddles !!! Ahhhhh !

Lastly and the one sad part of the trip was that the show was lightly attended which was good for me but not so much for the tyers and vendors that had come from so far away. The Internet is once again having an influence on attendance I believe and it was a common remark heard at the show. With low foot traffic more and more tyers and sellers of materials will no longer find it viable to come to the show. Too bad because people will miss out on the wonderful people and culture that has develop around our craft. That's about it and sorry for the long post.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Excellent post! I had always wanted to go there & check out that show, but never did. Unfortunately another possible reason for the lower attendance is the time of year. I'm sure part of the thought is folks would want to attend & buy for part of their holiday shopping, but with online shopping these days it doesn't work that way. That show would probably do better after the holidays, in Jan. or Feb. as long as it's not on the same week end as another show.

 

I used to do some small shows when I was tying commercially, and always did better with shows in Jan. or Feb.

[Flat Rock native 0]

mogup, thanks for an excellent report

[Philly 0]

I was at the show on Sunday. I spent most of the day tying at my club's booth(South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers). Did get to walk around when the show first opened. Picked up a couple of fluorescent yellow buck tails and some packs of Senyo Laser dubbing. Got a chance to talk to a few of the tyers. Sunday was slow. Not sure how much impact the weather had but a few of the cars in the parking lot had a couple of inches of snow on them and the wind on the Jersey turnpike made the ride up from Philly less than relaxing. Still it was a good day to talk with folks and learn a few tricks. Hopefully the January show will be better attended.

[jimk4 0]

I don't post much, but I couldn't let this one pass since I just came back from spending the weekend at The Symposium.

 

I want it to be clear up front that I'm just an old guy who ties flies occasionally, and enjoys being out on the water, whether fly fishing or not. I have attended almost all of The Symposiums, and many of the Fly Fishing Shows at three different locations in the East for the past eight(?) years. I have absolutely no connection whatsoever to any of the shows, or the people who run them. The comments expressed here are my own personal reflections.

 

This Symposium has been run at this time of the year for a long time, and it always attracted good crowds of people anxious to meet the World's Best Fly Tyers, and to learn from these generous people how to improve their own tying skills. These people believe strongly in the value of The Symposium, and go out of their way to make the weekend before Thanksgiving work in their busy schedules.

 

It would be pretty hard to change the dates for The Symposium to after the Holidays because the same family that sponsors this show also sponsor a series of other regional shows called The Fly Fishing Show in various locations in the country during the early months of the year. These Shows are aimed at all aspects of fly fishing - tying, fishing, materials, guides, professional camps, etc.. There are many tables with tiers, materials vendors, and others, as well as many demonstrations and seminars. Again, attendance in the past has generally been very good at most locations.

 

The attendance at The Symposium this weekend (as well as at an annual show in Danbury CT usually held a weekend or two before this) was, in my opinion, horrible, and could very well influence the likelihood of these programs continuing. Most of the tyers and vendors at the tables don't go to these shows to make money; their main goal is just to share information, and support a sport/hobby that has brought them countless hours of satisfaction. They would, however, like to at least cover the expenses that they incur for travel, room, and food. Poor attendance means inadequate cash flow for everyone involved in the shows, and that will absolutely lead to the demise of the shows.

 

When attendance is as low as this year's, it leaves nearly everyone scratching their heads, and hypothesizing as to what caused it. Several factors are quite apparent. Fly tying and fishing were much more popular in prior generations than they appear to be with the most recent generations, who seem little concerned with doing anything outdoors if it interferes with their time spent plugged into various electronic equipment. When the older generations of tyers and fishers shrink through death, and their ranks are not replenished from the newer generations, the number of devotees is going to diminish. Many of us see this happening in our own families. When the older devotees die, their families often end up selling all their fishing equipment and tying supplies because no one in the family wants them.

 

Participating in our sport is becoming more expensive. Sure, there have been amazing improvements in the quality of our tackle compared to that of our Fathers and Grandfathers, but those improvements have brought huge price increases. And unlike earlier generations, today we are deluged with advertising convincing us that we need more and better equipment, and more exotic locations, to be considered successful. As a result, our sport has been pushed beyond the financial ability of many people to participate in it.

 

I can go on, but you get the picture. Attendance at shows is down because interest in the sport is down. That's the reality of the situation. And I am not aware of anyone who has the magic solution to this problem. But I do know that when "We've always done it that way." doesn't produce the results we want, it's time to change the way we do it. By that I mean that the people who sponsor and produce these shows need to examine new and better ways of designing the content, and then communicating that content in more contemporary ways. Just continuously following the prior ways may have been easy money for years, but it just doesn't cut it any more. That in turn leads to another critical question - are the current sponsors and producers up to the challenge?

[Striperknight 0]

I was there all Saturday. I could not believe how empty it was. Lack of vendors has hurt this show. It lost 2 aisles from last year. Show promoter has to lower the booth rates and make it worthwhile for shops to bring their wares. I learned some new tricks and found some deals.

[Moshup 0]

So jimK4 what did you like or not like about the show this weekend ?

[jimk4 0]

So jimK4 what did you like or not like about the show this weekend ?

Hi Mogup.

From a purely selfish perspective, this was a great show because, as you noted, the sparse attendance left the pro tyers with lots of time to talk with you, and demonstrate their tying points. It also left the tyers with lots of time to visit with their fellow tyers; for many of them, this is their only chance all year to see their friends and colleagues.

 

Traditionally this show has not had nearly as many materials and other vendors as the "January Show" at the same location because The Symposium's focus is on the tying itself. Most of the important materials vendors that I usually see at The Symposium were there this weekend and, possivly prompted by the low attendance, there were some good deals to be had.

 

The seminars and tying demonstrations were lightly attended as a result of the low show attendance, so it was easier to see, and there was more time for someone to ask questions. And there were practically no lines at the Authors' Booth to get books signed.

 

We stayed at the DoubleTree, and we thought the renovated bar/restaurant was very nice, and the menu was much improved over what had been offered previously. The morning buffet continued to be well done.

 

And I am compelled to note that there was a tall, thin African American woman at the DoubleTree Front Desk who absolutely stunning, as well as knowledgeable and efficient. I'd come back in January to just sit in the Lobby watching her all day! There wasn't a single tyer who was anywhere near as attractive!

 

The only thing I did not like was the paltry attendance because it could lead to the demise of The Symposium, and it cast a somewhat black cloud over the two days. It was very disheartening for the tyers and vendors.

[Moshup 0]

Thanks Flat Rock Native and Tidewater fly. Hope you guys get a chance to go.

 

JimK4 I know of what you speak and she was indeed a good looking girl !

[josephcsylvia 0]

Excellent reading in this thread, not to go off topic but just wanted to touch on jimk4's comment about the sport dying off with the elders.

 

Im 31 and strictly fly fish, something ive noticed is that people today, especially younger people are fly fishing, just not as much for trout.

 

In Florida for example there are huge facebook groups of saltwater or bass fly fisherman yet for some reason we really only have one or two shows for the whole state??

[redietz 0]

I'm writing as someone who usually goes, but chose not to attend this year. I generally like the show better than the January one, because it's a bit less frantic. My non-attendance this time had nothing to do with the internet.

 

I thought the offerings were pretty slim compared to previous years. The "International" aspect seemed to be missing; there was no theme country this time. None of the featured tyers excited me all that much. (Not knocking Charlie Craven, but I lean to more historical flies.) None of the lectures seemed all that interesting, either. (John Shaner's is, but I've seen it a half a dozen times now.)

 

There was simply nothing to induce me to drive four hours each way. I'm probably not the only one who felt that way.

[Striperknight 0]

I did find some deals on tying supplies. The guys who were selling all the Down-n-Trouts old stuff were willing to deal to move that stuff.

[Moshup 0]

Excellent reading in this thread, not to go off topic but just wanted to touch on jimk4's comment about the sport dying off with the elders.

Im 31 and strictly fly fish, something ive noticed is that people today, especially younger people are fly fishing, just not as much for trout.

In Florida for example there are huge facebook groups of saltwater or bass fly fisherman yet for some reason we really only have one or two shows for the whole state??

Forgot to mention that Pat Cohen had a booth at the show and it was great to talk to him and see him tie some of those amazing hair

bugs. He had some stacked imitation panfish flies that were amazing. Yes I agree that the younger generation are branching out into the warm species and that's a good thing. They just got to come to the shows. When I was in my twenties I would have died and gone to heaven if I had this show and the larger Flyfishing show in January available to me.

[josephcsylvia 0]

Thats just my point, they are still having these shows in areas that are largely dedicated to trout fisherman, I would attend every show within driving distance. We just had our local show the begging of the month and it was a huge turnout. I think they need to try locations they wouldn't normally have a show. Like Tampa for example, that would be a huge show. And I know there are tons of musky fly guys just going based on the facebook groups.

Advertising has alot to do with the shows too. You have to let new people know about it.

 

Man I would have liked to sit down with Pat or Charlie!

[Striperknight 0]

I talked with Pat Cohen about his Hellgrimite patterns and bought some of the bodies he had for sale.