Usually the cold of winter has made me stir crazy and the fly fishing show gave me that last bit of momentum to really gear up for some spring fishing. The last two years however I've felt the show has gone on a decline. On Friday when I attended the show there seemed to be less vendors, fly tiers and authors than ever. Combine that with a small attendance and you have kind of a dull experience. I still tried to make the most of it by finding deals and talking to the tiers that were there. It seemed like everyone was just going through the motions. There wasn't a electricity that I have felt from shows in the past. The casting demos are always fun to watch and there were a few good seminars worth listening too. In the end though I came away feeling like this year was really lacking. There were no new gadgets or flashy names from people you recognize in the fly fishing community. The Fiberglass Manifesto was nowhere to be found and I was really surprised not to see a Vedavoo booth. Can I blame them though? It must take a significant investment to travel to this fly show and I doubt if many come out ahead or even break even. Ever since the show has moved from Raleigh I have felt it's been going downhill. Sorry for the lack of pics but to be honest you can look at my reviews from the past shows I've gone too and this show was not much different. I guess there's always next year.
I found the Denver Show to be about the same as usual as well. But Denver is always large and busy and like you it keeps me functioning until Spring arrives. My suggestion is they need to change it up a bit and switch some of the speakers from out West to the East/South and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI really wish they would do that Howard. It would be great if John G. or April Vokey made an appearance. That would encourage others to come.
DeleteKevin
ReplyDeleteAt least you guys have a fly fishing show to attend, here in Alabama that type show would be foreign to the locals. thanks for sharing
Thanks for stopping by Bill. Honestly you could have seen everything there is to see at this last show in 2hrs. That's excluding the seminars.
DeleteI'm in the same boat as Bill. We have a pretty big Fishing/Ourdoor show, but the fly fishing vendors are almost non existent. It's mostly gear orientated, but I made the most of it, and just talked with a bunch of old friends, and made a few new ones. It's possible the with the venue change you mentioned that the cost of a booth has gone up, which leaves most small companies not being able to spend the money to go.
ReplyDeleteMeeting with people is the best part of the shows. You might be right about booth costs. I'm not sure if it's more expensive or not. I'm not sure how much the speakers, tiers and others are paid when they come out. I'm guessing just their room is paid for.
DeleteHey, Kevin, I wish I could leave a viable comment that meant much here. But, alas, I have not been able to attend the Fly Fishing Show in Denver the past few years. This is mostly due to my restricted budget as a Senior Citizen. The Flu Bug bit me this year about show time, too. In any event, my feelings are that once you have gone to some that were top notch then it is hard to repeat that year after year. Definitely leads to some stagnation for sure.......
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