2008 Federation of Fly Fishermen Northwest Fly Tying Expo

There are two fly tying events in the Pacific Northwest that the professional and regionally famous fly tyers love to participate in and the fly tying public can't wait to attend. One of them is this Expo held in Albany, OR at the Linn County Fairgrounds the second weekend in March. Great venue, low cost to attend, and a great opportunity to learn tips and techniques from some of the most innovative tyers in the U.S. as well as from excellent tyers just tying 'fishin' flies". The other event is the Bamboo Rod Fair in Sisters, OR in July, which I will write about in another post. Every fly tyer learns something from the Expo. Attendees should bring a camera, notebok and pencil, and a container to put flies in. The approximately 150 tyers demonstrating their skills are there to answer your questions, show you cutting edge techniques, and in most cases, hand out the flies they tie for you. Pick a fly genre and you will find numerous tyers demonstrating how they tie them. There seems to be more Atlantic Salmon fly tyers every year. Those flies are absolutey gorgeous. It takes years to become an expert, but simple patterns are out there. If given enough time and enough money to buy the exotic materials any experienced tyer can tie one, although there are also special techniques for processing and tieing with these materials that will require you to find further instruction. For those of us that are considered featured tyers the Expo is a chance to renew friendships, shake a hand or two, and exchange hugs (there are some very good lady tyers as well). I got to see most of my fly tying buddies this year. Henry Hoffman (one of the nicest people on the planet), Jim and Donna Teeny tieing the famous Teeny Nymph, Mike Marchando, Joe "bead man" Warren, Don Abing (and his ever-present chihuahua), Steve Brocco, Kieth Burkhart, Lee Clark (Clark's Stonefly), Hal Gordon (atlantic salmon flies), Skip Hosfield, Alec Jackson, Gene Kaczmarek, Harry Lemire, Jackson Leong (realistic flies.....his butterflies have been known to fly away and actually mate), Ronn Lucas, Dave and Katie McNeese, John Shewey, Preston Singletary, Curt Stutzman (tied flies for my shop back in 1977...he is very very old), Gene Stutzman, Marc Williamson (another one of the nice guys....a role model whether he likes it or not), and Rich Youngers.
After the expo is over there is a banquet and live auction. There are always beautiful fly plates, rods and reels, guided trips, and best of all, a membership to the Oregon Fishing Club. At the banquet, at a table of their own, were the Stonefly Maidens, an all female fly fishing club that supports breast cancer survivors and raises money to teach women to fly fish. It seems to be rather easy for them to get fantastic items to raffle off as fundraisers. It never hurts to have a bunch of pretty women as friends, and I am really priveledged to know them. They are pretty good fisherpeople as well. I have the opportunity to spend a few hours on the Metolious River with them. I was invited t sit at their table for the banquet and auction, and we were the loudest table in the room. Good people, lots of laughs.....even if my masculinity was challenged by the aucitoneer for sitting with "the girls"....over the microphone, I might add! A very nice Friday and Saturday, looking forward with great anticipation to next year. All in all, a great tying show. Don't miss it next year.