Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The International Fly Tying Symposium

There was no shortage of bullshit and laughter this past weekend at the tying symposium, and we participated in the festivities fully and to the greatest extent possible.  Not that we didn't share what little we know about tying flies and fishing them with whomever stopped by our tying table, we just went with the flow and pretended to have a modicum of knowledge about which we were there to defend.  If you didn't know already, fly fishing and fly tying is under attack from the computer generation - why fish or tie flies when you can stare at a screen and play Dirty Birds in your pajamas?     


As you know, I shared a tying table with Doug Freemann, the youngster from PA that shares our passion for all things fly fishing.  The kid delivered, too.  He tied the flies he typically fishes with success and explained to those who stopped to watch the particulars of why he ties them the way he does and the tactics he employs when fishing them.  Here he is demonstrating how he ties his quill nymph to a couple of my friends, Jake and Tom.  It should be noted that Jake was a student in the very first fly tying class I taught back in 1983!  Jake is now an accomplished fly tier and instructor in his own right.                        

 
Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, the tying video guru, stopped by our table and had a lengthy conversation with Doug about his flies and the methods he uses to fish them in competitions.  Both Tim and I had little knowledge of the modern day fly fishing competitions and how they work, etc., until Doug got involved in them.  Having now been immersed in them for the last year or so thanks to Doug, I've dropped my aversion to fly fishing competitions such as those held by members of Trout Legend.  They are less like competitions than they are a bunch of like-minded folks getting together to challenge themselves and each other to improve their skills, learn from each other and have fun  doing what they love. 
     
 
As Sunday wound down and the crowds thinned out, we got serious: Doug decided it was time to imitate yours truly.  "Hey, Uncle Morty, do you think these here flies will catch a twout?"            


The best tee shirt we saw:


And finally, here's another quote from the show:

"Yeah, I fished the Gorge other day, and the water was so low, what it amounted to was me taking my fly rod for walk."

It was a great weekend spent with friends and fellow fly fishers and fly tiers.

See you there next year.

2 comments:

Mr. Q said...

Hey Doug...If you want to imitate The Grobert......you need to cut that mop on your head...Happy Thanksgiving....

micah said...

Thanks for putting up with your neighbors!