Wow, that was fun.

I went to the FFF�s Gulf Coast Council�s Fly Fishing Expo in New Braunsfels with my daughter this weekend. This was the first time that I�ve been able to attend one of the Federation�s Expo/Conclave/Festival (whatever you want to call them) events. I�ll definitely go to another one. I visited with folks I hadn�t seen in a while and I met a lot of new folks too.

The closest similar event that I have to compare it to is �Fly Fish Texas�. I think FFT has had larger attendance numbers, but that event has been going longer and it better known in this area. But in terms of classes, workshops, vendors, and quality and numbers of instructors, the Expo was way beyond what we�ve been able to do at FFT. The Expo was a two day event and that extra day provides more time for more events. One thing I like about FFT is the number of kids that attend and I thought the Expo had fewer kids until the Youth FF�ing class started Saturday afternoon. There were kids everywhere, so I think it is a toss up on which event attracted more kids. The facilities in New Braunsfels were very nice. The casting fields were at a nice park that had a lot of open grass for classes and was on the banks of the Guadalupe River. There were four casting areas setup and there was room for more. The convention center was very nice and the empty banquet room was available for test casting fly rods (have you ever gotten to cast on a parquet floor before?). The weather was nice outside, but it was still fun to be able to cast inside.

We were only able to attend Saturday�s event and we were teaching in the afternoon, so we didn�t get to spend enough time with the fly tiers, the vendors, or attending classes, but we did spend some time there. The TFO Fly Rods crew was there with all of their demo rods. I cast their new Clouser and Chronicles series 8 wt rods back in January and I liked the Clouser rod, but Taylor cast them Saturday and she fell in love with the 8 wt Chronicles rod. We cast the same rods and each of us picked a different favorite rod. That just goes back to the best rod picking advice that I give anyone, is to cast the rods yourself and select the one you like best. There were several other rod companies there including Sage, Echo, and a couple that I am not familiar with, but I didn�t have time to cast any of their rods.

I think they were called �Golden Rule Fly Shop� or something like that, but these folks had more fly tying materials than I have ever seen before in one place. The tables were covered and there were more boxes on the floor. They had colors and sizes of material that I didn�t even know existed. This turned out to be an expensive booth to visit, but I was finally able to get some goose feathers that I�ve looking for and I was able to get them in some colors I hadn�t seen before. I found some mini size ultra chenille which will be perfect for cap spiders and is something that I didn�t know existed in that small of a size. I got some other stuff too and could have easily gotten more.

There were a couple of booths showing off kayaks. There was a company out of Austin that had some extremely stable kayak designs. They were demo�ing in the river part of the day. They were easy to stand up and cast from. The 10 footer was only 55 pounds so they are fairly light weight. I never heard the price, but they were just one of the cool toys that was on display.

Speaking of TFO rods, someone bought one of those limited edition fiberglass rods that were made several years ago in the silent auction for $105. Those rods originally sold for more than that price and this rod was still new in the plastic bag. There were some good deals going on in the auctions.

As far as casting instruction, I�ve never seen that many casting instructors in one place. There were at least two members of the Board of Governors there. The BOG are the folks that are responsible for the FFF instructor certification program and all of the BOG members are some of the best fly casters in the world. There were several Master casting instructors and a whole slew of other casting instructors available at the event. There were various skill level casting classes being held all day Friday and Saturday. This was a good place to be to get help with your casting.

If they bring this event back to Texas next year, I strongly encourage you to attend. There was more going on this past weekend than you can get to and a whole lot more that I�ve listed here. The event is open to the public and you do not have to be an FFF member to attend.

Have fun,
Rex

KUDOS to all the folks that put on this first class event! They all put in a tremenous amount of work that paid off with an event that was a huge success!!

Great tyers, 51 marvelous programs, great speakers (Chico and the Wilsons all did a marvelous job!), excellent casting instruction, wonderful facilities, good people, 20+ excellent vendors, lots of fun silent auctions & card raffles, and the banquet & auction was a whole lot of fun with items that were really nice!

Actually, there was an excellent kids program on Saturday that had over 20 kids, who all had a marvelous time!

The one great disappointment to the EXPO organizers was that even though the Boy Scouts in the two large local BSA Councils were invited to attend, with free admission for that boy and one adult, very few were in attendance. Next year, there will be a more focused outreach to those young men.

While the casting area was a few minutes drvie away, when the particpants were asked about the location, the organizers were repeatedly told, "It was great! Not a problem. Don't change it!"

The Gulf Coast Council EXPO organizers have already met and will coninue to meet to discuss and "tweek" next year's event in the "Heart of Texas", so that it will be even better!

By the way, the money's raised will be put into education and conservation projects and will flow back to the Federation of Fly Fisher Clubs across south and central Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and western Florida.

If you didn't make it, then be sure to plan on attending next year, because the hundreds of fly fishers who did make to EXPO, all had a great time!!

See ya' at EXPO next year!

Tightlines,

Bowfin47

Great report, I was going to try and get down there for a bit, then I got the flu.

well, i've been to an fff conclave or six. and i've been to fly fishing/tying festivals all over tarnation. and i will say without reservation:

1. i had a better time at the 2010 fff gulf coast expo than i have at any other single fly fishing/tying event.

2. it was hands-down the best put together fff regional or national event i've ever attended. and if i had to choose one thing that was the single "standout" factor, i'd have to pick the line-up of workshops, classes, and seminars. it was by far the best i've seen anywhere. very impressive!

the highlight of my fly fishing year...so far.

Rex,

Was the link below the folks you dealt with who had the tying materials?

http://www.goldenruleflyshop.com/

From their site:
"Orders under $25 - $2 shipping in US.
Orders over $25 - FREE shipping in US."

I'm always a sucker for cheap or free shipping.

Yes, that is them.

Those shipping rates do look good.

Rex

Golden Rule Fly Shop attends every FFF conclave/expo I've ever been to, the Sowbug up in Mountain Home, Smallmouth Rendezvous in Tallequah, and I don't know what all else. The owner is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He knows his merchandise. Military get a discount off of his already clearance type prices. He carries a massive inventory and selection. And he has a business model that works in the modern fly tying marketplace. He goes to fly tiers where they are with his merchandise and sells on-line between meetings. He may very well be THE example for the future of fly tying retail. I guarantee you he is very successful. He is always very busy, popular, and runs out of several items within hours of a show opening. But he'll have it restocked by the next one.

excellent report Rex; wish I had attended-p-

Pearow: You can get to be friends with a lot of those folks at the next Rendezvous at North Toledo Bend State Park and Al Wilkie and his wife always have the dutch oven going there as well.

Big Dale

Dale,

You were missed!!!!!

Kyle

Kyle: You know I would rather have been there, but the ambulance each way would have been pretty expensive. I will look forward to the next time we see each other.

Big Dale

The conclave was every bit as good as reported. I picked up a few hooks from Golden Rule that I have been hard pressed to find elsewhere. As one of the tiers I had a wonderful time talking with the other tiers and attendees. I got to cast an 11'8" Echo two handed 4 wt rod, yes an 11'8" 4wt. Talk about throwing a HUGE amount of line and laying it down like a feather.

The only negative thing I have heard was that the grass at the park was a bit long and there were a few issues with leader snagging. The setting was wonderful and the Comal River going through the park was a big plus.

It does look like we may be going back here next year. Brooks and I will be going to negotiate with the convention center and hotels sometime in the next month or so, if every thing goes well the plans for next year will be set soon thereafter.