Tuesday, January 10, 2012

2012 Fly Fishing Show

As the 2012 Fly Fishing show came to a close, all eyes were on the Denver Broncos.  While fly fishing had been the talk of the town the previous 2 days, it was time for Touchdown Timmy to try to lead the Broncos to Victory.  
It is always a great time at these shows and this year was no different.  There is always time to meet new people, catch up with old friends and to answer tons of questions.  I spent this year digging through piles of materials looking for only a few items to tie.  Ask anyone, and they will tell you that I brought way too much stuff.  But, who did they come to when they needed something?  Yup, it was me.  I even traded 64 hooks for 100 hooks to Shea.  The price goes up when you are on the water....or the bench.  I messed around with a new hopper pattern, one that most of you may have seen already.  It is one I would like to share with you guys to see what you think.  I'll get around to that later.  One of my favorite things this year was being able to meet Mark Petijean.  I stood there and watched him work magic with his magic tool and place all that high quality material on a hook.  I was humbled, knowing that when I grow up, I want to be as good as a fly tier as he is.  Not to mention his tools that he has created.  As the show came to an end, I had tied a lot of flies.  I had made some new friends and made some new contacts and scored a few new things.  It was great as usual and as the crowd thinned on Sunday, it was time to hope the Broncos could somehow, just somehow beat the Steelers.  It was a great weekend.  

The beginning of something good.  

A view from my seat.  

Jake Ruthven

Shea Gunkel twisting up something on a 2499 SPBL

One of Shea's boxes and his Splatte Guide Stickas

It's the land of............

Representing!  Howard from the Windknots & Tangled Lines Blog.  

They were buying like it was candy.  

Mark Petijean's booth.......

had some materials......

and flies......

and some great CDC...........

to twist up some patterns like a CDC Caddis

His Magic Tool is simply amazing.  

My favorite. 

#16

You got 'em?  

Foam ant.

Perfect for this summer.

I don't remember who tied this pattern, but I like it.  




Hey, thanks for stopping by and saying hi!  Till next year.
  

17 comments:

  1. Great report Juan and really nice meeting you. I'm excited about hopper season again! Thanks for being so gracious.

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    1. Howard, Great to finally meet you. I look forward to seeing what happens late, this summer.

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  2. Nice pictures of the show. Can't wait until the Pleasanton show.

    Mark

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    1. Shoreman,

      Thanks! I wish that I would have taken more pictures, but the lighting is always so poor, so it is hard to get good shots.

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  3. damn, bummer i missed it. i was in denver the weekend before and headed to monument to get my jeep out of the shop this weekend. great pics juan!

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  4. It was great talking and having breakfast with you. Mark Petijean was amazing. He spun up a simple, but very impressive CDC fly for me. I have some of his tools, but I have not experimented with them yet. Have a great day, Jerry

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    1. Jerry, good to meet up again. Try the tools out, you will be amazed once you figure them out.

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  5. Nice report Juan. When are you comming east to the Somerset show? It would be great to see you there.

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    1. Bill, One of these days, I would love to go back east to a show. But for now, I have to stay local.

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  6. Juan did you get to cast eh new M rod from Scott, I was wondering how it compared to a G/G2?

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    1. Randy, I didn't get to see any new Scott rods. They must have been at the ISE, but not sure. I did cast the 8'5" 5 wt S4. That is a great little stick. I can see one in my hands. Hardy was there and they really have some great rods. I particularly like the 8'4 4wt rods and they are coming out with a 1 piece series of rods. The 8'10" 4 wt. rod is one of the best feeling rods I have ever cast, but it is a 1 piece rod. The reels are great looking as well. As for the M series, I believe that they are built off of the S4/G2 blanks depending on what rod you choose. It is only the cosmetics that make it a bit different.

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  7. Love my 9' 6wt S4. I did cast a 9' 8wt S4S. It could throw the length of the pond with little effort. Not too bad up close as well. I just could not afford a rod right now, but I have been thinking about carp, pike, and wipers. That 8 wt would do the trick. Jerry

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  8. I saw the finished product of that top fly on another blog. It looks pretty sick. Any chance you will share that with us sometime soon????

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    1. Where did you see it? I will do a step by step in the future. I need to finish up a few things first, but I will. Thanks!

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  9. It took me awhile to actually find where I saw it (2 weeks). It was on the CP's blog. He had a close up of it. A step by step would be excellent.

    Thanks Juan!

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  10. Juan, I tied that fly you didn't remember who tied it. That pattern is Greg Garcia's (of Charlies Fly Box) Mini-Hot fly. I was fishing one tied in yellow and had a bird fly down and try to eat the darn thing off the water. Joe Egry

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    Replies
    1. Joe, got it. It didn't know what you were talking about until I saw the photo. I didn't know you were with Solitude.

      Juan

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