It was great to see everyone at the Marlborough Fly Fishing Show this weekend. I ran into some old friends, made some new ones, and met a bunch of fans of the site.
This year, the show felt a bit different — namely, I think, because there were a number of new booths, and new faces. It was great to meet Harry Desmond, behind Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing (check out his new website here), to see the bamboo rods offered by T&T (which I don’t remember being there last year), to meet the folks at Colter, and to meet the guys behind Postfly Box. It was also really good to see so many New England-based companies, as well: the guys Cheeky Reels are great guys, Ryan at Finn Utility is putting out a high-quality product, and the Harrison Brothers were, as usual, drawing a crowd (book 2017 while you can, these guys are popular!).
My favorite part of the show is always the fly tiers. After weeks of searching YouTube for new tying videos, I love the ability to talk with and get inspiration from tyers from around the world. You never know where the spark will come from. This year, I found it in Siugurdur Hedinn, an Icelandic tyer, who was tying Atlantic salmon tube flies.
The weekend started with the International Fly Fishing Film Festival — always a fun event, despite some technical difficulties this year. From the evening, two stood out to me: Hooke’s film about fly fishing in Ungava, which was remarkable for its heli-scenes, and “In Search of a Grande” by Angler’s Eye Media, which, in addition to being beautifully shot, was driven by a compelling narrative, not just by a series of staged fish-porn shots. (Trailers below.)
See below for some photos from the day, ad for some trailers from the film fest. Hope to see you all again next year!
Scott from the Bear’s Den, in a booth that was packed seemingly the entire weekend.
Some rods from the Thomas & Thomas booth — alongside Seele and Tenkara, the best looking booths at the show.
Good to see Vedavoo promoting the anti-Pebble mine fight.
Overheard: “No, there’s no reel on this rod.”
A close-up of some of the bamboo rods at the T&T booth.
I can’t get over the aesthetic appeal of these smokey-white fiberglass rods. They’re just beautiful.
Some Scandi-tied Atlantic salmon flies.
Rich Murphy’s specialty.
Rich Murphy talking with a fan.
Ben Senning from Presenting the Fly tying a hideous, but allegedly very effective, fly.
Brian from Postfly Box chatting with a customer.
One guest who needed no introduction.
Some nicely tied nymphs from a first-time West Coast celebrity tyer.
Another nymph from the same.
The talented Mike Rice from Mud Dog Flies.
Michael Mauri giving his casting demonstration.
One of the Harrison Brothers. These guys have a reason to smile: business is good for them. Real good.
Ryan from Finn Utility, doing what he does best: working with his hands.
A sighting of the elusive Dave Skok.
The guys behind Cheeky — they too have good reason to smile. They’re everywhere you look these days.
The new line from Beulah — I’m a big fan of their product. Check it out.
Some masterful bamboo work by Rolf Baginski — on his last trip to these shows.
Armand Courchaine.
Michael Mauri getting ready for his presentation.
Two trailers from the film festival:
That fly is extremely hideous, but has yet to prove its worth!
I was hoping you killed ’em with it! No luck?
Very few fish in the Y pool. We did get four to five takes using it on Friday afternoon but the water temp was about 34 degrees. The fish were incredibly lethargic and were just munching on the end of the fiber and the pointy end! Sunday it was raining, which makes sight fishing a fly difficult to say the least.
Great to see you at the show, Ben! Very nice review and pics. I was just starting to put together my thoughts in a blog post although my iPhone photos are no comparison to yours ;-).