Fly Fishing Show West - Pasadena, CA March 1-2, 2008

Today I attended the Fly Fishing Show in Pasadena with my wife.  We sat in on a seminar about nymphing techniques and another on tying midges and small flies, both were lead by Ed Engle.   The public casting demonstration was excellent too.  I don't know who they had chucking the rope, but he was a magician with a fly rod.

The best part of my time there was watching Ed Engle tie his micro-flies.  To watch someone tie a #32 midge pattern is pretty impressive.  I came right home and tried the same pattern on a #20 hook... with lesser results.  Mr. Engle is entertaining and a gentleman.  He allowed me to keep one of the flies he tied in the demonstration - it now resides with my collection of "first" flies.

I spent some money at the show, but like I mentioned, my wife was there so it was a modest amount.  Note to self: leave the wife at home next year.  I purchased two bobbins - besides the vise, the second most important tool in tying - and I will try them both and write up my thoughts.

The first bobbin is the rite bobbin shorty by Merco Products.  It sports an ergonomic design and a drag/tension adjuster.
The second is the Automatic Bobbin by the Norlander Company.  The "automatic" comes in with its spring system that rewinds the thread without manually turning the thread spool.

Stay tuned.