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3. Spencer's Visit to Somerset NJ Fly Fishing Show 2014

Eventhough I was heard to say, "If I've seen one fly shop I've seen 2 trillion-and-one of them!", I rode along with some friends to the Somerset Fly Fishing Show this past weekend.

I attended a few seminars, met with our good friend Casey, and ate just a bit too much. :) The weather was something else, but as an old Teamster I helped get us home...There were semi's off the road everywhere and one evening we had a white-out after dinner between Bellefonte and Milesburg PA.

It was great to meet with Casey. We shared some refreshment and got to know each other a bit better. She was checking out rods and sent me to a nice seminar on fishing the Yellowstone area. It was given by a Dusty Wissmath and his discussion of the Ruby was really interesting...I have always wanted to fish the Ruby, simply because Ted Turner doesn't want me to...I'm a contrarian...:)

Eric sent me a text that I should look up Thomas Baltz. He has won so many tying contests in PA he retired from them to let others have a chance. Wonderful, wonderful, flies! I had a nice conversation with him, watched him tie, and checked out his flies.

Guys from my club have been attending for years and we look for deals and purchase stuff for our raffles and annual banquet. We went out a couple evenings and had wonderful conversations and dinners.

Check it out.

Spence

It looks like you were lucky to have enough money left over to buy gas for the ride home.

Sounds like an awesome time, Spence! Thanks for sharing.

Man, Spence, how much did you blow out there? That's quite the pile of goodies...looks like a lot of fun!

Jonathon

looks like you guys raffle off some good stuff!

Well...Bruce...Once we made it to the top of those PA mountains...It was all downhill after that...The costly deal was all the windshield solvent we went through...oh...I had to keep the truck on the road.

Jonathon...The first pic below the cheese cake was my stash...I got a screaming deal on the Hardy...A good deal of that other stuff in the other pics is raffle and banquet gifts.

Spence

No one remembers Andy Mill? :)

Which one, the skier, the tarpon angler or Chris Evert's ex? ;)

Very interested in the cheesecake!

So you won most of that in raffles and the rest is banquet gifts? Wow, that's some haul! I never win anything like that in raffles, though I did once win a nice little Outfitters Bonefish Pack that became my first official sling-pack, down in my San Marcos, TX days...

That really looks like a good time. I haven't been to anything like that in some time, used to go to some great professional society conferences back in my grad school days...but they didn't raffle off stuff like that!

Jonathon

P.S. Glad you met Casey too. Always good to meet fellow Troutnuts!

Jonathon...Slow down just a tad and "read" my posts...We purchased that stuff for the raffle we have at the club meetings of the MFFC throughout the year. We didn't win it...We also have an annual banquet in May and there are door prizes...Some of that stuff will be used for that...At our youth school we give some stuff away, at our picnic, our members school, the photo contest at our fly fishing show in March, etc...

At every meeting from September to May, two a month, we have a raffle and there is a rod in that raffle every-time...In 20plus years as a member I've won two rods...The rods come with a reel attached, tube, and sock.

I got a great deal though on that Hardy, even though it was made in Korea and not England. I got two signatures...One from Bob Clouser and Matt Supinski another Michigander.

Spence

So that material is for future local raffles? I thought that was one hell of a lot of stuff for one person, especially the introductory tying books that I know you are decades beyond...now it makes sense, guess I didn't read the post clear enough.

"Guys from my club have been attending for years and we look for deals and purchase stuff for our raffles and annual banquet." Got it!

Jonathon

P.S. Thanks for sharing by the way, it's great to see some fly-fishing & tying stuff in the middle of this brutal cold winter. Got me thinking about pulling out the stuff, plus I need a new brown dry-fly cape...went out skiing today and the river was frozen over!

P.P.S. Did Bob sign his book? I have a copy of that one...

Okay good, I was getting worried there!

Jason,

Were you afraid I was going to try and jam all that stuff into my already over stuffed vest?! :)

I actually bought a sling vest last season and I'm trying to follow an old plan of action Gonzo gave me a couple years back to try and spare the back and enjoy the hiking in the stream more. Us "match-the-hatchers" can get a bit over done...I'm trying to simplify...I just turned 60 in January and need to lighten up.

How's it going up in Alaska? You ever moving back down to the Lower 48?

Spence

What?? Spence bought a sling pack??? How you gonna stuff 20 fly boxes in that thing, huh? Are you gonna feel insecure without your "full arsenal" (BTW, see my recent post on arsenals, or at least firing ranges in February)? Or are you really going to try joining the "minimalist school"? (My membership is most currently updated...)

;oD Just couldn't resist.

Jonathon