A Diva’s Perspective
Happy New
Years fellow anglers and anglerettes.
The show season is upon us.
On the East Coast, the two best “everything fly
fishing” shows are the Marlboro Show in
Marlboro, MA. and the Somerset Show, in
Somerset, NJ.
These shows not only draw fly fishing
celebrities, authors and tiers from all over the
world, they also offers the public a chance to
try out the latest in equipment, buy their
supplies, for tying and fishing season, not to
mention looking at destination trips, and seeing
old friends. A great opportunity to sign up with
the FFF, TU, local fishing clubs, tying classes,
conservation efforts. It’s a great time to sign
up to donate time, or make a monetary donation
to special groups such as Casting for Recovery
and Healing Waters.
The best part of all is it’s a great place to
bring the family. The future is in the hands of
youth (God, I wish I were young and know what I
know now).
Have any of you ever stopped to think what it
costs vendors, authors, celebrities, and tiers,
who come from every point on the map to work
these shows?
The cost of travel, hotels, shipping product,
and taking time away from family and in some
cases other work. Let’s not forget a year’s
time, money, people, and patience, for Chuck
Furimsky to put these shows together. (Chuck,
son Ben, and their crew have many shows out West
and every show needs the same time, money,
people, etc., to get those shows up and running.
Here’s my point, (wondering where I’m going with
this?)
These shows are here for all of us. Well, aren’t
they?
As you know, it’s hard to make a living as it
is, but being in the fly fishing industry has
always been about our passion and sharing it.
Yes, people in the shows, want to make money,
and they should make money. For some who do
these shows, it is their lively hood. Some do
well, some break even, and some unfortunately
don’t.
Here’s my observation on why this might be;
When speaking to friends, club members, etc.,
you might ask if they’re going to this show or
that show, or was the show any good? How many of
you hear, or say to others, “oh the show was the
same old thing, same people” “It looks like it’s
getting smaller” (BTW, they’re not) “there’s no
Manufactures anymore” (That’s not true) “I’m not
going” “there’s nothing there, that I need”
YADA, YADA, YADA.
If there’s complaining when mom & pop shops
close, it’s because they were not receiving the
support from the clientele, to stay alive. The
ones that whine the loudest, hardly ever spent a
dime, while they hung out at the shops. Maybe
dropping $5, (that’ll keep the lights on) stand
around talking, complain about everything, all
while the owner is trying to concentrate and get
some work done.
If the shows are not attended, the shows will
close.
Listen carefully; I’m not saying the Marlboro
and Somerset shows are closing!!!
What I’m saying to the whiners is; “Shut the F_
_ _ Up”.
Keep your negative opinions to yourselves. And
besides; you could be wrong.
People go to shows for different reasons. Cabin
fever, stock up on supplies, go to
seminars/programs, book a trip, and meet a
celebrity. How am I doing so far? Here’s a great
reason to go to the shows, why not support the
people that are there for YOU.
If you, or anyone, make a decision based on
someone else’s opinion, you and or they are
nothing more then cattle.
If someone asks me how the show is going, I tell
them to go to the show and find out for
themselves.
Personally, I think the shows are great. They
get me pumped, it gets the public pumped.
I look forward to seeing clients, answering
questions, helping someone to correct their
cast, work on knots etc. I LOVE THESE SHOWS!
I bet there are some of you that don’t remember
what it was like, to go to your first “all fly
fishing show”.
I was taken to the Marlboro show, and I
remember, like it was yesterday. I walked in and
it was so exciting. There was so much great
energy. Everyone was smiling. I remember there
was someone giving a casting demo. I learned how
to fly fishing using a Sage 9ft 5wt LL fly rod.
Sage is my favorite rod and I got to meet Brad
Gage, the rep for Sage. I couldn’t believe it,
my idol, Cathy Beck, was also in the Sage booth.
She was very approachable, and really nice to
me. I got to cast the newest in Sage rods. I
cast some other brands to see the difference.
There’s nothing like a Sage. I brought the flies
I tied and asked some professional tiers what
they thought of them. There was so much
encouragement. I bounded around like a kid,
grinning like Timmy on South Park (“timma”“
timma”).
I had no idea at the time there would be so much
to the sport. The rest is history.
This show season, don’t be a slug on the couch.
Go to the shows, support your joy, bring someone
new to the sport, bring a young person, educate
them on conservation, take them to tie their
first fly or watch the gifted doing it. BRING
YOUR FAMILY! Maybe someone’s car isn’t working
or can’t drive. I bet they’d give their left
you-know-what to be invited, carpool and save on
gas so you can spend something on tying
supplies,(you can never have enough tying
material) check out the new equipment, the
latest in apparel, supplies, a new vest. Sales
abound at the shows. Take advantage, and if you
don’t need anything, still go. Everyone gets
something out of these shows. Walking around is
great exercise and I bet you end up seeing
someone or something you would have missed.
Another thing, I’d like to mention; should you
not see the booth or people you came to see,
they may have chosen another isle. DO NOT assume
they are not there.
Moving a booth to another location is a great
way to catch the eye of the public new people.
It can make things fresh for some shows. If you
think the company or person is not at a show
because you don’t see them where they usually
are, check the program. The programs are by the
door. They costs money to make, are free and
there for you. You’ll also find dates, location,
time of seminars/casting demos/tying demos and
everything you need to know about the show.
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