Favorite things of Valley Forge fly show

[Troy]

I enjoyed many of the things at the show that pertained to fishing, but I think one of my favorite things that I saw was that blonde working the Angling Bookstore stand. Let's just say, the only thing I bought at the show was a book. What was some of your favorite things at the show?

 

[pcray1231]

Seeing people I know from the board and elsewhere, meeting a few new ones, Capones beer and food, casting random rods just for the fun of it, meeting and talking with Landis for a while, brief conversation with the Hump about rods and small streams.

 

[jdaddy]

Hey Troy, were the book prices discounted or anything? I did not note the woman running it as I saw no discounts or other enticement for me not to just Amazon.

There was quite a bit of talent in the audience as well.

 

[slackleader]

Went there yesterday and sat in on all the presentations i could in one day. Hopefully can retain much of the info given out. I won a fly line and two really nice streamers made by Barry Beck at the fly tying seminar by he was doing, cool. Had a chance to talk to Joe Humphrey's and he signed a book for me too. Great time and also picked up some tying materials....Andy

 

[Troy]

jdaddy,
I got 10% off because a couple pages were stuck together. I think I just set myself up for a joke. Other than that, I didn't see any deals. I didn't look too closely either. I just went over to the stand to get a better look at that blonde, and then I saw a book I was going to buy anyway, I figured, I might as well just buy it now. I probably could have saved a couple bucks ordering from Amazon, but not much.

Troy

 

[jdaddy]

Troy wrote:
jdaddy,
I got 10% off because a couple pages were stuck together. I think I just set myself up for a joke.

Ok . . . I'd like to read a FF book that is that exciting. What's the title?

 

[Troy]

It's actually a guide book for fly fishing Montana (Montana's Best Fly Fishing). I'm going to Montana July 1st and I'm going to be fishing along the Bitterroots. I've lived in MT and been there numerous times fishing, but I never fished out near Mizzoula, except for the Big Hole. Anyway, I just wanted a book that could give me access points and hatch info. This book seemed to be one of the best out there.

 

[gfen]

The nice thing about the angling bookstore is you can page through and decide what you want for later, there's also the occasional weird thing there or rare oddity, plus if you want somethng autographed there's synergy.

I've bought kids' books the last two times, and some bizarre Japanese wet fly book the first time. None of which are the sort of thing you'll find on Amazon.

The blonde isn't bad, but if its the one I'm thinking of, she ranks about average when you take the whole show in.

 

[FrequentTyer]

I went on Sunday and took the Joe Humphreys casting class. I thought the class was fantastic. Joe has a somewhat unorthodox style but he quickly had me doing things with a fly line that I didn't think I could do.
The show was good, but I like the setup at Sommerset better. It was nice to have it closer to home though. I watched Ed Shenk and Charlie Meck tie flys which was nice, but there was nothing really new there in terms of tying techniques. I didn't buy much, some hooks, tippet, and a DVD off the now famous blonde gal.

 

[CLSports]

I saw the tying demo from Ed Shenk. Good stuff. Like most of the old timers they love to tell stories. I liked his flies because they were simple yet effective. He demonstrated the Letort Cricket, Cress Bug and Shenk Wooly sculpin. I will add all of them to my list to tie up!

I didn't stay as long as I wanted to. I would have liked to check out more of the tying demos and seminars. I hope next year they expand it more.

 

[Phlsphyguy]

I second the Blonde at the book place...Her name is Brooke...the same as my GF's (who came with me). Judging by the looks of the other women there-mostly ex-Girlscout leaders and gym teachers-both Brookes stood out well. Had lunch with Ed Shenk who was flirting my my GF...Talked with and went to a seminar with Charlie Meck and watched some of the casting demos...overall, a great day!

 

[SonOfMartin]

I was there for two days. Took in lots of the seminars, talked to the "professional" tyers, cast rods and walked around a lot.

I really wasn't impressed with the attitude of the professional tyers. They just seemed to be more interested in selling a fly for $2 than teaching something to someone. Maybe I missed the mark, but most of them didn't even want to talk to you.

What I enjoyed the most, and it was well worth the two day admission was learning spey casting from the FFF folks from Virginia. It was absolutely free and they were so happy to teach you something new! If you had problems with tailing loops, one of their FFF certified instructors would work with you. I watched them show numerous kids how to cast and tie flies - kudos to them.

Most fun was sitting in the lobby talking to Ed Shenk. We talked fish, flies, and swapped lies. I asked him what was the one thing he hated the most about modern fly fishing and he said....oh, he swore me to secrecy on that one. You're secret is still safe, Ed.

 

[Bigdadyrods]

I was set up across from the now famous blonde selling books. She seemed quite friendly and nice to talk to. She was laughing at the guys filling the casting pond with water on Friday as they were soaking her with the water pressure.

The worst part of the show was when I had Heritage slap me in the head with a rod.

 

[gfen]

Bigdadyrods wrote:
I had Heritage slap me in the head with his rod.

Yeah, I hear that alot from people who hang around him....

 

[TDB]

My favorite was that it was only 20 minutes away...

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Bigdadyrods wrote:
The worst part of the show was when I had Heritage slap me in the head with a rod.

Payback, for the poor guy you slapped up-side the head last year. Sadly, it didn't slap you to your senses. :lol:

BTW - The BDR reel is awesome! Balances perfectly on my 10' 3wt.

gfen - take a good long look at the fighting butt on your 10' 5wt. Then, whack yourself in the forehead with it. Saves me the time to drive over there and do it myself. And you thought fighting butts were only used to fight fish. I have absolutely no illusion that it'll slap any sense into your head at all. Have to use one of those big ol' Floogers for that.

 

[Chaz]

The ride down and back with a couple of old friends, I went both days. Chatting with Charlie Meck, Joe Humpfries, Big Daddie and Mike. Meeting a couple of guys from the board, and the bookseller.

 

[gfen]

Heritage-Angler wrote:
Have to use one of those big ol' Floogers for that.

Workin' on a 1938 vintage 1496, baby. Don't need it, don't knwo what I'll do with it, but I want it.

 

[caveman]

One of my favorite things was getting to see Joe Humphries do his casting demo on Sunday afternoon. I met Joe many years ago when I was a teenager and attended a workshop that he presented to the FFA students in Penn State. Was a treat to see him again so many years later. Oh and inspecting a Hardy Featherweight also, had to put that on my wish list.

 

[afishinado]

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