Great Waters Expo 2019

One of, if not the, biggest fly fishing events around these parts is the annual Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo in St. Paul. This year's event is happening on the weekend of March 15th-17th at Hamline University near the State Fairgrounds.

Photo courtesy of Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo

For several years I have spent the weekend tying in the Fly Tying section of the event. Essentially I tie flies all day, let the event attendees watch me do that, hand out my Blog-related SWAG, and chit-chat with people about fly fishing and fly tying. When I am done with a fly I usually give it to someone who has watched me tie, so even though I put in a lot of hours of tying, I usually finish the weekend with the same amount of flies I started with. Not that I am complaining; I am happy to do it if it helps get people interested in the sport!

This year not only am I going to be tying all weekend in the Fly Tying section, but I also was asked if I wanted to put on an actual presentation in one of the theater/showrooms. My hands and tying tools are going to be projected up onto a big ol' screen so everyone can see... Better get myself a manicure beforehand! Check out the full list of Presenters, including me, HERE!

My presentation is titled Highly Adequate Parachute Flies and Other Stuff. It's at 3:45PM in Presentation Room B, wherever that is... Hopefully I will find it before my show starts.

A typical parachute fly, adequately tied by yours truly.

I will be demonstrating my patented techniques for tying parachute hackle for dry flies, along with some other crazy techniques I have learned over the years. It should be fun. If you have a chance, stop on by!

For more info on the great Waters Expo, go HERE!

Kiap-TU-Wish Open House

Some of you might have seen the title of this post and wondered "What in the world is a Kiap-TU-Wish?" Well, I will tell you. It's an awesome Trout Unlimited chapter in western Wisconsin, right in the heart of the area in which I learned how to fish for trout. I don't know if the word Kiap-TU-Wish is an acronym, or maybe a compound word, or just a bunch of grammatical jibberish, but the name comes from letters taken out of the names of local trout streams: Kinnickinnic-Apple-TROUT UNLIMITED-Willow-Rush. This chapter has been doing great things for the local trout streams for several decades, and I am proud to have been a member, off and on, starting over 30 years ago.

Kiap-TU-Wish is doing something new this year for the September meeting. They are putting on an Open House at a local brewing establishment, in hopes of getting their message out to some new people, and maybe even getting some new members signed up. It is happening this Wednesday, September 5th, at the Rush River Brewing Company in River Falls, Wisconsin, from 6PM to 9PM.

The Open House will include fly casting demos, fly casting games, Tenkara and fiberglass rod casting opportunities, fly tying demos, the chance to learn about fly fishing opportunities for women, and you can learn about Kiap-TU-Wish and all of the volunteer opportunities that are available. My buddy Peter and I will be manning the fiberglass rod casting area, and we'll have a plethora of glass rods for you to try out, both modern and vintage. That alone is worth the price of admission, which is nothing, but there will also be beer, soda and pizza to enjoy, so if you are anywhere within a 1000 mile radius of River Falls, you should come to the Open House. If you do, swing by the fiberglass rod casting area and say Hi!

Come out and try some awesome glass rods!