International Fly Tying Symposium Nov. 19+20, 2011

The International Fly Tying Symposium Somerset, NJ November 19+20, 2011.  This is my third year tying at the Symposium.  I have to say that I've been welcomed and treated well.  I look forward to the event with the thought of meeting some new folks, learning something new, and sharing ideas.  This has happened every year, so I guess the need to keep going back is there.  The change for me this year was the opportunity to tie at the Flymen Fishing Company's booth instead of my own table.  I really struggled with this invitation for one reason, I enjoy the one on one interaction of being a tier and having the freedom to tie what I want.  The introduction of the Articulated Shank by the Flymen Fishing Company gave me the freedom to pretty much tie what I want, so I accepted the invitation.  I am not a salesman, but I am a promoter of products I believe in. Enough said, an opportunity presented and I seized it.  The Saturday portion of the event was very intense with masses of people coming through and made for a great day.  By the end of the day I was spent and starting to question a lot of things.  Saturday evening was fun socializing with a couple of fellow tiers and I was starting to feel more centered.  Sunday started at 5am with my annual trip to Carlos Bakery and back in time to tie away the morning.  Sunday morning is also the time to meet fellow tiers I had missed the day before and do a bit of shopping.  I was able to connect with some fellow tiers from the newly resurrected Fly Tyer forum. I am not a big fan of the magazine, but the folks on the forum are really tight and I'm glad to be able to interact with them and meet a few face to face. Sunday turned out to be better than expected for me, and the generosity people showed was a bit overwhelming, but it left me a lot to ponder on the long drive home. Now for the pictures....Martin Bawden and I were talking about, it's hard to have a bad time at a tying show, so as I took a few pictures of people I said "look angry"....enjoy!

Ralph (NJ Troutbum) and myself

 Martin Bawden and myself

 John Mclain of FeathersMC....the winner of the look angry photo contest!

 Feathers MC goods!

 John Collins

 Lyle Graff of Rite Bobbins

 Bruce Corwin and Fishy Fulum getting technical.

 Frank G Swarner III

 Pat Cohen flies

 Mike Schmidt (Angler's Choice Flies) runner up for looking angry.

Angler's Choice Flies