| A couple of highlights:
The auction - the first evening of the Fair there is an auction. This
auction is quite spectacular. The items for sale is a happy mess of
surprises, junk and high class goods. Some had a great time bidding for the
helmet with rear view mirrors that helps you keep and eye on the back cast,
stream side horn (one honk: 'I got one!', two honks: 'It's a big one!' and
so on to five honks: 'There're no goddam' fish on this stream. Let's go to
the club house for a beer!' or something along those lines). The surprises
were hilarious. The 'real' stuff was really good: clothing, rods, reels and
most of all some very nice mounted and framed flies from well known tyers.
And prices were absolutely acceptable.
|
The beer fly - On the Hotel Postillon where most of the tyers stayed, there
were some very happy evenings - none without a vise on the table. One
evening Henrik Strandgaard tied The Beer Fly. This is an amazingly living
emerger. Once tied you drop it into a (large) glass of beer and it will
happily emerge to the surface and go back down to the bottom. The fly was
born in Norway (sic!) and Steven Fernandez' hand is quit obvious somewhere
in it's genesis. I will try to get the secret pattern from Henrik and post
it here.
I met a lot of friends on Fly Fair and made almost as many new ones. Present
from the on line societies were to my knowledge: Hans Weilenmann, Tom
Hattink, Sven Ostermann, Frans van Beek and Jan Bergervoet.
I managed to keep my credit card low all days, and didn't wind up with much
else than Kieran's samples, some Partridge hooks and SLF, some 12/0 Bennechi
thread (amazing stuff!) and a few loose items.
Two years to next Fly Fair - start saving.
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