What a weekend we just had at the second annual Seattle Fly Fishing Show. Held at the Meydenbauer Center in downtown Bellevue (a smaller city 9 miles from Seattle). Chuck Furimsky who runs the show did another great job and it all ran like clockwork. Having had a booth at every flyfishing show in Seattle for the last six years (first one in the now gone Kingdome) gives me some insight to make comment. First Class would be my observation full-stop! After being at many shows at such venues as San Mateo, Denver, Florida, Las Vegas, Reno and a few more this show shines brightly and has a even brighter future.



Riddled with great talent and knowledge acquired by such anglers and flytyers as Barry and Cathy Beck, Brian O'Keefe, Dave Hughes and Jack Gartside and balanced beautifully by the casting brilliance of Simon Gawesworth, Jerry Siem and my favorite distance caster Mark Sedotti the show has style. Local fly fishing and flytying experts backed up a very East Coast flavor that the show seemed to provide. In my opinion it was refreshing to see very little of the West Coast Californian ego that can be overbearing to a lot of people. Particularly those in the Pacific North West. Very laid back was the nature of the weekend and there was always something to be seen, experienced or savored. If there was something you needed to know there was no excuses for not finding a answer there. A $12 dollar entrance fee and around $10 for parking it is a considerably less expensive alternative to dinner, movie and popcorn entertainment. Of course these shows are also for bargin hunters and those in the know picked up some great specials. Sunriver Fly Shop owner Bob Gavigllio told me that he had sold more items on the first day of the show than he did at San Mateo. Now thats saying something to those grumpy penny pinching Scrooges that walk around complaining thats there are "NO DEALS"..phoooey.



Managing to escape our booth on only a couple of occasions I made sure I caught Jake Jordan's Sailfish on Fly seminar. Jake has caught over 600 Sails on fly and just about everything else. He also is very knowledgeable about the flats in Florida and I look forward to fishing a boat with him. OH and who can not be amazed at the style and casting prowess of Mark Sedotti. Mark has a unorthodox style that sees 12 inch flie...well fly. Averaging around 140ft with one of those monster flies tied on he is amazing to watch and he also has a wealth of sound practical knowledge in many forms of fly fishing to boot. Jack Gartside was a standout amongst a outstanding cast of flytyers present at he show. Jack has style, elegance and humor that combine to make a very interesting talented man who keeps you smiling. You may know him best for the Gartside Gurgler and of course his famous fishing picture of him fishing from a inflatable Giraffe that made the cover of Fly Fishing In Saltwaters Magazine.



On a personal level it is always fun to catch up with everyone at these shows. We have made many friends over the years. Some whom have visited Australia through us or we have fished with them at some stage and of course we have made many friends within the industry. Whatever the connection its a great social event and a chance to see people at least once for the year. The other benefit is being in a position to have a chat with people like Steve Abel, our good mate Trey Coombs, Brian O'Keefe etc and it is just a blast for a flyfishing nut like myself. Speaking of catching up I spent some time talking to Keith Bryan who has now purchased the Powell Fishing rod company. Keith told me that he is now selling direct to the public and via his website. The company has a program right now where you actually get a free reel when you buy a rod. The rods have also had some beefing up an the ones I had hold of felt so.
Anyway that was our experience at the show and we will be booking our booth again for next year. We like to thank those friends and customers that have been loyal to us over the past years. See you there next year.

Randall Bryett

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