As a side note, the Bay is beautiful this time of year, cold, but amazingly beautiful. The water is like a turquoise-ish green and clear as can be (no fertilizers and algae in the water).
Anywho, we got to the "fest" around 10:30am and immediately noticed it was packed with license plates from DE, VA, PA, MD, and even some NY and NJ. It was a pretty good time, full of well priced tying materials and flies, books, DVDs, and amazing tiers just throwin down some gnarly flies. The first thing Zach said to me when we walked in was "this place smells like moth balls" and he couldn't have said a more true statement. The place was overwhelmed with 60+ year olds just telling lifetimes worth of stories. I was able to pick up and pass out some business cards and get some great shots of the show. About an hour in, we were ready to call the quits. I had picked up some materials and Zach got a good idea of some reels he might potentially buy for his new stick, the Redington Red Fly 4-Piece we mentioned as a Daily Deal a few weeks ago from REI.com.
Right before we were ready to walk out I spotted the man, the myth, the legend...Bob Clouser. I immediately turned to Zach and Luis and said, you gotta take my picture with him. I went right up to him and he immediately stuck out his hand for a shake and gave me a big smile. I explained to him that his son, Bob Jr., was the reason I was there today. Bob Jr. gave me the foundation of my fly tying expertise (not really expertise, but kinda) when I was up in school in PA. He is the manager of the White River Fly Shop at BPS in Harrisburg and taught all my free fly tying classes for 3 years. Bob Sr. thought that was awesome and was thrilled to get a picture with me. We talked for a bit and I got to see how kind and awesome of a man Bob really is. He told me a story about how at a show a few years ago, he was tying a Clouser Minnow and a man walked up to his table and started to watch. As he was watching, he looked a Bob Sr. and said, "you know, your not tying that right." Bob Sr. looked up at him a bit confused and just smiled. He said to me, "Obviously, that guy had no idea who I was, but it didn't bother me one bit." which he followed with a big smile and chuckle. Overall, awesome guy, I truly am blessed to have met him and the picture I took with him will be on my wall in the next week.
In summary, Kent Island Tie Fest was awesome. A great atmosphere combined with great fly fisherman always goes down as awesome in my books. Check the pictures below from the show to vicariously experience the good time we had!
Boom...Morgan
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