The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ was well attended by many from all over the region. Plenty of vendors filled the exhibit hall and seminars were busy as well by Saturday. Some snow on Friday morning seemed to slow up a few on the first day. I arrived to the usual filled parking lots on Friday afternoon.
I enjoyed seeing a lot of friends and members from Paflyfish. I do think many held off from going to Somerset and are waiting for the Philadelphia show in March.
There was a lot of conversation about the Philly show. It is rather close to Somerset and only six weeks away. Seemed like many vendors were planning on attending, but not all.
The results from Friday seemed encouraging for many vendors. One of the destination guides felt he would have sold all his summer trips by noon on Saturday. One of the fly shops shared that they had been doing pretty well selling boots and waders first day. I helped out first thing Saturday morning with my own boot purchase.
I enjoyed meeting Steve at Rise Fishing Company. Steve and his wife Amanda have recently started a rod company focused on designing rods that are user friendly for anglers to match their skills and fishing situations. Rise also has pledged to donate 20% of their profits to conservation efforts. It was good to see Ernie Pribanic from Laurel Highlands Guide Services in the both helping the team from Rise as well.
Meeting up with friends and getting introduced to new folks is always the best part of the show, but I especially enjoyed getting to the seminars this year. Gary Borger was my favorite with his Fishing the Film discussion. Going to try and hopefully catch George Daniels if he is presenting in Philadelphia in March.
If you are considering going to the Philadelphia show in Valley Forge it should be worth the trip. Do make time to check out a seminar if you plan on going.
Hope to add a follow up post later in the week.
