Should I go to the Fly Fishing Show in Atlanta in two weeks? I dunno…
I sort of like going to those things. I used to go back in the day all the time. When I lived in Philly it was super easy to shoot up to North Jersey for the afternoon. Plus, I usually had a posse of fellow fishing bloggers to roll with (paging Func & Dub), so that made it extra fun. We’d all descend on a prominent brand’s booth like a pack of malnourished chupacabras and start dropping the blogger sweet-talk…
“So, have you seen my blog? I have like 43 subscribers… think I can I have a free sample of <fill in the name of a ridiculously expensive piece of fishing gear> to do a gear review? You’ll definitely see a return on your investment…“
Yeah, we were playing the influencer game a decade before the ‘gram even existed.
While that proposition was tempting in our own minds, I think it may have rubbed the proprietors the wrong way. I never was quite able to convince the Hardy rep to give me that super sweet Flyweight click & pawl reel… but I digress… (however, the offer still stands if you’re reading this!)
Today, sans the camaraderie of my wolfpack and less the focused ulterior motive of free gear, I’m not sure I could function well in the fly fishing show environment. And that’s not even considering the 5+ hour drive from Jacksonville to Atlanta it would take to get there in the first place.
Here’s the rub. Like, when I walk into a Bass Pro Shops… or Cabela’s… or even a well-appointed Wawa, my eyes glaze over, I lose focus and all reasonable thought exits my body. Sensory overload rules the moment, and like any adrenaline charged male of the species would do, I commence in misguided, stupid stuff. And fly fishing shows like this are no different.
The day will go by in a total blur. I won’t remember what I was looking at. I won’t recall who exactly I spoke to. I took a few pictures but they’re all out of focus… and all I’ll have to show for it once I get home is a plastic shopping bag filled with a leaky bottle of UV resin, a coonskin cap, and a 12-weight fly line I found in a scratch & dent bin to pair with a fictional rod and reel I don’t even own. Oh, and very likely a half consumed package of ostrich jerky that I don’t recall opening, or eating, just for good measure.
The best gift will come a month or two later when my bank informs me that somebody’s opened 3 new credit cards under my name, because I gave away too much personal information while signing up to win a “free” fishing vacation to Costa Rica that nobody actually ever wins. Who needs the dark web when you have the temptation of offshore fishing at Los Sueños?
Okay, maybe that last part is an extreme dramatization, but if you’ve ever entered one of those door prize contests at the Fly Fishing Show you know what I mean…
But who am I kidding, I’ll probably go anyway. I went last year and it was an enjoyable experience. I won’t have my buddy Jason to hang out with again, but if nothing else, at least I’ll know a few folks manning the tenkara booths.
Yes, there are tenkara booths at the Fly Fishing Show. I know… crazy. They’re just strategically placed far away from the meat chuckin’ streamer bros. When it comes to those two factions, it’s kinda like the Crips vs. Bloods… or DX vs. the nWo… Best be careful to not wear the wrong colors…
Seriously, the show will give me some stuff to write about here. And even though I have been probably too far down the tenkara rabbit hole in recent years, I do still fly fish with a reel, and honestly would like to do more of it… especially considering it was sort of a 2023 resolution I failed miserably at.
Maybe I’ll see you in Atlanta (or Duluth to be exact)?
I’ll be the guy wandering around in circles muttering “my precious” while desperately trying to find the Hardy booth…
43? Do mine count from 15 years ago? Haha. Probably not. Yes, you should go to the ATL show. They are always so much fun!
Maybe RD, not what the statute of limitations are on stalking someone’s blog…
I’ll probably go. And if I do, you’ll read all about it!