After work, work, work, and more work, I needed to find a little diversion last weekend. The Atlanta stop of The Fly Fishing Show was the destination. So, after a 6ish hour drive (with a stop at Buc-ee’s in between) I arrived in Duluth, Georgia late Friday night just in time to catch some shuteye before I hit the show the next morning.
This is my 3rd year going to the Atlanta show. Honestly, not much has changed year over year. Mostly the same booths, speakers, and presentations, but still a lot of fun to wander the aisles. Having been to the version in New Jersey a few times, the Atlanta show feels a lot smaller, which is good, as it’s easy to fit into a single day’s activities without feeling like you missed out on something.
So what I did I do or see? What stuck out at notable? I don’t know, I go through “phases” in my fishing, and as you’re probably aware, I’ve been kinda in my bamboo and click & pawl era at the moment. With a lot of tenkara and a smidge of saltwater mixed in.
Speakers & Presentations
One would be silly to attend a show like this and not take advantage of the various opportunities to learn a few things. So I looked at the show schedule and decided what and who I wanted to see. It looked something like this…
10:00 AM – Techniques for tying the flatwing fly with Joe Cordeiro, (who may have been the most entertaining presenter of the weekend).
12:30 PM – Tying the original Clouser Deep Minnow (the right way) with Bob Clouser. I mean who wouldn’t want to learn how to tie this iconic fly straight from the source?
1:30 PM – Offbeat tactics that catch trout with Ed Engle. This was a great presentation, I really liked the section on how to approach blown out waters.
2:15 PM – Tips on saltwater casting with Andy Mill. My saltwater casting sucks. His does not. I mean, c’mon, couldn’t miss this one.
4:00 PM – Modern soft hackles for selective trout with Allen McGee. Nymphs, flymphs, teams of flies. As someone who usually only fishes one fly, this was interesting. Duncan loops anyone?
Gear and Shop Booths
Orvis has their new Superfine Graphite rods there. They cast light but crisp, but are far from broomsticky. I have a feeling they’ll do really well if folks can get past the Helios-like white cosmetics. They also had a bunch of new wading options. The one that caught my eye was the redesigned Pro Approach shoes. Looks like they made the toe box bigger (yes!), but also got rid of the neoprene cuff to keep debris out (boo!). People evidently would get blisters from the latter, but it never bothered me. Hate to see that feature go.
Rambler Angler & Blade Co. was there in a BIG way, with a custom decked out Toyota Tacoma. They’re the company that makes Wolff fly tying vises and tools, just rebranded to something a bit more appealing and modern. Their spread looked great, something to keep an eye on.
Got bamboo? ARC Fly Rods does. I’ve written about them before here, but I got to talk to Jeff Purdy for a bit and he’s really got me considering puling the trigger on a rod building class in North Georgia. I can already tell bamboo is not going to be a budget friendly extension of this fly fishing hobby…
I also learned more about the science behind floatant than one might imagine possible from the folks at HND (High N Dry Fishing). Long story short, better chemical engineering creates better floatants, desiccants, and line cleaners. Stuff they claim puts my Gink and Aquel to shame. They were obviously very convincing as I ended up buying some of their products from The Speckled Trout Outfitters to try this spring and summer.
Tenkara
Of course I had to stop by the tenkara booths. Luong Tam and Amanda Hoffner were at the Tenkara Tanuki booth in its “can’t miss” orange. Luong has a few rods coming out in 2025, but was really displaying the Kunoichi 310 at the show. After taking it out to the casting pond, I found the rod is an absolute joy to cast.
Then it was over to DRAGONtail to chat up Brent Auger for a bit. We talked life and current events more than tenkara, but I did get to see the new TINYTalon 245 that is on pre-order for April 2025 delivery. I actually bought some things from them, but it was over on the other side of the booth where the fly fishing gear was on display. Brandon Moon helped me pick out some Moonlit “Brookie” furled leaders for my bamboo rod.
Last, but certainly not least was Karin Miller at the Zen Tenkara booth. Every time I went over to see Karin her booth was either packed, or she was off doing a presentation. So, I only got to exchange a few brief pleasantries. I love that her booth was so busy though. Her passion for spreading the word of tenkara is amazing.
Art
I always like to look at fish art while I’m at shows and while uber popular folks like Derek DeYoung or AD Maddox don’t make the trip, I was impressed by the artists that were there. I really dig Danforth Art (David Danforth) and Sunfish Woodworks (Bob Batchik). I got to spend some time with Bob as part of a group cabin in the Wisconsin Driftless a few years ago, so it was nice to catch up with him again. (He’s got a big year of fishing ahead and I’m a little jealous!)
I didn’t bump into as many people as I thought I might, but I did see Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto at the Oak & Oscar booth. We chatted about family, jobs, blogging, fishing, etc… I hadn’t seen him since moving to Florida, so it’s been a while. He ran off to record a podcast before I could snap a selfie of the two of us, so this photo of a watch with a hand painted brook trout from the Oak & Oscar flier will have to do.
Miscellany
What else… what else… As far as some additional quick hits, the folks at Alpharetta Outfitters were extremely nice and hooked me up with a show special on a Cortland 444 Sylk line for my bamboo rod. I also picked up one of those magnetic fly holders from Cling Fishing. It’s a pretty cool widget. And there were tons of rafts, boats, and truck campers there from companies like NRS, Stealth Craft, Dave Scadden Paddlesports, and Four Wheel Campers.
And I guess to wrap it up, a shout out to some of the folks I chatted with, but didn’t take really take many photos of. It includes authors Jimmy Jacobs (On The Fly South) and Sam Johnson (Wild Bearings), the incredibly nice folks at both Wanigas Rod Company and Highland Rod Co., Robert Thomas from Gangler’s in Manitoba, the folks at Freestone Nets, the lady who tried hard to sell me gutter guards, and the dude at the SCOF booth who gave my Philadelphia Eagles hoodie a shoutout as I passed by. Go Birds! 🦅
Anyway, that was the show from my point of view. A lot to cram in a day, but totally worth the trip.
Did you go to The Fly Fishing Show this year? Or do you plan to? If so, let me know what you are/were excited to see!