Fingers Crossed for a Resurrection 🤞
It appears the annual Atlanta stop of The Fly Fishing Show has been unceremoniously cancelled. Not necessarily by the organization that runs it, in fact I received an email from them back in April that had it listed on their schedule for January 30 – February 1st, 2026. Rather the venue, the Gas South Center, pulled the plug according to an article I recently read at Angling Trade.
It’s kind of a bummer because evidently not only had the show been at the Gas South since 2016, but The Fly Fishing Show even tried to find a new location. They just couldn’t find another suitable venue in such a short time. Ugh.
Personally, the Atlanta show had served as a bit of a kickoff to my fly fishing year, and more importantly an island of sanity during what is a particularly stressful time in my real job. That little mental change of gears by driving up to Atlanta temporarily took me away from the stresses of the Super Bowl, ecommerce, having the right amount of hats, jerseys, & t-shirts at the ready, and all the stuff I do on a day-to-day basis.
But most disappointing, I won’t have that built-in excuse to hang out with some of the friends I’ve made through this hobby that also regularly attend, either as vendors or just anglers. Lots of good stories are told up and down those aisles, as well as over a few drinks following.
I hope the organizers of The Fly Fishing Show are able to find another venue for 2027. If not in the Atlanta area, somewhere else in the Southeast that is fairly easy for the exhibitors to travel to and from. (Charleston, SC – Asheville, NC – Knoxville, TN – Jacksonville, FL?) Between the trout in the Appalachians, the reds in the marshes, and the endless opportunities in the salt, there are just too many fly fishers in the southeast to not have a show. That said, I’m sure planning one these things is quite complicated.
In the meantime, perhaps this will allow some smaller, regional shows and local festivals (like the one I attended in Maggie Valley, NC back in 2023) to pick up the slack. If you know of a good one, let me know!
too bad…I always enjoyed the day there. I’d be curious to know their reasons.
Yeah, a bummer. I enjoyed going too. Really enjoyed the classroom sessions away from the show floor. Took me a while before I made my first trip up to Atlanta, but went the last 3 years.
Knoxville would be a great place to stage it in the future. The traffic in Atlanta is a nightmare, and a smaller city would be less conjestive. Thanks for sharing
I’d certainly make the trip to Knoxville!