Expo photo recapitulation

Hutch Hutchinson demonstrates how to properly fix 'your buddies' casting techniques.

There are not many things that will make a fly fisherman yearn for water more than standing in the warm sun on a beautiful day bombing casts with a bad-ass new Orvis HELIOS 5wt switch rod.... in a parking lot. No, I didn't buy one, nor could I have afforded one even if the crazies overtook me and forced me to take out my credit card at gunpoint, which doesn't even work anymore now that B of A has decided I was living a little too much like a good American, it was just fun to pretend.

But I suppose if you are not going to spend a wonderful spring Saturday on the water, then hanging out with a great group of fly junkies telling war stories, watching tying demonstrations, snapping photos and learning better and more efficient ways to make the local water inhabitants bow to their sensei is the next best thing.

Emerson "Chief" Craig sharing some of his 30 years worth of White Mountain trout fishing knowledge

 There was no poll, but I would bet a coke that the popular vote of the day would have gone to Emerson "Chief" Craig and his talks about techniques, tips and tactics for fishing Arizona's White Mountain trout lakes. Fly fishing since the tender age of ten and targeting fish in and around the Wt. Mountains since 1973, Chief is truly "the man" when it comes to ruling these waters and I am sure that every person who was fortunate enough to hear his talk will cast with greater confidence when fishing these waters from ice-off till winter's return, myself included.

Another highlight was the demonstration of Mike Leed's improved grass frog. Tied on a Waddingtin shank with a top-side looped weed guard, and a upturned TroKar 1/0 drop shot hook attached to the leader with a 2 foot section of weed-slicing 30lb PowerPro braided line, I cannot imagine running into any problems dragging this frog across even the nastiest of weed beds.

It still looks like a heavy bitch, but losing the rabbit zonker legs for feathers might help a bit. Still, don't think you will be throwing this on anything less than an 8wt. Mike uses a 10wt, which helps get these surprised fish out of the weeds and into the boat.

A thank you should also go out to Dave Brown for his talks surrounding fly fishing in BC,  and John & Cullen Murphy for their presentations on the guiding and services they provide, as well as some great fish porn helping make this event the best it has been in nearly a decade. Great job, gentlemen.

I should have been paying attention, but I was too busy playing with my camera to tell you where Cullen caught that large fish.

The Future

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-Alex