Dutch Fly Fair 1996

By Martin Joergensen

The following report was sent to the flyfishing mailing lists - FlyFish@ and Euro-Flyfish@ - after my return from a most enjoyable Fly Fair in Holland May 1996.

X-Sender: martinj@login.dknet.dk
To: eur-flyfish@qsar.ritox.dgk.ruu.nl, flyfish@lsv.uky.edu
From: "Martin Joergensen, Copenhagen, Denmark"
Subject: Fly Fair '96 - l o o n g report

Fellow Listers, Fly Fair '96 - Ahhhh... What can I say? A lot, some of my friends will answer ;-) And they're probably right. Let me sketch the scene for those of you unfamiliar with the settings. Fly Fair is Europe's largest outdoors Fly show and takes place every second year in Holland. It's set up in a huge tent on the banks of the river IJssel near the town of Zwolle. The show features tyers, casters, exhibitors and audience from all over the world and is very well visited. The tent, the tying area and the surroundings are constantly buzzing with activity for the two days of the show and several days both before and after. This was my first Fly Fair, but certainly not my last. I do not intend to miss another one. I was lucky enough to be invited to tie there, and that made the experience so much the better.

Being a tyer at Fly fair has some clear advantages. You get to be there all days. Not only the two show days, but also on the day before and several days after if you want to. All in the company of some of the most enthusiastic FF-people you'd ever expect to meet - audience as well as tyers, exhibitors, arrangers and all the other people involved in a show like this. For the participants the show offers a unique chance to meet old and new friends, and the audience have the option to choose from a program featuring the cream of the crop of tyers, casters, shops and products. There are many commercial booths at Fly Fair, and the weak of heart better leave the credit card in the car. For me the highlight of the Fair was definitely the tyers. I can only touch on a few of them, as I didn't have a chance to see them all tie. The tyers list has some 70-80 prominent tyers, and as half of them are tying at any time, being in the tyers area is like being a kid in a candy store.

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