(probable date: Jan 18 2006)
I decided to take the afternoon off today, and attend the ISE in San Mateo. Enough people that I knew, or knew of, or have had email conversations with were to be there, that I just had to make it.
Sign at the door: no photographing. Bummer.
Crowd is rather male-heavy.
After finding my way in to the hall, I figure out I'm not in the right place.. lots of stuff going on, but where is the flyfishing? I run into Mike Baxter (from Santa Cruz) who points the way to where I want to be; the building entirely devoted to flyfishing. First thing I see when entering the flyfishing hall is Lefty Kreh giving casting lessons. I go up and watch, and soon he is checking out my form. Wow! I tell him I'm a fan, and that I read his saltwater flyfishing book in high school. He grins and says I'm making him feel old. I think later he said something about being 81. An awfully spry 81, if you ask me! Anyway, Lefty helps me with some aspects of my casting, and then takes my rollcasting to task (this really did need help). I believe I've got it now, as it works much better. Need to go and practice some more. The other advice had to do with keeping my hand lower.. and more of a sidestroke cast, which sure works for him!! I'll have to experiment more with that as well.
Well, now I'm stoked. Not there for more than 10 minutes, and I get a casting lesson from one of my heroes.
I walk around some more.. look at a booth where they make some very nice looking custom rods... then eventually end up at the Abel reels booth. Nice guy there, Glenn, whom I talk with a bit. We ended up talking about wear and tear on the body, and how he does hand stretches now, before casting/fishing. Not a bad idea, I think. Steve Abel comes by, and I get to meet him too. He's retired now, now that he's sold the company. I oogle at the nice colorfully anodized reels, and also the nice pliers they sell.
Where else..? I look at a few other booths, end up at the casting pond again, and cast a little more, meeting the new guy at SJ flyshop. I notice that Lee Haskins is there, but don't talk with him (should have said hi), and eventually find my way to the SJFlyshop booth, where I talk to Mark a bunch. Andy is there too, and Chappy. And the new guy (?) who I met before at the casting pond. Don't remember his name now.
After a while there I wander to the next booth and introduce myself to Jay Murakoshi. Nice man, a little distracted by having to be at the presentation that he's doing with Ken Hanley soon. Jay has an interesting rotary vise set up, and some nice flies on display. I particularly like the llama hair squid flies.
Then I go awandering again, looking at stuff and end up at the feathermonger (Gray Drake hackle company), where I end up blowing a good chunk of dough on some necks. Really nice stuff, and now I'm set up for a good long while with the basics (I was really at something of an end with my materials, for making the fine stuff); grizzly, cream, dun, black, (should have gotten a brown too..), a hen neck for adams wings, a coq de leon for tailing, and a white neck for quill bodies. Err.. I'm not telling how much, but it was a really good deal.
Still reeling from the unexpected hit to the checkbook, I stagger over to the sage booth and pick up the TXL 7'10" 3wt. They let me take it away to the casting pond. This is a sweet rod, easy to cast, and lets me toss 60' easily. I'm thinking I need one for the bluegill pond.
By the time I get back from the feathers and the TXL to the SJ booth, Dan Blanton is there. I chat some more with Mark (he's having baby boy in february) and then go introduce myself to Dan. He's signing books. I wanted one, but felt I've shot my wad with the cash already. He gave me some really good tips on where to try my first San Luis forays, with the float tube. Awfully kind of him.
More wandering.. I look at Bauer reels. The 'junior' looks like it would be a nice, pretty perch reel to go with the 6wt I'm going to get sometime. Hehe. I end up at the casting pond again, and meet Simon Gawesworth, throwing some experimental refinement to the RIO nymph line with a Sage XP 590. We end up chatting some, on the way back to the RIO booth. Nice man, with a nice british accent.
I wander some more, end up at the sage booth again, and go and try the sage TCR 691. This is a great stick. I wish I had tried a few more, like the XP, or the Scott equivalents, but I'm now in love with that TCR. Looks good, casts great, should be a nice perch stick, not to mention a good rod for quite a few other things.
I chat with Mark some more, then go to return the TCR (I love how the sage folks just let you walk off with a $700 flyrod). A sage guy notices me (thinks we've met before, but I doubt that). I notice the casting analyzer, and we end up going to the pond together so I can give it a go. Interesting device, and it had some useful feedback. (more writing here about it).
On the way back from the casting analyzer session, a guy calls 'Lars!'. I don't recognize him, though he looks a little familiar.. but its Sean Woodburn, who used to work at Creative Sports in '85 / '86. I can't believe he recognized me.. I mean its 20 years ago. Anyway, we chat some and I get his email address.. and now I have to RUN out of there to make my dinner date for Shelleys birthday back in Santa Cruz.
WOW! FUN! I'm so glad I went.