Fly Tying Shows in January and February 2007

by Steven Flanagan

For those of you interested in fly tying, there are two events early this year.

The first event is a brand new tying event called the "Texoma Tie-In" that the Red River Fly Fishers Club is hosting on January 27, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. This fly tying event will be held at Eisenhower State Park on the shores of Lake Texoma. More info is located at rrf.org/9.html.

The second fly tying event is the Texas Fly Fishers 15th Annual Fly Tying Festival, which is put on by the Houston “Texas Fly Fishers” club. It will be held on February 3, 2007, in the gymnasium of the Bethany Christian Church, located between Eastside St. and Bammel Ln. on Westheimer Rd. in Houston Texas. This is next to Lamar High School. The admission fees to this event are $10.00 for adults, $14.00 family, $8.00 students, & $5.00 seniors over 62. Children under 12 are admitted free. They have confirmed that Boyd Pfeiffer, author of many fishing and fly tying books will be the featured tier! Another featured tier this year will be Ken Iwamasa, author of the book Iwamasa Flies. I am much more familiar with this tying show because it features Texas tiers and will have approximately 60 tiers demonstrating. In the past the following AFF tiers have tied in this show: Bud Priddy, Pete Jones, Dudley Sanford, David Young, Bill Slough, Lefty Ray Chapa and me. This will be my fourteenth (14th) consecutive appearance in this show and Lefty Ray has been back six or seven times. I can highly recommend attending this show because you will have the opportunity to see many top tiers; it should be noted that Texas is blessed with many major award winning tiers. You will be able to see flies demonstrated for fresh water, salt water, bass, pan fish, and everything in between. When asked why I like to participate as a tier in this and other shows, I always respond with the truth--which is that I get the chance to see the best tiers around demonstrating what they do best, and I have always been able to stay on the cutting edge when learning from these very talented individuals. I never leave a show without learning several tricks/techniques that will help my tying. This would be a great event for several of you to car pool to and see for yourself. It is the closest thing to a conclave that Texas has at the moment and the Houston club members are tremendous hosts! See the following link for more details: texasflyfishers.org/TFF/FTF.htm. See you there, Steve