Had a great time at the Denver show. Had a nice write-up in the Denver Rocky Mtn. News on Friday, with a photo and all. Tied a mouse in the video theater on Saturday, and then just about all I did else was to tie rope-dub bodies and mayflies, and showed the 'Baits Hotel' about 40 times.
Got to talk to Lefty a few times. He looked really good, but he told me that LAST MONTH he both a stroke AND a heart attack. Add 'tough old fart' to his introduction next time, Pete. He did quite a few presentations, tying, fishing, & casting. If you have a chance to see him at a show, don't miss it- seriously. Got to chat with Jack Dennis again. We all went to dinner Sat. night- Jack, Jeff Courier, Mike Lawson, Pat Dorsey, Pat and Carol Ogelsby, and a few others from the show- 17 in all. Very nice evening. I lost count of how many tiers told me that it was worth the price of admission and the trip just to learn the rope-dub method. I showed many professional tiers just as I have at other shows, and these were equally amazed at the simplicity, speed, and abilities of the method. I knew when Eric Pettine said "Wow!", that he had never seen the technique before. I've gotten pretty good with Bob Haering's 'Dubbing From Hell', and everyone was amazed at how easy even that 'stuff' (I use that term loosely) roped and shaped. What I'm planning to do is make a fly plate of all the flies from the rope-dub swap, and put it out on the table at shows to present some examples of the technique by different tiers. Met up with Axel Valdez from the Buena Vista Beach Resort in Baja. Plans are in motion for Baja 2003. There were photos at the booth from last year's catch, and the dorado were running huge- many at world record size- 70lb class! My 51lb'er was dwarfed by some of these fish! Can't wait, now. Many photos of huge billfish, too. He said my 300lb blue marlin is still out there- they've seen him a couple of times. He should be about 350lbs by August when I get there. VBG DonO
