Had a great time at the Tier's Symposium in NuJoisey this past weekend. Got to meet the mastermeister Byard himself and listers Deb Duran, Tim Trexler, Henk Verhaar, & Pete Gramp. I also met up with Chris Broomell, but I get to see him often in California. Got a fly from him that is one of my favorite keepers now, but you'll have to wait until later to get details from him. Byard and Deb both agreed to adopt platypuses, too.
Got to meet and get photos with Paul Whillock and Bob Mead (gave each a mouse), and had dinner Sunday night with a great group from the show, including them. Meeting Paul Whillock was one of the main reasons I went, and I wasn't disapointed. Then meeting Bob Mead was icing on the cake, another really neat guy. I got a boss realistic mosquito fly from him with a display dome. There was a ton of other world-class-tiers there (see the extensive list on the web site), but I didn't get much time to meet with them all. I was a 'Johnny-come-lately' in signing up, so I wasn't on the tier's list, but I did get to share a table with Mike Martinek, which was a good thing. Mike brought 'Polka-chickens' that were a riot. Saturday was fairly well attended, but not anything like some shows I've been to. The weather was perfect, probably the last great weekend- weather-wise- of the year, so I'm sure folks were out making the best of it (striper fishing?). If there was a snow-storm out, or rain, we probably would have been swamped. Sunday was slow, so I got to meet many more of the other tiers and vendors, making Sunday a busy one just showing the Baits Hotel over and over (mostly to people 'referenced' to my table by others). Everyone had a favorite Phycho-fly resident, and it was a fun time. Dave Rothrock was on the other side of me, and unfortunately he'll be wierded-out the rest of his life after being subjected to the routine as many times as he was. So I'm glad I went. Saw some of 'New England' for the 1st time. & Met a lot of tiers who don't get to come out West. DonO
