The 2013 Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo is scheduled for March 8th and 9th at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon. A vision conceived by the Oregon Council of Federation of Fly Fishers (OCFFF) 25 years ago has now become one of the largest fly fishing expositions on the west coast. (nwexpo.com)
The mission of the OCFFF is to improve fly fishing in Oregon by providing information to fly fishers to improve their skills, by preserving and expanding fly fishing opportunities, and by improving fish habitats. This vision encompasses the total fly fisher and is visible throughout every aspect of the Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo.
Volunteers are the mainstay of the Expo, engaging over 400 volunteers from 23 chartered and affiliated FFF clubs throughout the Pacific Northwest to make this event the success that it is. In 1987, volunteers not only organized that first event but they offered their time as tyers. Today, the fly tyers you’ll see on March 8th and 9th are by invitation only, the best of the best.
Through the support of the OCFFF, Skip Hosfield and Keith Burkhart initiated the first Expo in 1987. Together, they hatched a plan to bring fly tyers together at the expo center in Eugene. Many members of the Mckenzie Flyfishers Club played critical roles in the first expos, establishing the auctions of flies and equipment as highlights of the Expo programming. A few key contributors were Cliff Adams, Bob Guard, Greg Pitts, Tom Porterfield and Stan Walthers.
The Expo has grown from 40 volunteer tyers to well over 200 of the best. Dwight Klemin and Jim Fisher played key roles in moving the Expo to larger quarters in Albany. The larger facility created opportunities to add classes on tying and angling, demonstrations and instruction on casting, including single-handed and Spey casting, and added space for vendors to display the latest equipment in fly fishing and tying technology. These attractions and the expansion of the Expo to a full two-day event have resulted in one of the best fly fishing shows anywhere.
In 1987, the OCFFF developed the Expo with two primary goals: to create a solid and replicable fundraising event, and to provide an educational platform to promote fly tying and fly fishing. You will see when you join us in Albany on March 8th and 9th that the Northwest Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo has far exceeded these expectations. Thousands of attendees have been awed by the diversity of all aspects of fly fishing at this event. This year, ORCFFF honors the Coast Cutthroat Trout and the Spruce Fly, a fly developed especially for this trout by Milo and Bert Godfrey between 1918 and 1919. The Spruce Fly is at its best during the sea run of the Coast Cutthroat.
Through your participation at the Expo, the OCFFF has funded two scholarships to promote studies in fisheries management. Yet the most universally favorite aspect of the Expo is reconnecting with friends and meeting new friends who share the love of fly fishing. See you at the Expo! www.nwexpo.com
So will you have a booth at the expo this year?