Unintended Fly-By

My biggest regret from last week's ICAST show in Las Vegas is that I never got the opportunity to give the International Fly Tackle Dealers show a decent look. For the first time ever, the two shows shared dates and a single convention center floor, and buying or media credentials for one got you in to the other. I never attended the fly show when it was a separate event in Denver because I don't do enough fly-fishing writing to justify the travel cost (and maybe to be granted media credentials). However, I do write enough about fly-fishing and fly tackle that I was excited about the opportunity to roam the show and meet more folks on the fly side while I was already right there.

Good idea. Poor planning.

When I booked my travel, I chose a flight that left Las Vegas mid-afternoon on Friday, which was the final day of the show. That gave me two full days, plus a few hours on Friday, to walk the floor. That has been enough time in the past. Between appointments with tackle manufacturers I always want to visit and a couple of major editorial projects, which were my top priority, I simply ran out of time this year. Beyond visiting as single booth by invitation, my entire time at the IFTD show totaled about 10 minutes, right before I packed up to start toward the airport. Basically, I walked the aisles and looked left and right to see what I was missing. It wasn't that I didn't keep busy. I spent every open show hour walking the floor, looking and visiting. I simply ran out of hours.

I do hope that the merged show format worked well for ICAST and IFTD and that they'll be back together next year. The next few ICAST shows are in Orlando, which means I can drive there, so I'll have more liberty with time. Were it back in Vegas, though, I'd either book a Friday redeye or stay Friday night so I could attend the whole show. I feel like I missed the boat -- the drift boat, so to speak -- by running out of time and missing the chance to learn more about the fly fishing industry and to meet more folks on that side of the business. Even 10 minutes on the IFTD floor was enough to make it clear that I was missing a lot of good stuff.

Tackle Show Only a Week Away

Wow. This time next week, I'll be traveling toward Las Vegas for the ICAST Show. I'm admittedly not a fan of Las Vegas, but I really enjoy the show, where a massive convention center floor is completely covered by fishing tackle manufacturers' booths. It's where the companies that make the rods and reels, the lures, the waders, the hooks, the sonar units... you name it -- gather each summer to show all their new stuff to wholesalers and to retailers from all over the world and to the fishing media. For most companies, it's the first showing of the following year's product introductions.

To a dedicated fisherman, it's like the world's largest candy store, and for a fishing writer, ICAST represents a tremendous opportunity to gather with the whole industry in a single place and to learn about all the cool, new stuff that companies are producing and to see industry trends. Things kick off Tuesday evening with a special preview of the New Product Showcase, which is a dedicated space where companies display the best of the best of their newest stuff. Of course, there also will be all sorts of pros and guide roaming the show floor and working sponsors' booths.

This year's show will be even better than normal, from my perspective, because the International Fly Tackle Dealer show will run concurrent with ICAST and use the same convention center. I don't do quite enough fly stuff to ever justify the traveling to just the IFTD show, which is the fly world's equivalent to ICAST, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the fly tackle too and meeting more folks on that side of the business.

Watch this blog, my Twitter feed, my facebook fishing page and my YouTube Channel for a steady flow of photos, videos and notes about stuff I see and things I learn from the pros.