DENVER, Colo. – According to hotel and motel advance reservations, Denver will be crammed with visitors from throughout the Rockies for the 21st annual Fly Fishing Show at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 6700 No. Gaylord Rockies Blvd., Feb. 17-19.
Visitors from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and elsewhere in Colorado – from every-day- possible fly fishing addicts to once-a-year anglers to professional guides to lodge and resort owners – have booked accommodations to get a weekend-long look at all that’s new in the world of fly rods, fly reels, fly lines, personal watercraft, wading gear, flies, and everything that goes into the sport.
Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.; 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sat; and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sun. Fly Fishing Show® admission is $18 for one day, $28 for two days and $38 for all three. Children under age 5 are free as are Boy and Girl Scouts under age 16 in uniform. Children 6-12 are $5. Active military with an ID are $10.
Virtually non-stop classes, demonstrations, films, and exhibits will highlight the three day ode to both fresh and saltwater fly fishing.
There will be 26 classes with experts. Class registration is $90 except for an 8-hour advanced casting class conducted by Gary Borger and Mac Brown a day before the show on Thurs., Feb. 16. Tuition is $625.
Regular experts’ classes include Casting for Beginners with Brown, Casting Strategies with Dr. Borger, Fly Fishing Tailwaters with Pat Dorsey, Practical Nymphing with Ed Engle, Beyond the Basics-Taking your Stillwater Skills to the Next Level with Phil Rowley, Fly Tying for Everyone with Tim Cammisa, and Women Only Casting with Karin Miller.
The show will feature 38 free seminars in three presentation rooms including Where Trout Are with Jason Randall, Successful Strategies to Catch More Trout with Cammisa, Techniques for Catching Large Trout all Year with Landon Mayer, Catching Difficult Trout with Engle, Seasons of the Arkansas River with Taylor Edrington, Tricks and Tactics for the World’s Best Flats with Jeff Currier, and Ultra Light Fly Fishing with Frank Burr.
The 120 Destination and Adventure Theater presentations include Float Fishing the Black Canyon, Fly Fishing Rocky Mountain National Park, The ABCs of Fishing the North Platte, High Mountain Lakes in Colorado, The Denver South Platte, Tenkara 101 – Why Every Angler Should Do It, Where the Bighorn Begins, Women’s Showcase Panel, Fly Fishing and Conservation in Rocky Mountain National Park, Large Trout of the Southern Hemisphere: Chile and New Zealand, Women’s Flyfishing Trips, and Fly Fishing the Seychelles.
Featured fly tying demonstrations include Cammisa, Mayer, Craven, Dorsey, Borger, Rowley, Engle and Tim Flagler.
Casting demonstrations in two indoor ponds are on tap by Borger, Mayer, Brian O’Keefe, Currier, Michael Mauri, Simon Gawesworth and Jeff Wagner.
The show includes a Women’s Fly Fishing Showcase devoted to women-centered discussions, presentations, learning opportunities and networking.
Show goers will have the opportunity of voting on the 2023 Consumer Choice Awards of best new fly fishing products. Awards in 38 product categories are presented jointly by The Fly Fishing Show, Angling Trade media, Fly Fusion Magazine and Fly Fishing Journeys.
More than $30,000 worth of national door prizes are up for grabs including a week’s guided fishing for two anglers at Tarpon Caye Lodge, Belize, valued at $8,400; SET’s Spring Creek Lodge in Northern Patagonia for one, $5,450; a $5,000 credit on any Fish Partner Iceland trip listed on their website; five night, four days fishing package at Swains Cay Lodge, Bahamas Out Islands valued at $4,685; and two night, two days of fishing at the Big Land Lodge, Labrador, Canada, valued at approximately $4,000.
A list of door prizes is on The Fly Fishing Show website.
Among the 10 films in the International Fly Fishing Film Festival on Fri. (2/17) are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Damsel, with oversized tiger trout, a prolific damsel fly hatch, and an obscure mountain lake; Of the Sea, brothers explore the elusive Banco Chinchorro off the coast of Xcalak; Jacks, giant trevally attacking from deep ocean water; Father Nature, a guided trip on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park; A Slam that Saves, four species of bass found only in the Appalachians; and Dollar Dog, Atlantic salmon in Cape Breton’s Margaree River.
Others are The Focus, a story of three anglers who revisit a remote mountain stream;
Chesapeake – A Love Letter to a Watershed, the landscapes and environments of a special place;
and Gold Fever, undiscovered water in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Film Festival tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
For a list of fly-fishing films, classes with experts, seminars, door prizes, and demonstrations visit flyfishingshow.com/denver-co/ or phone (814) 443-3638.