When it comes to fishing, timing is everything. Same with fishing shows.
Arriving a week after the holiday mayhem and three months before the ice melts, The Fly Fishing Show makes its annual pilgrimage to Denver at precisely the right moment to stir the blood of the faithful.
From Friday through Sunday, thousands of Colorado enthusiasts will flock to the show to shake the winter doldrums, or at least to dream.
This fly-only event will be followed by a series of broad-based outdoor shows whose highlight is the colossal Denver International Sportsmen’s Expo from Jan. 25-28 – all designed to titillate winter-bound zealots.
This week’s show at the Pavilion Building of the Denver Merchandise Mart serves up equal parts fact and fancy. The show basics include seminars and demonstrations from national and local experts covering every aspect of the fly sport.
From there we drift to the material world, displays by manufacturers and fly shops that provide most visitors with their first look at many of the newest items for the coming season.
Then, following that flight of the imagination, outfitters from around the world will tempt showgoers with trips to faraway places – excursions that will be echoed in slide and video presentations in the Destination Theater.
Among the more unusual presentations will be that of Wendell “Ozzie” Ozefovich, whose underwater videos reveal how trout see, feed and behave.
America’s first couple of fly-fishing, Barry and Cathy Beck, will provide separate demonstrations. Barry will lecture Friday and Sunday on taking better digital photographs and Saturday on tactics for larger trout. Cathy, a member of the Sage Rods staff, will demonstrate casting techniques all three days. Jerry Siem, Sage’s head designer, will teach advanced casting methods Friday and Sunday.
An adjunct of the show involves an area devoted to bamboo rods, their construction and history. A place will be available to cast these classics. Free bamboo rod appraisals will be available throughout the show.
At a glance
A look at the fly-fishing show:
* When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Jan. 7.
* Where: Pavilion Building Denver Merchandise Mart, northeast corner Interstate 25 at E. 58th Ave.
* Admission: $14 for one day, $24 for two, $32 for three. $2 for children younger than 12.
* Contact: 800-420-7582, www.flyfishingshow.com.
Lineup
* Casting: Bob Jacklin, Cathy Beck, Jerry Siem, Simon Gawesworth, Randi Swisher.
* Fishing tactics: Ozzie Ozefovich, Barry Beck, Brad Befus, Jacklin, Barry Reynolds, Ken Hanley, Jay Murakoshi, Landon Mayer, Ed Engel, Larry Kingrey, Bill Edrington, Phil Camera, Bob Long Jr., AK Best, John Tavener, Ryan Anderson, Mike Rieser, Kirk Bien, Richard Dudginski, Rod Cesario, Ty Johnson, Matt Lynn, John Duncan, Michael Mastrangelo, Brian Shipley, Will Blair, Shaun Lawson, Larry Johnson, Rusty Bogers, Eric Anderson, David Taylor, Greg Felt, Dan Stubbs, Char Bloom, Shaun Saunders, Buzz Cox, Kevin Bonasera, John Herzer, Larry Isham, Dave Scadden.
* Fly-tying: Best, Ben Furimsky, Jacklin, Camera, Reynolds, Engle.
