Somerset, NJ

Daniel Galhardo giving a tenkara demonstration at The Fly Show in Somerset, NJ

Today was a day of firsts for me.  First off, I found out several weeks ago the Daniel Galhardo, founder of Tenkara USA, was going to be at The Fly Fishing show in Somerset, NJ.  This show is billed as the largest fly fishing expo in the world and I believe it.  The isles of vendors, outfitters, fly tiers, etc. seemed to stretch forever.  This was the first event of this kind I have ever attended.  I was primarily interested in meeting Daniel in person for the first time and several other tenkara anglers and fellow bloggers I have only "spoken" with through e-mails.  Among them were Morgan Lyle (who actually only lives about 15 miles from me), Tom Sadler (of Dispatches from the Middle River) .  Chris Stewart the "TenkaraBum" was also there helping to man the Tenkara USA booth and provide some friendly advice and tips to the constant flow of curious anglers who stopped by.

 I have come to enjoy blogging and exchanging comments with many of these anglers but nothing beats the being able to tell fishing water stories and discuss ideas related to all aspects of the sport.  I have become primarily a tenkara angler (but do still fish in many other ways). In addition to checking out all of the tenkara related items I did spend a fair amount of time visiting the various celebrity fly tiers (because tying is one of my other obsessions).  One such tier I was eager to meet was Don Bastian.  Don ties some of the most beautiful heritage fly patterns you will ever come across.  I have been a fan of the classic wet flies he ties for some time.  While at the show I purchased the Carrie Stevens pattern he tied pictured below.

A Don Bastian tied fly

Over all, it was a very good day and I do believe I will be making the trip to Somerset again next year.  But I did cut the day a little shorter than maybe I would have done but I had two little "snow" angles to get back to.  Unbelievably, the oldest angel will be turning 6 on Sunday.  It's funny how fast the day went but it didn't seem to go as fast as 6 years for my little girl.

My two "Snow angles" during the last, and so far only snow fall this year.  The Birthday girl is on the left.