Trout Fest Here I come

[Troutman]

Originally Posted by MadisonBoats

Nice meeting you Rod and Adam...I appreciate all the hard work LRO has put in to Troutfest...but, I think it would be a good idea to focus on quality and not quantity when it comes to time lines. Honestly, I doubt I will drive up for another one. It is kind of a walk through and then you are done.....

Can you elaborate more on the quality and not quantity area. I don't understand what your saying. pretty much all the top manufactures were represented with displays and reps to answer questions about their products. There are some of the best nationally known fly designers and tiers there teaching and sharing tips to becoming a better fly tier. Fly shops from across the region along with several guide services were there. There were double the amount of vendors and I liked the way the fly tiers were scattered thoughout rather than bunched up in one area. I thought it was much better than last year.
The only thing would change is tone down the music. it was way too loud early in the day and many people were complaning about that. You had a hard time hearing people speak in Tent B because of the music. The ice cream vendor needs to move his diesel motor to the side or back of his display. I know several of us in Tent B were getting sick from the fumes. I went home at 3pm with a headache from it.

[GrouseMan77]

Originally Posted by MadisonBoats

I think it would be a good idea to focus on quality and not quantity when it comes to time lines. Honestly, I doubt I will drive up for another one.

Just because I am curious, please be more specific.

Sorry Troutman, guess we were typing at the same time.

[Birdman]

I attended my first TroutFest yesterday and I thought it was great! I'm sure I walked by many of you here but don't know your faces. I was able to meet JoeFred and his son and see JF's work. Very nice people and very great work JF is doing with his maps. Ian and Charity Rutter were very nice and had a great presentation on Hazel Creek. I was also fortunate enough to meet Jim Casada and attend his seminar on "Back of Beyond", which was a real treat. Jim is a true son of the smokies and a pleasure to be around. To top it off I was taught fly casting by none other than Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh! Man, what a day!!!

Thanks to all those that make TroutFest possible and keep up the great work.

[rivergal]

I had a great time at Troutfest! I enjoyed chatting with Jim Casada and his charming wife. What a fantastic group of folks all in the same place! Fly Fishing folks sure are friendly ! I got a lot of tips and helpful advice from nice people. Now I am all fired up to go fishing again now that turkey season is closed!

[mcfly]

Originally Posted by GrouseMan77

Just because I am curious, please be more specific.

Sorry Troutman, guess we were typing at the same time.

I agree with Madison. There is no doubt that here were some quality vendors there, but the layout was hard to follow. It would have been nice if there were more cohesion/logic in the layout (ie, guide services together, equipment vendors in one spot, arts in one area, fly tyers in one spot, etc).

Also, I looked for Joe Humphrey's casting demonstration and could not find it. I would have stayed for Lefty's clinic, but just simply could not bear to listen to that music any longer, so I went fishing the rest of the day instead. I did not stop at any vendors outside that were in front of the band area because of the music. Would love to see that dropped in the future!

Overall, I enjoyed the event and would love to come back to see Lefty next year, but as in anything, there is always room for improvement.

[purple squirrel]

Saturday I attened my 1st, but not last, Troutfest and had a nice time. I woke up Saturday morning a little quezzy and wasn't in the best condition to really enjoy much of anything.
I got to talk with Jim Casada who was just as nice in person as he was when he welcomed me to the forum (see "Newbie from Bama" in New Members Board).
Joe Humphrey was very kind and took the time to explain some of his tying tips to a Newbe fly tyer (I was sitting there while the lady in the shear blouse and black bra was videoing him)
Being new to flyfishing and tying the biggest deal for me was to finally met Cassie Lo Sulzby and watch her tie. She is from my neck of the woods and has several of her flies for sale at Riverside Fly Shop, on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River. She was also the best looking fly tyer that I saw there .
I liked the part of having the tyers spread out, it kept people from packing up in one area and passing right through others. I personally do not care for the arts and crafts but know some that do, need something for all. The music was good but a bit loud, the icecream booth needs to be moved away from enclosed areas . Need to make sure the grass is mowed a little better in the area.
All in all enjoyed myself and look forward to next year and better health

[mlstiehl]

TroutFest is put on by Little River Chapter Trout Unlimited, not by LRO.
LRO is a great sponsor of Little River Chapter TU.
I hope you were not lead to believe the LRO was the sponsor. The majority of the volunteers are LRCTU.

Thanks,
Mike

[MadisonBoats]

I was not trying to be the sour puss of the event. It is great that an organization takes on all the work to put on an event for us to attend. I guess, I was just trying to offer some ideas on how to make things better. Maybe just a banquet night and a one day event? Also, I felt a little lost with the layout. No worries...

Thanks for the hardwork!

[Paula Begley]

Just to reiterate what Mike Stiehl said, Troutfest is an event put on by the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The only role Little River Outfitters has is as a sponsor; Byron has been the Chairman the last two years and I have been on the Executive Committee. We do take a role in talking up the event on our website and message board and in the fishing report. We do this because we feel like we can get the word out to many more people using our forums; we never intended for anyone to assume that the event was a Little River Outfitters event. I'm sorry if anyone was under that impression.

We appreciate ALL of the feedback given by everyone. I've made notes and in the committee post-event meeting we will take each and every one of the comments into consideration for next year.

Thanks to all who made this event happen! That includes vendors, sponsors, volunteers, attendees and donors. The money that is donated to the GSMNP would never happen without everyone.

Paula

[Rodonthefly]

No thank you Paula and Byron and everyone else up there. I tip my hat!!!

Looking forward to next year.

Rodney