The Vermont Chronicles 20 July: The IFTD Post

by Jess McGlothlin on July 20, 2014

in The Vermont Chronicles

The Orvis booth was a continual hub of activity. Here, Headhunter’s John Arnold and the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing crew add some class to the booth.

The Orvis booth was a continual hub of activity. Here, Headhunter’s John Arnold and the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing crew add some class to the booth.

This series has missed a few week’s worth of posting, simply due to the fact that any and all time away from the Orvis office has been spent juggling “real life” problems (like having my car bite the dust and subsequently having to find a replacement) and trying to quell the rising storm that seems to be my freelance business these days (not that I’m complaining… keeps the soul happy and the mind in overdrive), and has left little time for fishing. Or for producing Vermont-y tales of mid summer fishing adventures.

But after a few days at IFTD this past week with Orvis, I am subsequently stoked (or, re-stoked, as it were) on the fly fishing realm and now have fodder for a blog post.

And so here we are, on a July Sunday morning. Why, my friend, are you reading this and not out fishing?

Talk of the show… the Orvis Recon makes its official entrance into the world in January, but industry folks got a sneak peek at IFTD. Suffice to say, the reception was warm.

Talk of the show… the Orvis Recon makes its official entrance into the world in January, but industry folks got a sneak peek at IFTD. Suffice to say, the reception was warm.

The advertising for IFTD notes the show is “where the businesses that count come together.” And it was certainly a show of the cool—and emerging cool—kids on the block. Everywhere you looked, fly fishing innovation and tried-and-true classics warred for one’s attention, and simply standing aside and watching traffic up and down the aisles revealed a veritable “who’s who” in the angling trade. It was a sea of baseball caps, sunglasses retainers, and plaid, button-down, technical-fabric fishing shirts.

After just two days at the show, I came back a duffel full of business cards, catalogs, and a notebook full of info I’m anxious to disseminate. The show was a sprint of meeting the press, taking folks through the new (and pretty damn awesome) products Orvis has coming out for 2015, and finally connecting with several photographer compadres I’ve interacted with online for several years.

The Orvis booth was a hive of activity each day, and our team (the A-Team, if I may add—these guys are troopers) were kept busy.

I was there strictly on an Orvis basis, and so was not in “reporter mode,” and lacked my customary camera kit. (Something that felt really, really weird.) So please excuse the iPhone photography, but here are some highlights from the madness that was IFTD.

One of my favorite products of the show was the new Tacky Fly Box, headed by an awesome group of guys from Utah. Orvis will be carrying it, so I’ve written the copy for catalog and web, but was lucky enough to get one from the guys. A first order of business upon getting back to Vermont was to load it up. With silicone instead of foam, I expect this box to be lost on some adventure well before it “dies.”

One of my favorite products of the show was the new Tacky Fly Box, headed by an awesome group of guys from Utah. Orvis will be carrying it, so I’ve written the copy for catalog and web, but was lucky enough to get one from the guys. A first order of business upon getting back to Vermont was to load it up. With silicone instead of foam, I expect this box to be lost on some adventure well before it “dies.”

For the record, I did venture over into the larger realm of ICAST several times with the best intentions, but always ended up reaching my goal, getting the meeting done, and then looping back rather quickly to fly-fishing land. I’m hopelessly inept with spinning gear (epically inept, really) and while there was all kind of crazy stuff happening on the far side of the convention center, I never really logged many hours over there. Therefore, please excuse the lack of ICAST coverage.

At the end of the day, we work in a pretty awesome industry, filled with all manner of folks bearing all manner of backstories. I think I could’ve talked for a hours with nearly everyone I met at the show, and easily not have learned everything I’d like to about them and their businesses. Innovation reigns, and all said, many folks are in the biz for the right reasons—they like to fish, be outside, and live life defined by their own rules.

I’ve a lengthy list of stories to cover for both Orvis and in the freelance world—bits and pieces I saw and want to learn more about. Met some pretty incredible folks heading some new conservation and outreach groups I know I’d like to work with. So keep an eye for more content coming your way soon from the green woods of the Northeast. (And who the hell thought I’d ever write those words?)

So here’s to some more time on the water, with both camera and rod, and less on the computer.

Cheers.

The Casting Pond was the source of much discussion and rod testing.

The Casting Pond was the source of much discussion and rod testing.