Can you believe it? Chuck's running the International Fly Tying Symposium (TIFTS) again this fall. I'm glad I didn't run bets after last years show if it was coming back in 2025. No, I'm not a hater and actually have enjoyed the TIFTS over the years, but the last couple of years have been difficult to get excited about and drag myself to.
Years ago the IFTS almost looked like halls of The Fly Fishing Show (TFFS). Above is the TIFTS from 2012. Back in the day it was a show that drew a lot of the same heavy hitters that would attend TFFS in January in the same location. If TFFS was a must attend, the TIFTS was a close second.
But things have changed. Fly fishing and tying has changed. People have changed. The legends have moved on, from doing shows or to a better place in Heaven. Things just aren't the same and it's the same things these days when it comes to industry type shows. As we have seen in recent years people, let's talk manufactures, just don't make the commitment, in money
and personnel, to attend these shows anymore. It's risk vs gain. The return on investment just isn't there. Yes, Orvis has started to roll back in, literally with a van, but I think that's just to show face, knowing that at the end of the weekend their attendance didn't have all that much of an impact in exposure and sales.
Smaller operations, like Buzzi's BuzFly and Cordeiro's Flatwing, get a big draw and do well, but the big guns no longer compete for the space and bodies in the booths. These days there's a ton of smaller rod and reel manufactures and they dot the landscape that once was filled by competing big companies.
2024's "show" could have been called The International Fly Tying Room, as it has dwindled down to one room with basically four rows. There was some some booths to pick up supplies, more Bucktail Decievers, Hollow Fleyes, and BEAST Fleyes then you could count, and tyers, more names unknown then known, and, what made my show, was the booth occupied by Mr. Bob Clouser.
You have to tip your hat to Chuck Furminsky, and now Ben. While you can say whatever you want about how the shows are run, and where they are run, the costs for the vendors and admission, and all the bullshit and politics that goes with it - TIFTS and TFFS have had a HUGE impact in the fly fishing world, and to the tens of thousands of attendees over the years. The question is how long can and will they survive. My money was that last year would be the last for TIFTS, but I was wrong.
In the Press Release for this years show which specifies, "About 100 professional and amateur fly tyers - among the best the world has to offer- are scheduled for demonstrations. To be honest there's more amateurs, good people and good tyers, then professionals. There are plenty of good baseball players out there but when people come to a convention they want to see a Jeter, a Harper, or whoever is a baseball star these days. But one of those names I see is Tim Camissa, who I seem to mention a lot with all of these shows, and maybe beat up on a bit, but that's because he has become the poster child for the shows, because Chuck drags him around the country. I'm sure he's a nice guy and has a following, just not me.
The big news is that Hareline won't be in attendance this year, replaced by J. Stockard Fly Fishing "who has booked an extensive space". That will be interesting as there's really not all that much space to occupy. Hareline won't be there, "Because of a prior commitment....", mmmm, maybe they did the risk vs gain thing and pulled the trigger. Maybe this year they'll put Brad Buzzi where he belongs, front and center at the entrance as many, many people attend this show just to browse through his bucktails.
Many say that November, when New York and New Jersey are in the start of the meat of the fall run, isn't a good month to hold the show. That many of the people who would attend would be out fishing. Well, let's be honest, how many fly fishermen and women are lining the beaches these days anymore, outside of when they get the calls for blitzes on the beach. The TIFTS and TFFS have both really been leaning towards freshwater fly fishing and tying, which is where the largest percentage of anglers, and the money, comes from.
This week the contracts came out for vendors for TIFTS. A booth for the two-day event will run you $800 plus all the expenses that goes with it. For those "professional and amateurs", mostly amateurs, they'll be plenty of space to share to sit and tie and help fill the room.
This years show will be November 15-16 and will cost you $20 to get in for one day and $30 for a two day pass. Save the $10 and just hit it one day, you'll only need an hour or so.
I checked the show's website to see about the seminars and classes but they are all listed at TBA as it's a few months out. I've always said if they kept the themes local, like local NY/NJ/Pennsy fresh and saltwater fly fishing and tying, with a little destination stuff thrown in, they'd have a bigger draw. In addition I've always felt the "talent" should be paid for presentations and not just "to network and build your brand".