Local fishing Expo casts for conservation projects
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IDAHO FALLS — Hot spots are the new trend in fly trying.
It’s a fly pattern with a spot of bright color to make it pop. Fly tier Doug Burton is tying what he thinks is the original hot spotter — a red, Royal Wulff pattern.
“I know they work,” he says. “Every Royal thing I’ve tied has worked. Red and peacock in Royals that’s the key.”
Burton drove a 12 hours round trip to teach people how to tie 14 different Royal Wulff fly patterns. He’s one of 140 tiers at the East Idaho Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo in Idaho Falls. The expo, which was held on Saturday at the Shilo Inn and Convention Center, is now in its 24th year.
It is hosted by a massive volunteer effort between Federation of Fly Fishers and Trout Unlimited’s Snake River Cutthroat Chapter.
“It’s the best show,” Burton says. “I’ve tied at several and this has to be the best in the West based on variety of tiers and how far they come.”
An expo staff of 25, plus 100 volunteers, spends six months organizing the show. Money raised through their efforts goes toward funding projects that help fishing and fish-related conservation projects like fixing streams and teaching kids to cast. The show has raised $324,000 for local conservation in the last 13 years.
“We weren’t good at making money in the early years then we got more efficient,” says Arn Berglund, East Idaho Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo chairman. “The thing I’m most proud of is a lot of people pull in a lot of professionals to do what we’re doing. We’re volunteers and we’re doing this for the love of fishing and cold water conservation.”
An estimated $225,000 of the $324,000 helped restore the watershed around the South Fork of the Snake River including tributaries that drain into it.
Outdoor journalist Kris Millgate is based in Idaho Falls. See more of her work at www.tightlinemedia.com.