Fly Fishing Show Returns to Seattle

[Evan B]

They probably won’t post complete vendor / presenter info until a couple days before the show. Went to Edison and Atlanta shows last year. Equidistant..500 miles each way..I was bored.
Edison is the largest I believe, no Big O, Sage, Scott and others. Lots of doodad vendors now. Gave show owner the Furimky’s a pass though as this was coming off the Covid no show period.
Atlanta was similar, though I got to spend a lot of time with the friends from T&T and Ross reels.
I remember when Big O and Sage would have a complete aisle. Would love to see key manufacturers help support their authorized regional vendors/fly shops but that slope could be kind of slippery.
Having been in a business that had numerous regional and national trade shows it’s a helluva monetary and time expense for a business that has trended toward the giant interweb over the past 25 years.
Go, enjoy, then support your local Fly Shop

When I was at ECHO, we did not go. It was very, very hard to justify the expense. These shows cost a lot more to do than people think (not just the vendor fee, but all the other expenses that go with it). ECHO doesn't sell direct, so there's no way to recoup any costs directly.

What the idea was is to give each regional sales rep the opportunity to decide if they want to have a presence. Most chose not to. A few would do a booth with all their brands. Others would work with their biggest dealers and work on something if they were planning to attend.

I did go to a LOT of these shows with my employer prior to ECHO. Had fun times, but I do still find it hard to justify traveling to them, especially with how small most fly fishing companies (outside Orvis or Farbank) actually are.