I know that it seems like every
column that I write the week after the Sowbug Roundup is about how this Sowbug
is the best ever. The fact is that it just keeps on getting better and better.
This year’s was no different. I really enjoyed this one. For me, one thing that
made this one special was that my sister, Ernestine, was able to visit. She
came from Memphis (a long drive even if you are in a Mercedes). This year I had
two booths. One was for my guide business, Berry Brothers Guide Service, and
another for Blue Ribbon Fly Shop, the fly shop that I manage. To make it work,
I got them side by side. Ernestine was in the Blue Ribbon booth. We were able
to interact with attendees and chat a bit.
I was chairman of the fly tying
contest and this year we had more new tyers and more flies submitted than we
have ever had before. The break out fly tyer was a twelve year old from
Greeneville, South Carolina, Tradd Little. He has been a fly tyer at Sowbug
since 2014 and has garnered quite a bit of attention as an accomplished tyer.
This year he entered the fly tying
contest for the first time. He submitted flies in all ten categories and won in
five that is half. This is an unprecedented achievement. We have had tyers win
in two categories but never in five categories and at such a young age. If that
were not enough, he also won the blindfolded woolly bugger fly tying contest.
Then Wapsi (a local company that is the largest distributer of fly tying
materials in the world) gave all of the tyers a new product and asked them to
tie a fly and submit it for judging. He won that. What a fly tyer.
He is not just a fly tyer. I
observed him fishing last fall, when I was guiding a mobility impaired adult
client on Dry Run Creek. Tradd was systematically moving up the stream sight
casting at big browns and catching an incredible number of fish. He was netting
his own trout and having a huge time. His dad was on the bank watching him and
beaming in admiration. My only fear was that he would catch all of the trout in
the stream.
The food, like last year, was
excellent. This was done by a non-profit group from the local Methodist Church
that funds a back pack program to feed local children. They are basically a
group of church ladies (although a few guys were involved). Breakfast featured
home baked muffins, biscuits with sausage gravy and other fine baked goods.
Lunch included burgers, barbeque, Frito pie (a personal favorite), salads and
daily specials. It was all great.
The special touch, other than
everything being homemade and delicious, was that they would go around the
building and take lunch orders. If you were too busy to leave your vise they
would bring lunch to you. What a great deal. At the end of the day they would
reduce the price of what was left to make room for fresh goodies the next day.
I must say that I took a few muffins home.
We definitely had it going on this
year and I look forward to next year’s Sowbug Roundup!
John Berry is a fly fishing guide with
Blue Ribbon Guides in Cotter, Arkansas and has fished our local streams for
over thirty years.
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