I'll be very busy for the next few days unloading and unpacking. The 2011 Expo set a new attendance record although I don't know by how much, yet. We sold as many two-day tickets on Saturday by 10:30AM as we did all day Saturday last year, and last year was no slouch.

I have about 300 photos and as I prepare the new magazine issue I'll move a few more on to the photo page. But that may be a couple days.

The following guys won the Expo door prizes - 2 Jackson Coosa Kayaks, Batson Forecast wrapping machine and Bingham Enterprises Daiwa Saltist Reel:

Lance Carter, Canada - kayak
Al Herbert, Illinois - kayak
Dan Watson, Florida - Forecast Wrapper
John McMullen, North Carolina - Daiwa Reel

There were too many winners from the Reception to list. Will get the names of the Renzetti, Pac Bay and Eco Wrapper winners up as soon as I dig through the paperwork.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2011 08:04AM by Tom Kirkman.

Congrats to the raffle winners. I believe the winner of the Renzetti was Charles Palmer as that was the prize I was really paying attention to

As a relatively new rod builder I really enjoyed the experience. I attended quite a few seminars and thought they were all very well done for the most part. There were also some very good deals there. I got to see Lana's work. The Marlin and the American Flag were spectacular...talk about time consuming. But just amazing work....almost too nice to think about using to fish with. I spent quite a bit of time talking with David Boyle about Visual Weave and Visual Wrap as I need to understand those 2 programs better. David took all the time I needed, answered every question in detail, and really gave me some insight that I never would have gotten otherwise. And all in a pleasant and unassuming manner. Fish Stix had some great deals and there was even a booth that had exotic skins to be used in custom builds.

The biggest drag for me was the drive and unfortunately I had to miss a Sunday afternoon seminar that I really wanted to attend just so I could drive back at a reasonable time.

I know it's a lot of work and I really appreciate those who are responsible for putting this one. I am hoping that perhaps it could become 2 shows in the future...a north and a south....as the drive would probably preclude me from doing this again in the future. Great show and great people. The drive though was a killer though and I would not want to fly with all the supplies and blanks I had bought

Great expo. Thanks Tom for putting this on and to all those who played a role in putting this together

Yes, that would be me that won the Renzetti. This was my 3rd expo and my 2nd reception and was totally unexpected and well worth the drive. Spent a few minutes with Andy and Danny at the booth thanking them for their donation as well as reviewing the features and looking at some of the other options that I will placing an order for this week.

As a custom builder located in Southern Maryland on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, I build about twenty rods a year in addition to a significant amount of repair and restoration work. Ranging from Fly, Heavy Trolling, and Light-weight casting rods for the local amateur clubs, the Renzetti will come in quite handy. With several hand wrappers and a competitor's power wrapper already in my rod building arsenal, the addition of the Renzetti will no doubt open up other areas of creativity that I will be able to offer my clients.

Already unpacked and setup and in the process of building a new stand just for this prized possession in addition to sorting through the other thousands of dollars worth of supplies and components that I purchased at the show.

Again, thanks to Tom and Renzetti for this great prize.

Jim,

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sadly, we can't split the show - the exhibitors wouldn't able to afford to attend two, with half as much attendance at either. Rod building is a relatively small craft and the numbers just don't allow us to do that sort of thing. Maybe a decade in the future, perhaps.

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Thanks Tom. Centennial Station was very nice.....and packed