The weather was spectacular and the turnout great with celebrity tyers and anglers galore.
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]enzetti, Inc. hosted their 4th Fly Fishing and Rod Building Fair on December 7, 2013 in Titusville, Florida. About 200 dedicated fly anglers, fly tyers and rod builders enjoyed hours of interaction and instruction with the industry’s headliners and ambassadors of the world of fly fishing. Among the “celebs” were Lefty Kreh, Bob Clouser, Bob Popovics, Flip Pallot, Jon Cave, Capt. Scott Hamilton, Wendy Radwan, David Olsen, Dr. Aaron Adams, Pat Ehlers and many other local celebrities.
Bob Popovics from Seaside Park, New Jersey is to fly tying what Mark Castlow (Dragonfly Boats) is to skiff building; innovation at its best. Anyone spending ten minutes with Popovics comes away with at least one new fly tying tip.
Click here to view Bob’s new book.
The fair started with the Pledge of Allegiance – followed by an operatic male voice signing the Star Spangled Banner. It was a remembrance of that historic day , “. . . a date which will live in infamy.”
Lily Renzetti co-owns the company with her husband Andy. She’s a dynamo of boundless energy – seemingly being everywhere all at once, and as friendly and cheerful in the morning as she was at the fair’s end. Lilly said: “This is our best fair yet.” We couldn’t agree more, Lily.
While the fly tying, rod building and tackle vendors were in the cavernous Renzetti plant, casting clinics were outdoors, along with boat displays by Hell’s Bay Boatworks, Custom Gheenoe, Maverick Boats and Dragonfly Boats.
Lefty, as usual, gathered a large crowd when he went through all the how to and how not to rules of fly casting.
Flip Pallot and The Fly Shop of Miami’s David Olsen answer a customer’s technical question. David, in the mint colored shirt, is the Managing Partner of the popular Miami shop. Olsen is also a FFF Certified Master Caster and demonstrated Spey casting techniques at the Fair.
Click here to visit the Fly Shop of Miami.
Two organizations benefited from the proceeds, Casting for Recovery (CR), a weekend retreat program that teaches fly casting – a therapy for women recovering from breast cancer surgery, and Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, a national non-profit group dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled service members and veterans.
Based on his father’s original Gheenoe design of the late 1960s; son Harley “Pugar” Gheen Jr. (shown above at the Fair) went on a different path in 2003 and started Unlimited Glassworks; building the LT 15, LT 25 and NMZ 15’ 4”. In so doing, Pugar created some of the best “micro” skiffs on the market today with sales keeping builds out to 6- to 8-weeks and with a mounting cadre of followers as devoted to their boats as the Gheen family has been about the quality of their products.
Click here to visit Gheenoe website.
Tours of the Renzetti facility and its tool-making equipment were also available.
About Renzetti:
Renzetti Inc. is the country’s leading manufacturer of fly tying vises and rod building equipment. The Renzetti’s have hosted the fair since moving their plant from Pennsylvania to Titusville, Florida in 1996.
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Click here to visit Renzetti’s website […]
Renzetti Inc.
8800 Grissom Parkway
Titusville, FL 32780 USA
Phone: 1-321-267-7705
Fax: 1-321-264-5929
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Wendy Radwan began fly casting 10 years ago, then fly fishing and about five yeas ago she became fascinated with flies and began tying. She’s from central Florida. Radwan is the president of a local Reel Women club ith about 20 members that try to meet once a month.
