gw banner
 
 
sage
Chicago Expo
February 20-22

Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center
1551 N. Thoreau Dr.
Schaumburg, IL
I-90 & HWY. 53
Phone (847) 303-4100 for reservations and special Expo rates

scientific anglers


Minneapolis Expo
March 6-8

Sheraton Bloomington Hotel Minneapolis South
7800 Normandale Blvd.
Bloomington, MN

I-94 & HWY. 100
Phone (855) 837-4278 for reservations and special Expo rates

 


Tom Helgeson's Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo


CHICAGO   Feb. 20 – 22, 2009
Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel   and Convention Center
 
MINNEAPOLIS  March 6 – 8, 2009
Sheraton Bloomington Hotel Minneapolis South

We wish you an adventure-filled new fly fishing year and we’re pleased to announce the dates and locations for the 2009 Great Waters Fly Fishing Expos in Chicago and Minneapolis.

We’ll keep you informed by email newsletter (you can sign up on this page) and through updates on this website to learn more about 2009. We are committed once again to creating expos that reflect a total lifestyle involvement in fly fishing — from helping you fish better and where to do that fishing to education about environmental issues and opportunities for advocacy.

Our ‘09 expos will be even more interactive than ‘08 and we’ll invite celebrity anglers and fly tiers who can teach as well as entertain, and they’ll be true ambassadors of our sport.

To those of you who were with us in Chicago and Minneapolis, our sincerest thanks. Here’s a recap of our expos. We’re very proud of what was accomplished by our presenters and by the many volunteers who brought their experience and experience to our shows:

 

helgesonGreat Waters Expo: Helping make you a better angler

• More than 4,000 anglers and would-be anglers attended the Great Waters Expos in Chicago and Minneapolis.

•  FFF instructors taught taught more than 450 individuals how to fly cast. during both weekends.

• More than 145  women attended Women in Fly Fishing reception/workshops on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

• Sarah Sanford, who has organized four annual volunteer clean ups of  west-central Wisconsin’s Rush River received the Dr. Thomas F. Waters Stewardship Award at the Minneapolis expo.

• 40 young persons and family members attended Camp Fly Fish for Kids on Saturday at the Minneapolis expo.


• Many of the best fly tiers in the Midwest (and vicinity) tied flies and entertained passers-by with their talents. 

• Hundreds of other attendees attended fly fishing classes and seminars and fly casting demonstrations by a host of national and local fly fishing and fly tying celebrities and teachers.


It pleases me to say now that the Great Waters Expos were entertaining and upbeat fly fishing experiences, with the traditional mix of vendors — powerhouse manufacturers of fly fishing products, lodge owners, travel venues, artists,  outfitters who guide and sell flies and trips — but it occurs to me now that Great Waters 2008expressed much more about our sport.

For two and a half days we saw the best of fly fishing and fly fishing people at their best — a community of sport-loving people gathered to express the joy they find in this fine recreation, united by an affection for one another and concern about the protection of the rivers, streams and lakes where our sport and our adventures occur. Nothing could be better.

We’ll do it again and more next year, and we’ll be in touch.

Tom Helgeson
The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo

"We have had vendor booths at the Great Waters Expo in Minneapolis for four years and both years in Chicago. We count the Expos as 'can’t miss events’. From education to networking, the Great Waters Expos bring out the best in Midwest fly fishing. Whether you’re interested in cold water fishing or warm water fishing, the Great Waters Expos will have something for you. We use the Expos as a large portion of our annual marketing. We book trips, plan the year and spread the word about the abundant fishing opportunities in the Midwest. This is best venue for our sport that we have ever experienced — not just for the Midwest, but anywhere."

Wendy Williamson and Larry Mann
Hayward (Wis.) Fly Fishing Co.



Wendy and Larry and Muskie


 

 

 

 














At the Expos
 

castinglesson
 Fly Casting Lessons
 
women
 Women in Fly Fishing
 
conservation
 Conservation
 
sportingart
 Sporting Artists
 
fish biology
 Fish Biology
 
live bug show
 Live Bug Show
 

Destinations
 
watercraft
 Watercraft