The feathers have settled and the judges have deliberated over the creations produced by the 2015 "Clipped" participants. It was an exciting contest with the playing field leveled by a change in the rules and the abundance of cake induced high energy. In the end, the results showed that you can't bet against the young guns of fly tying. George Marshall and Ian Wildermuth once again rose to the occasion and took home the top prizes with George edging out Ian by just a few points with his stunning Stonefly imitation. Jeff Hollamon rounded out the top three with his stylized Steelhead pattern and promises to share his secret of success at a future Tyer’s Table.
While all of the competitors had to deal with my collection of off-the-wall secret materials, the big surprise of the day was young Madison Tipps who seemed unfazed and very focused throughout her tying session. Madison scored a spiffy new Nautilus Reels T and trucker hat for the Woolly Bugger Award as the youngest entrant in the event. While it may take awhile for her to grow into the T-shirt, she's on her way to challenging the guys in next year's contest. If you want to see the future of fly tying, take a look, it’s right here.
In the celebrity division, Bill Black of Spirit River (our material sponsor) made a valiant effort to take home the glory and bragging rights, but fell short as Eric Neufeld of Raging River Sales garnered more popular votes and took the trophy. When Eric isn’t on the semi-pro fly tying and rodeo circuit he’s changing the world as our Simms/Winston/Nautilus/Airflo/Echo/Umpqua rep. Our thanks to both of these gentlemen and all of the competitors for making this year’s “Clipped” contest a big success. Let’s do it again next year!
While all of the competitors had to deal with my collection of off-the-wall secret materials, the big surprise of the day was young Madison Tipps who seemed unfazed and very focused throughout her tying session. Madison scored a spiffy new Nautilus Reels T and trucker hat for the Woolly Bugger Award as the youngest entrant in the event. While it may take awhile for her to grow into the T-shirt, she's on her way to challenging the guys in next year's contest. If you want to see the future of fly tying, take a look, it’s right here.
In the celebrity division, Bill Black of Spirit River (our material sponsor) made a valiant effort to take home the glory and bragging rights, but fell short as Eric Neufeld of Raging River Sales garnered more popular votes and took the trophy. When Eric isn’t on the semi-pro fly tying and rodeo circuit he’s changing the world as our Simms/Winston/Nautilus/Airflo/Echo/Umpqua rep. Our thanks to both of these gentlemen and all of the competitors for making this year’s “Clipped” contest a big success. Let’s do it again next year!
