BETHEL — Participants at the Western Maine Fly Fishing Expo on Saturday, March 22, can learn the latest fishing techniques and visit with guides, sporting camp owners and angling exhibitors.
It will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bethel Inn Conference Center in Bethel. Admission is $5 for adults and free for youths ages 15 and under.
Sponsored by The Mollyockett Chapter of Trout Unlimited, exhibitors include Maine and New Hampshire outfitters and guide services, sporting camps, wildlife artists and authors, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Casting for Recovery, equipment manufacturers and retailers.
Attendees can learn the art of fly-tying, rod-building and wildlife photography, Scott Stone, show coordinator, said in a news release Monday.
Additionally, there will be seminars on getting started in fly-fishing, travel to destination fisheries, and fly-tying contests in age and ability categories.
Sponsors and exhibiting vendors are giving away dozens of door prizes every hour.
This year, all proceeds from an auction of items that include guided trips, sporting camp vacations and fly-fishing gear, will go toward construction of the Veterans Casting Platform at Songo Locks on Sebago Lake to benefit wounded servicemen and women, Stone said.
Last year, members of The Mollyockett Chapter and other Maine Trout Unlimited chapters were about to start fundraising efforts to give wounded veterans a place to fish at Songo Locks.
George Westerberg of Lovell and The Mollyockett Chapter said at last year’s expo that the chapter wants to build a veterans’ pier at the locks in Sebago Lake State Park in Casco. He said the two platforms, which will extend into the water, will have rails to prevent veterans in wheelchairs from falling in.
The piers will also help Trout Unlimited members teach wounded warriors and disabled veterans of every conflict the art of fishing with a fly and other lures.
Stone recently said Westerberg used his money to get necessary permits prior to starting fundraising efforts.
“Now this is in the fundraising stage and the project budget is $80,000, and all of the proceeds from the show this year are going to that,” Stone said. “I can’t think of a more worthy cause.”
Additionally at the expo, The Fly Fishing Film Tour, a nationwide movie tour featuring segments from the best fishing films of the year, will cap off the day.
The 2½-hour movie “North of Wild” will be shown at 7 p.m. at The Bethel Inn Conference Center. Tickets are $8 in advance at The Bethel Inn or by calling 207-824-3694, or $12 at the door.
Stone said the film was produced by Carter Davidson of Gray Ghost Productions. Davidson is a Bethel native who grew up fishing in Western Maine and has handcrafted his own wooden drift boat, he said.
Gray Ghost Productions has produced several fishing films, including “The One,” “Turning Tail,” “The Good Life” and “East by North East.”
For more information about the expo, visit www.westernmaineflyfishingexpo.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
