Where do I start...?.....at the beginning of course! I rarely sleep well when I know I'm getting up early so after a couple of broken hours last night I got up at 2am .. and as quietly as I could loaded the car 'till it groaned.
I set off at just after three and bimbled off down the M6/M1/M25 to Rickmansworth and the 2014 lurefair.
I was there nice and early and bagged a good spot amongst the second hand stalls. Before I'd finished setting up I'd sold a bivvy and passed on a carp barrow to a friend for delivery to another LAS member.
The venue was fantastic, with the stalls being laid out on a huge balcony on two sides of a large hall with banked seats at one end.
I managed to have a quick look round before the opening time but had already bought a lure before the event started - be rude not to with new boxed Rapalas at £2/3!
I have only the last lurefair to compare to but there were more people there in the first hour than were there all day last time. It was mental until early/mid afternoon. I couldn't keep up with the people wanting to buy, buy, buy!
The layout also meant I could listen to the speakers who were all excellent and passed on a many useful tips.
It was nice to meet some new faces and the rest of the LAS gang - even though I've only been a member a couple of years it's like greeting old friends.
There was a fantastic turnout of retailers and the place was rammed solid with all things lure related.
Roy Goddard has done a fantastic job of organising the day- it really has grown into an amazing event.
The second hand stall was buried in mounds of bargains and the staff - mainly the committe with help from members (sorry I can't name-check them all) who worked tirelessly to sell the members gear and raise funds for the society.
It was nice to meet and chat to Julian who is organising the British Lure Angling Championships. Not sure it's for me but I wish him every success with the venture .
I was whacked by two and chucked everything in the car and spent the last couple of hours having a chat.
It was nice to catch up with Evaldas from The Lure Angler Shop. The range of Dobyns rods he is now stocking is very impressive - without guys like Evaldas investing in the importation of gear like this we would never get a chance to have a wiggle of all that exotic loveliness!
I also spent a while chatting to Ben from Art of Fishing who brought along a huge range of Fish Arrow and Ecogear stuff along with a new range of interesting SPs the name of which escapes me at the moment!
I did manage to zip round at the end and spend a bit of my hard earned cash - and what was in the basket?....
.. one or two bits of Fiiish gear from the 'Pike Shop' stall today.
...a few trout/samon lures at ridiculous prices - a little over £10 for this lot!
..something new to me from AoF...
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