Athabasca Outdoor Show: A Successful First Year & Future Growth

The Athabasca Outdoor Show has come and gone and for our first year with this show we have to call it a success. As with any show attendance could have been better but that will grow and so will the overall show. Athabasca is a small community and so we need to work on drawing up some of the Edmonton folks to attend, this is something we can work on for next season.

Athabasca Outdoor Show view from behind the casting pool.
A look inside the pool.

We were able to get the casting pool completed and assembled in time for the show. It was a tight time line and so we did not have time to get a Trout farm up to get fish into the pool but again this is an area we will grow next season. The visitors to the show loved the casting pool and the programs we had around it.
JFL Team member Laura working some lures.
Long view of pool.
Demo Area just before show opened on Friday, while Laura prepares her gear.

Team JFL members were doing demos from the pool all show long, as well as teaching fly casting. The pool was used by the Tawatinaw Watershed Stewards also as they had an amazing program on the Athabasca River and Tawatinaw tributaries. They were fantastic and the kids loved the slide show they had with all of the wildlife photos.

There were many new fly fishermen and women who showed up to learn how to cast properly and learn tips on how to fish and present their lures. They all had a great time and left with a satisfaction and confidence to go out and have a fun time fishing and learning.

One of the Contest Winners learning to fly fish.

So until next season we will think about what we can do to make the show better and work on those and as well promote the show to increase the attendance. However I have to say that for a small town this show is going to grow to a big city caliber type show. We had Chevrolet and Ford there as well as numerous ATV shops Boats and other outdoor things from John Deere and a host of Fishing Lodges and Fish and Game associations. Given the content we already have and the growth expected this show is going to be a must attend in a couple of seasons. Also Athabasca is urging everyone to vote for Athabasca in the WFN Ultimate Fishing town contest. If you need a town to vote for pick Athabasca, a small town with big fish.

 http://www.wfnfishingtown.ca/town/athabasca-ab

Gary Love, WFN Ambassador, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada.