Happy New Year wishes to one and all from the GFS2008 Swapmeister; and
herewith, the Official Announcement for the 2008 edition of the annual ROFF
Great Fly Swap. If you have no idea what this is about or how it works,
first check Stan Gula's page at http://gula.org/roffswaps/faq.html. In
keeping with an environmentally-conscious effort, this announcement has been
recycled. On with the details:



Sign up period: 12:00:01 a.m. January 1, 2008 through 11:59:59 p.m. January
14, 2008. Two weeks ought to be enough time for you to make up your mind.



Completion and submission date: February 13, 2008. All flies should be in
my hands by that date. That gives you 3 weeks to tie and another week or so
for shipping. Piece o' cake.



Number of Participants: While many swappers think nothing of tying scores of
flies, it does tend to become a bit tedious after the first couple dozen.
OTOH, I've found the swaps to be a great forced learning tool, and after a
couple dozen, mine start to look a lot better. So unless things really get
out of hand (arbitrarily, let's say 50 or more), there will be no limit on
the number of participants. If you sign up, be prepared to tie several
dozen if it goes that far. If it does go that far, I'll consider extending
the submission date; but past years augur against that.



Tags: Please securely attach a tag to each fly indicating your name and the
name of the fly. More than that is not necessary. Too large a tag can make
packaging and sorting somewhat of a problem in some instances (see the
Return Packaging comments below.) I'd also recommend avoiding tied-on tags
that can tangle together in transit. A simple piece of stiff paper is
usually sufficient; but be certain it's substantial enough to withstand the
trip both ways.



Return packaging: All fly sets submitted should include a return package
that is already addressed and containing the correct postage. Second to
sorting flies, addressing and affixing postage to packages is the most
time-consuming task for the Swapmeister, IME.



NB#1: One thing to keep in mind - some folks send larger flies and/or larger
tags than you. If you tie up 40 brassies and send me a film container or
small fly box, that's not going to be big enough to send back 39 other flies
the size of #2/0 Clousers with index cards for tags. Back when VCR tapes
were the media du jour, those boxes were just about the perfect size.



NB#2: Compartmentalized fly boxes have, in my experience, been inadequate in
years past for the reasons above. They're nice for keeping your little
flies separate, but I can't jam index cards into them when other swappers
use big tags & zip-lock bags.



Extra flies and extra postage: Please don't. It's a fine gesture and one
that has been appreciated in the past, but it isn't necessary. If you wish
to include and designate and extra fly or two for a good cause, that's fine;
but please, nothing extra for the Swapmeister.



That's about it for now. I'll probably get around to posting all of this on
a temporary website (http://mysite.verizon.net/gfs2008/); and I heartily
recommend a visit to Stan Gula's page for the FAQs
(http://gula.org/roffswaps/faq.html), especially regarding tags & packaging.



Swapmeister's address: I'm considering acquiring a more convenient PO Box
just for the swap, and I'll post that as soon as I've done it. I recommend
the USPS, but if you are from outside the USA and plan to use a courier
service (e.g. DHL) that will not deliver to a PO box, let me know.



International swappers: Determining exchange rates & postage for return
shipping is just one of those things that's more trouble than it's worth.
So, in keeping with past years, my policy is thus: You pay to ship them to
me, and I'll pay to ship them to you. Don't worry about including return
postage. It isn't that much, and there aren't that many of you.



The good news is that I finally figured out how to shoot decent macro images
with my point-n-shoot, so I will be putting up photos, maybe even as they
come in.



There's no prize for the first to sign up after midnight; and I probably
won't check until after a Bloody Mary & two Advil tomorrow, but at 12:00:01
a.m. the fun begins. Gentlemen/women, man your vises.



Have fun,

Joe Fleischman

GFS2008 Swapmeister