I like their leaders very much, good prices.
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[url=http://www.native-waters.com:c6a8f]http://www.native-waters.com[/url:c6a8f]
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I like their leaders very much, good prices.
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[url=http://www.native-waters.com:c6a8f]http://www.native-waters.com[/url:c6a8f]
If you don't have any other fly shop in the area you'll be happy.
-ST
I have a 5 wt White Rive and matching reel I use in the lake behind the house and like it very much. I also buy quite a bit of their fly tying materials...the store is in Orlando, so it's fairly close. And as Roger said, I like their leaders also.
It's nice to be able to walk into a fly shop at 9 o'clock at night and buy hooks or some other fly-tying supplies, when other fly shops would never think of being open. Convenience.
In my experience, none of the fly shops anywhere around the country have every fly-tying material you need or want. But invariably, when I visit Bass Pro, they have something I can't seem to find anywhere else locally and I pick it up.
Although I prefer to mail order my supplies, it is nice to have a choice, and Bass Pro enhances this benefit.
BPS is the closet shop to me at 2 hours drive. The BPS in Nashville is a great shop, and unlike Nighthawk, the local Gander Mountain is puny by comparison. Admitadly, I live where Fly Fishing is an oddity so even the local Wally Worlds got rid of all the FF stuff. BPS in Nashville has hired some real fly fisherman to staff the department. There is one older gentleman who will tie a fly on request and is amazingly good at it. Can talk to you and explain what he is doing while he is doing it. I like to get there in the middle of the day on a week day and the department is not crowded with 100 MPH Bass Buggy Jockeys, and I can sort of have the gentleman to myself. The stock is great and the prices good (other than the 9.5% Tennessee sales tax.
my 2 cents.
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Clint
Wise men still seek HIM...
Depends upon where you live and what other options are available.
I have not bought anything from their fly shop because I have better alternatives. I have bought sw hooks and lines. As a note, the hooks in the fly shop are more expensive than the exact same hook carried in their regular fishing gear (different SKU#). Do your homework!
The store in MD is limited in the rod brands they carry and primarily push their own brand.
First experience of a Bass Pro was the shop in Orlando, and let me tell you we have nothing like this in the UK. Once I got past the excitement created by the scale of it, and the number of products it carried, I thought the fly fishing section was quite limited.
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JME
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Member of B.A.S.S [url=http://www.ukbass.com:c6a25]http://www.ukbass.com[/url:c6a25]
Every shop has its pro's and con's. When it comes to BPS, if it's the only gig in town, I think you'll absolutely fall in love with it.
I am fortunate to have a BPS as well as Orvis and other independent flyshops in the area.
Here are some of the pluses of BPS in my from my own experience:
They do have a good selection of hooks be it Tiemco, Mustand or their own WhiteRiver label.
A good selection of thread can be found hanging on the walls.
They don't have every dubbing blend known to man but they do have a modest selection that will keep you busy tying, even if you have to buy one of the compartment containers to get the color you specifically want.
The hackle selection from premium companies is lacking, they do carry a few necks and some of the hundred packs. Possibly the best hackle deal they have is the $20 dollar capes they have packaged for them which come in most of the normal colors one would use to tie trout flies.
The materials are available to tie zonkers, wooly buggers, black-nosed daces, mickey finns and the likes.
When it comes to comparing to stores like Cabela's and other stores you will start to see the gaps that BPS could do a better job of filling in, in order to be elevated a notch or two in the eyes of flyanglers.
Like I said eariler, every shop has its pro's and con's. Cabela's for instance sells most of their threads, wires, tinsels in 2 or 4 piece packs which irk's me to no end. Additionally, some of their other materials that you would normally buy by the card are also packed in bulk lots. In my area Cabela's would take BPS to the mat when it comes to the available selection of materials.
With all this said, BPS does fit into the scheme of things and I know I was elated when I had access to another shop that carried fly gear and materials.
One other thing that has not been mentioned to my knowledge is that BPS, atleast in my area, hosts a fly tyers roundtable which allows you to meet other tyers in the area and to come together on the weekend to crank out a few flies and indulge in some comraderie.
BPS has enough gear to outfit one for flyfishing or fly tying regardless of how they line up against their competitors.
Well, I own a 270 reel and it's very nice for the money. My brother bought a very nice 3 weight 7'6" fly rod from BassPro and I like it alot. I prefer Cabellas over Basspro but that's just me. We have a Bass Pro opening here in Tulsa, Ok in mid October. It will be nice to have. They do carry TFO rods and some very nice brands of reels and gear. I personally think that you get pretty good stuff with the Basspro name of White River for the money. I like the fact that I know they guys at the local flyshop by name better though so will still continue to send my business to D&B in Tulsa.
My local BPS is the one in Dania, Florida. I like it quite a bit. They material selection is decent but not fantastic. The people there have been very knowledgeable and have included local guides and celebrities such as Capt. Bill Curtis, Charlie Richter, Ted Schwarz and Al Pfleuger. Recently they've moved away from hiring guides but the people are still pretty knowledgeable. It's definitely a friendly place where you can have nice conversations. I also like some of their equipment pretty well.
My local fly shops: The Fly Shop of Ft. Lauderdale and Ole Florida fly shop are also great and carry a far more extensive supply of materials & equipment. The only problem is they have limited hours so I don't get over there as often.
Ken