Thread about 'brick and mortar' fly shops on the main board brought this to mind....

Local fly shops often carry fly tying materials. It's where I got my first 'stuff' to tie flies with. I expect many folks did also. But any 'small' fly shop will always have a limited selection of materials. They usually carry the matterials needed for the favorite local patterns in additon to the basics of the standard patterns, maybe some a bit more than that. For the casual tyer they are often adequate at best.

For those of us who have got bitten hard by the tying bug, though, even the big shops are only a partial solution to the 'where do I get THAT?' question.

The internet isn't just a place to buy stuff. Look at all the fly patterns you can find, all the tying videos showing you how to tie a particular pattern, all the article on sites like this one with how to fish a certain pattern, how to tie it, where to use it. I'll guarantee that if you wanted to tie all the flies that come through the Fly of the Week here there isn't one fly shop in the world that would have all of the materials required.

Which brings me to my point. Unless you have access to several fly shops that all have a decent selection of differing materials, you are forced to the internet for your tying needs. Not the fly shops fault. There just isn't enough room in the average fly shop, nor the dollars to tie up in inventory, to carry everything.

Usually, if I need a material, it's pretty specific. If the local shops don't have it, the only easy option is the internet. And it IS easy. Find it, click a few keys and enter the required information. A couple of days later, it's there. You got exactly what you needed, never had to leave the house.

Would it be nice to 'support' your local fly shop. Sure. That's personal choice, though. You don't really 'owe' your local shop anything unless you think you do. I try to buy from my local shop whenever they have something I need. However, after years of fly tying and buying materials, I currently have much more materials than my local shop stocks.

Which is one reason for having the internet in the first place. I use it frequently. I don't feel guilty about it.

Buddy