Anyone else had this type of service?

[Byron haugh]

I usually shop on-line with Blue Ribbon Flies and get my goods quickly. For some reason, I tried a different supplier this time.

I ordered a bunch of things including a number of Whiting 100 packs. I waited longer than usual to receive the package. When I opened it, there were only a few of the items I ordered! I was charged correctly, but most of the order was not filled.

Now, when I ordered on-line, none of the items were indicated to be "out of stock". I did not receive an email indicating the paucity of materials available.

I was really disappointed with this order. It was a MAJOR supplier. I have only used them a few times and will not use them in the future.

I don't want to name the company in case they might be an advertiser here - I don't think they are - it was NOT J Stockard.

Frustrating!!

[Kytroutbum]

I was in a West Yellowstone flyshop (Not Blue Ribbon Flies) and asked about Whiting 100's. They didn't have them I was told. Less than 10 minutes later, a young lady came in and asked for hackles. SHE was told that they had some in the back and were dying them tonight. He actually gave her the colors they were going to use. (It was very apparent that she hadn't made any prior arrangements with them.) After she left, I said something about it and was given "a justification?" that they don't charge the girls anymore for the hackles the tyers. (I wonder what the dying fee was???) Having taught Middle School for 33 years, I can tell a whopper when I hear one. I had been buying my summer tying supplies and had about $100+ of hooks, beads, etc., which I placed on the desk and informed him he could reshelve these also after hours, also. By the way, I happened walk down to BRF's(:>)
Does anyone remember a few years ago, when everyone was asking us to support our local flyshops and not the big boxes!! It works both ways! BTW, I almost always buy items that are variable- hackles, etc. in person or talk to the shop on the phone.

[Kytroutbum]

Tried to send you a PM.

[Byron haugh]

Could you have been in Aricks?

[Kytroutbum]

As my grandbabies say "You not warm but very hot"! Did you have a similar experience in there?

[Byron haugh]

Not exactly! I think Blue Ribbon Flies is the best. I really like Bob Jacklin, personally, but his tying supplies are fairly meager. Madison River Outfitters and Bud Lilly's have sort of become more clothing stores than fly shops. Have you ever tried the new little shop - Jimmy's a block off the main street. Interesting shop.

What is particularly amazing to me, though, are the shops in Island Park. Neither Lawson's nor Trout Hunter have much in the way of fly tying. I'm sure it is because they pretty much cater to the guiding business and their patrons are fly users, not fly tiers.

I kind of like Parks Fly Shop up in Gardiner, Mt. Small, but fairly well stocked.

My biggest disappointment was in what's happened to Dan Bailey's in Livingston, Mt. That used to be the home of a lot of tying stuff. He used to have a number of ladies in there tying - in the real old days. i think now they are primarily a catalog outfit.

[Kytroutbum]

Not exactly! I think Blue Ribbon Flies is the best. I really like Bob Jacklin, personally, but his tying supplies are fairly meager. Madison River Outfitters and Bud Lilly's have sort of become more clothing stores than fly shops. Have you ever tried the new little shop - Jimmy's a block off the main street. Interesting shop.

I am a campground host for the USFS in Wyoming just outside of Cooke City and the NE Entrance of YNP. I spend a day off in West Yellowstone in early June and then again in September before leaving. If Jimmy's is the small shop across from the grocery store, I walked into there to buy Frog Hair tippett which was on sale and walked out with a fantastic deal on a 3wt rod. I have been told by the owner of one of the best equiped shops in the Southeast that fly tying materials turn only pennies profit and are the least profitable per space of anything in a flyshop, hence the clothes etc.

My problem is that I like to "eyeball" what I buy. I buy very little online. I usually head to West Yellowstone with my hackle guage and stock up. I get a lot of tying done during runoff and while waiting for "ice off" on the Beartooth's High Mountain lakes.

[Byron haugh]

So, which shop do you think is the best in West????

[narcodog]

I very much like Madison River Flies in Ennis. If you are looking for a lot of synthetic materials the Bear Tooth Fly Shop south of Ennis is the place to go. I usually buy only hair at BRF's they have the best. Other than that most of their prices are higher then other shops. For hackle I use Campfire Lodge, he has the largest assortment of Whiting of anyone.

[Silver Creek]

You guys already mentioned the places I always go to when I am in Montana.

Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone for deer hair, Jim Slattery's Campfire Lodge for hackle and misc items, Madison River Flies in Ennis for hooks and misc items, and Bear Tooth Fly Shop near Cameron, MT for fly tying materials you find nowhere else. You can hit all of them if you drive from West Yellowstone to Ennis. I should also mention Kelly Galloup's Slide Inn just a few miles south of the Campfire Lodge. The lowest prices are at The Campfire Lodge.

Since I visit them every year, I pretty much know what I want to buy in each place. Troutfitters in Island Park, ID on the Henry's Fork is the place to go for CDC. That's pretty much all I buy there unless I want a copy of a particular fly pattern.