Quote Originally Posted by zaxaca View Post
BassPro (in Nashville) used to have a shop called White River Fly Shop (or some such). They blew that up (maybe as a result of the flood) but still have limited flyfishing stuff in the same general area. It's a fraction of what it used to be and nothing in comparison to Cabelas.
It is still there and in the same place. What happened is they took out a part of the wall that contained it and brought in some other types of fishing gear after the moved the fly fishing apparel to other parts of the store. In that regard it is less convenient, but their selection is still about the same as before. They have pushed a couple of racks of fly rods out into the main area of the store. It just isn't as cozy and contained as it used to be. The flies and fly-tying stuff are in the same place although there have been changes in what is carried. The rack space is exactly the same. The tools are the about the same and mostly in the same places, although there has been some migration in that regard. The inside wall to the right is gone. I grant you that some of that space has gone to spin fishing gear, but most of the area now occupied by other fishing gear is where the waders were and those have moved to the diagonally opposite corner of the store with the other footwear. Again, that is not convenient to fly anglers but seemed to make sense to the management. I suppose we frightened the duck hunters?

The Cabela?s I went to in Michigan was not that much better for fly fishing except in the selection of vises. Apparently both chains tailor their stores to perceived demand and thus stores are different. Cabela?s reps have told me that they tend to concentrate more on hunting than fishing. I have patronized both chains fairly heavily and agree, although Cabela?s does seem to give a greater percentage of their fishing department to fly fishing.

The really sad thing to me is Cumberland Transit moving its fly fishing area to ?purgatory? in the loft, to use an optimistic term. It seems the new partner felt a need to stamp around and mark territory. And of course, such actions usually leave an unpleasant smell.

Including Bass Pro, we have 4 fly shops in Nashville if Game Fair Ltd. kept theirs. I miss the Fly Chucker, but things change and we miss the things we liked when they change or go away. Anyone who fishes the Harpeth River drainage for a number of years should be thoroughly used to that concept.


Regards,
Ed