Made a special 6 hour round trip to the Cities to a "new" fly shop (for me) for rod building supplies that couldn't be mailed(?). Fellow discounted my choice of line weight (7 wt.), figured I wasn't catching bass of any size, and pretty much suggested I didn't know what I was doing. Hmmmm. I average about a dozen 5 lb. bass a year, do quite well overall for the other species I fish for. I could have and should have headed south past Cabalas and gone on to Altoona for the Iowa Show. I've visited a lot of "local" fly shops from Boston to the Keys, from Portland, OR to the Twin Cities. I guess I've found one that fits the description many of you have written about, but never experienced myself. Still spent about 70 bucks in the place. Call it karma. Call it the last time. JGW

[This message has been edited by white43 (edited 20 February 2005).]