Betty,Most shops I know of are on or near a river . By that I include shops in "Trout Towns" like Roscoe and West Yellowstone. I consider those shops to be on or near a river. Big shops away from rivers usually also carry stuff like skiing equip and other out door stuff like a regular sporting goods store. Sure you can always find a shop like Jimmy D's in NYC in the old days . In Pa.there are shops in small towns but those small towns are usually within a very short distance of several streams. Unless someone has a mailorder or internet business out of their home I'm having a hard time thinking of a shop that isn't with in a few miles of a river and those that are several miles away are within that distance of several streams...kinda centered if you will. Again, you can have a shop anywhere you want but the further away the tougher it will be to get all the fisherman traffic near a river into your business. In the winter a lot of shops buy a booth at the shows to supplement the seasonal business and hopefully sign up guided trips. Thanks for your thoughts.
PS: Of course if you live near somewhere where there is no water but enough money and interest, and there would have to be a lot, that the people would have to travel long distances or fly, to fish, you might find a shop but I bet they sell more of a regular sporting goods stuff to survive.


[This message has been edited by mantis (edited 12 October 2005).]