Quote Originally Posted by RS2 View Post
Three years ago there were 6 fly shops in Boise. Today there are two (plus a Cabelas, but it certainly isn't a fly shop and I seriously doubt it has had much of an impact on the fly shops that closed).

I'm sure the economy has impacted the industry as a whole along with guide bookings, lodge bookings, and new equipment purchases. I personally don't buy that much anymore because I've got all the rods/reels I need and let's face it, the newer and better advertisements from Sage, Ross, Abel, Winston, etc are just schtick to sell new equipment.
As to shops closing...I agree. Just because some trout bum has a dream, doesn't make him a buisnessman. And then there's location, location, location. I live somewhat close to Denver. If I took a 100 mile radius of the city, there are probably 30+ fly shops. The number remains somewhat constant, but the names constantly change. Some shops close because the owner thought he could own a shop and yet fish every day. Locally I know an owner who closed because his main buisness was guideing the S.Platte in Cheeseman Canyon. Then the Hayman fire and the aftermath silted every hole/run for who knows how long. Aside: even in high runoff years, the water co. controls the dam above so we don't get the raging runoff that would move the silt out. His problem: one dimentional. There's a shop right on the river that will never go out of biz 'cause they're a "destination shop". So, everyone can feel sorry for the fly shop that went out o buisness in