Ideal fly shop???

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

After reading through the Cabela’s and Orvis threads (not too carefully, I’ll admit…) It seeemed that a lot of the replies had something to do with their local fly shop. Good or bad. Either they really liked the ‘local’ shop and felt that it needed support, or they disliked the local shop because it was too pricey, too snobbish, poorly stocked, or sold stuff that they didn’t like.

So, what would be your ‘ideal’ fly shop?

I’ll start.

My ideal fly shop would be right down the street from the house.

It would carry all the fly tying stuff I need or want, relieving me of EVER having to mail order anything.

They would sell rod building supplies and always have what I needed in stock.

They wouldn’t sell gifts, clothing, or stuff that I don’t buy there, except for when I need them to have a special item like a new fishing shirt or vest, and maybe a gift or two for friends, but only exactly the ‘right’ thing.

They would sell everything for the same or a lower cost than the catalogs, AND, because I’m such a good guy and loyal customer, they’d give me an additional discount (only ‘me’ though, so they can keep making money so they’d stay open).

The owner would always be there, so I wouldn’t have to deal with hired help. It would be open early in the morning (for coffee) and stay open late so I could run up after dinner for that forgotten piece of material I need to tie the flies I just have to have for tommorrow…

Fly fishermen would feel comfortable hanging around just to talk, and they would never feel that the owner needed to handle other customers or do anything else while they were in the store but carry on a conversation about fishing (or whatever was the current topic of interest).

How about you? Whats ‘ideal’ to you?

Good Luck!

Buddy

2

Mine would have a lil coffee bar inside where the coffee fee is a monthly fee hehe and chairs to chat in were free. Nice cigars or good pipe tobacco should be sold.
Maybe have some donuts and oatmeal.

All the cronies stop by…kinda like here! hehe

We noob’s can sit and listen to the old timers and learn something from em.

They would sell all or most of the stuff for tying I’de need and get it for a discount if they didn’t carry that particular item.

Also, be nice if they were close.

The owner and his son/daughters run it, so that they actually care about the customers.

And they better not look at me funny when I come in dressed in my sweats or a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. The thing I hate the most is being watched like a hawk cause I’m not snobby. Hehehe I’m poor BECAUSE I am honest. I walk out of fly shops for doing that. There selection dousn’t matter if they are rude.

Be nice if they didn’t only carry the ultra hi end super expencive stuff, I’ve got kids and therefore no money to spare on a six hundred dollar 4wt rod. Sides my favorite rod is a 6w I bought at a swap meet with a hidden crack in it between the butt and grip. I put a dowel in there…its an old glass rod at that.

Maybe a used gear section. So those of you with to many rods and reels you dont use could get some cash you could. While those of us without the extra cash could get to use those rods.

And best of all Castwell and Ladyfiher would stop by and chat once in awhile.

boy this site knows how to get the mental processes going hehe.

A kind word is absolutely free to give, but totally priceless to recieve

3

They would actually keep fisherman’s hours.

4

Pappy,
My ideal shop is quite similar to yours & actually exists in Girard, Ohio. Books and Hooks is owned by Father Bud & Son Scott. Has a great staff, over 1,000 books, a great stock of equipment, tying supplies, a candy jar & coffee pot (both free) & a nice long table with chairs for readin’, BSin’, or just takin’ a break. Friendliest shop I’ve ever set foot in. Only problem is that they’re 50 miles down the road…but more than worth the drive!
Mike

5

I’m at a age that I don’t need a fly shop any more–I’ve have everything.
I did see a fly tying table in one with everyting needed to tie.

Bill

6

Or maybe right on the river where you fish,…just in case.

7

I was planning on opening one a few months ago… but a death in the family put it on hold (due to burial)…

But… this was my Idea…

“I did”
want 2 coffee pots (one for decaf other reg)…
a sitting place with a big table about 5-8 chairs (so it didnt get to loud)… for BSing and a plastic holding container for tying materials… and a few extra vise… sit, drink, bs, and tye… all at the same table… plus a smaller table for quite reading from the selection of books…

A display self for all the little “hatch” time insects coming off and around the water…

A nice selection off rods and reels… plus a few combo’s (mostly low end)… But up to 5 nice ones on the wall for display… but would sell for the person most interested in them…

outside have a nice casting pond to teach or learn something new…

have a list of local guides with and without drift boats… plus myself…

I would have a small selection of clothing (but only as a guide for ordering)
need room for waders and vests…

a nice selection of flies, tippets, and other accessories for the fly fisherman…

Hours would be…
7am-7pm M-T
5am-7pm F& S
close Sunday…Church… (plus I need time on the water for myself)
the store would be run by me, my dad and my 3 sons

And a suggestion/complaint box that would be check weekly for anything people would like to see or do different in the store

[This message has been edited by Leonard (edited 26 April 2005).]

8

My ideal fly shop would be all the things mentioned above, but would be a coffee shop in the morning and a brewpub in the afternoon.

Dr Bob

9

The one that I could open someday!!! Its always nice to think big.

Seege

10

I think Leonard said it best so far.

Jeff

11

Dear Buddy,

Ever since I started taking fly fishing seriously back in 1978 I have been fortunate enough to deal with only “ideal” fly shops.

They may not meet the criterion that some folks desire, but they are just fine by me.

I don’t need coffee, I don’t care if they have clothes or not, I don’t care if they are open 24/7.

I just like it when I walk in and they smile and say “Howya doin’ you old …?”

The more you look for perfection the more likely you will be to miss it when it presents itself.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

[This message has been edited by Tim Murphy (edited 26 April 2005).]

12

Fly Shops are disappearing fast, and those that have not disappeared, stock is not as massive as before.

I understand that some of you want a place to hang out (club?) to kibitz away your free time, but maybe you need to build a place, just for that type of activity.

I do not expect a Fly Shop to carry every type of items I might walk through the door in search of. Be nice if I could call and see if they had something special I need, and if they do not have it, they could order it for me. I have a credit card they could charge it to and mail it to me when the order arrives. (Shipping and handling charges included). With the price of gasoline, and wear and tear on the car and the time involved in travel, it would be worth the extra expense.

Fly Shops have to move into the 21st Century, and not just be a building, but a place that you can call your inquiries and order things, or email your inquiries and order things. If you are going to carry specialty items that should be a separated from the Fly-Tying Equipment/Materials and Fly-Fishing Gear.

I see three different areas in a Complete Fly Angling Store.
Fly Fishing Gear (Rods, Reels, Lines, Leaders, Tippets, Flies)
Fly Tying Equipment and Materials (Vises, Tools, Materials)
Fly Fishing Clothing and Boutique Nix-Nax?s (Hats, Gloves, Shirts, Trousers, Waders, Shoes, and Gift Items)

If you don?t carry something, and it is just as convenient for me to order it from someone you know that has it, I would still be calling you first next time.

Unfortunately the times have changed, were store loyalty is obsolete, and people will buy something for as low a price as they can find, even if they know that the stuff was made in the 3rd World Nations that do not have Child Labor Laws, the store?s employee?s get paid so little, they qualify for food & housing money from the public assistance offices.

13

Dear Steven,

Me thinks you get it.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

14

I agree with ohiotuber. Bud and Scott are great people. Unfortunatley I get to go there when I go to see my sister once a year.
Scott always keeps me updated via e-mail of the new stuff they get in. Great people.
Ted

15

Leonard

Not to be a stick in the mud, but you might want to look at the archive of Al Campbell’s articles. He did one on owning a fly shop. If memory serves me right the coffee pot just drew coffee drinkers and they didn’t do a whole lot of buying.

On another note, there are no fly shops where I live, so I don’t know what an ideal shop would look like. The only ones I’ve been in are in West Yellowstone. Some I’ll go back to next time I’m out that way. Some I won’t.

16

Why not open a coffee shop/ bookstore that sells fly fishing stuff?

I buy a coffee pretty near every morning… I’d go a bit outa my way to buy a coffee where I could talk fly fishing and maybe sit and relax and flip through a display copy of a magazine.

Paul H.

.???`?..?><((((?>#------

“A dry fly on the rise is the beauty mark of a lovely river.”

17

Guys,

I’m rather amazed.

I was, I though pretty obviously, trying to be satirical about this.

Steven certainly ‘has it’.

The shop I outlined wouldn’t last.

Business is still business. A fly shop, regardless of the nobility of the sport and it’s adherents, still must function as a business to stay open.

I’m certainly grateful to every fisherman who, through love of the sport, opens and maintains a fly shop. It’s mostly a pretty thankless occupation and certainly not a lucrative one. Competition is tough, overhead is skyrocketing, and the public is more and more drawn to mail order and internet purchases.

The cost of retail footage is ever increasing. Things like tying materials and such are pretty low return items. Shop owners need to ultilize their space efficiently, showing and selling those items that do return a better profit margin. This often means less ‘fishing stuff’ and more ‘clothing/gift’ items where the mark up is significantly more.

I really enjoy our two ‘local’ fly shops. I’d hate to see them close, and if they need to sell more clothing, gifts, and ‘yuppiecrap’ to stay in business, more power to them.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[url=HTTP://HOMETOWN.AOL.COM/RSAN2708/INDEX.HTML:c7146]HTTP://HOMETOWN.AOL.COM/RSAN2708/INDEX.HTML[/url:c7146]

18

I’d want one with really great employees. Like Hooters…

19

Buddy,
Thanks for your insight. I have a little $$ in a small shop. Folks come in and want the latest info regarding where to go fishing, what flies are hot, what bugs are coming off and how the water levels are right now.

A portion of the customers are regular buyers, some want their item at prices that they have seen on the web.

It sure helps to have loyal “buyers”, like you say the rent and utilities do make a dent in the bottom line.

We try to provide what works around the area and will try to get the customers “albino, three-toed whatsmacallit belly hair” but we can’t always afford to have it in stock.

Thanks to all - what a great sport!!! (Flyfishing)
xfc

20

Nice Thread Buddy!

My perfect fly shop would be located where it is now (a couple of blocks from school, a short bike ride along the bike path, and a good place to find the river from)

My perfect flyshop would have no clothing section, would carry a wide variety of flies and magazines, and would not be endorsed by a single company, rather it would carry everything it could fit in the store.

My perfect flyshop would have a huge room of materials, with lots of varieties of hackle at a decent price (about a fifth of what it is ). There would be a large board where you could put the names of materials you needed for flies, and the store would order a small supply of it. There would be a large section of GCDC dubbings (Great Canadian Dubbing Company), with beaver, muskrat, rabbit, seal, possum (etc.) dubbings. Everything i would ever need to tie good flies would be there, but not so much as i can’t stop myself (!).

The shop would carry all sorts of rods, reels and lines, and have a little booth with laptops where you could search a pattern, show someone a website, or order some flies to your house. There would be no bar, but there would be refreshments on weekends, and there would be guest tiers on friday, saturday, sunday.

The shop would be open weekdays 6.00am-10.30pm (ya right ! )
and on weekends, 7.00am-10.00pm (maybe)

In the winter there would be things like a casting/ fly tying competition so that fishing was still alive and well, and there would be contests and discounts!

What a shop

This thread is great!!!

RL