Fly Shops Are Not Created Equal

I was on the river the other day with a gentleman. He was a great outdoorsman but new to fly fishing. Somebody mentioned I could help and that found us out on the North Fork Stilly.

He was pretty eager to get through his paces, with a trip already planned for wading bonefish flats in far away places.

The day started out well enough. We were standing at the head of a pool along with 500 salmon with a few steelhead mixed in. If today was going to be anything like the fishing I had been experiencing we were going to catch fish. Mike spent little time casting and a whole lot of time playing fish.

That afternoon we decided to change it up and headed for the Sauk River. The casts were longer, and the fishing a little more technical. Mikes casting was struggling a little so I finally asked him to watch while I demonstrated a simple single haul. As soon as I attempted to load the rod I could tell it was all wrong. The rod that was sold to him was a high tech fighting rod better suited for bluewater casting in a chum slick. It WAS NOT a casting rod for bonefish!

I pointed this out to Mike, and even brought out the same weight rod by a different manufacturer to compare. Mine was a medium action, which would flex to the rod handle. His wouldn’t load if you tied it to a semi!

I asked him where he bought it, and did he explain to the shop, he wanted to fish bonefish? Mike said he went into XYZ shop, told their guide behind the counter, that money was not an object, please sell him the stuff for bonefish. $2,000.00 later, Mike ends up with all these toys and a day on the Skagit with their guide. When Mike explained he had a date with Dennis also, the shop guy goes, "Oh", as in "Oh dear".

Anyway, now Mike realizes that, not only did he spend some serious coin, the equipment he bought was simply not what he needed for his trip. What made it twice as bad, was this guide personally spent a day with him and his "stuff" knowing full well, it was inadequate, and didn’t say a word. I was P.O’ed. Mike was furious.

I ended up sending him to another shop – one I have never had a problem with, Mike got the right equipment, and life was straight again. I began to mull over the number of instances I have seen similar scenarios. Too many, way too many.

So what do I expect out of a flyshop?

Helpful: A shop is as good as its staff, the people there should have a good working knowledge of the inventory, and be helpful enough to find out what the angler needs are, and fill those needs, nothing more nothing less. A good shop stands behind their merchandise. If you have a problem with any items that needs to go back, They pull a replacement off their shelf, and tell you they will take care of the problem. ANY SHOP THAT EXPECTS YOU TO DEAL WITH A MANUFACTURER, IS NOT WORTH BUYING FROM.

Courteous: I am giving a slide show to a fly club, during the question answer period someone asks what flyshop I would recommend. I thought about their location and suggested a biggy on the east side. The place just went silent. The president jumps up and says its time for refreshments. He took me off to the side and told me nobody in his group ever goes there anymore. He said that his guys always feel inferior in this store. This was capped off one day when the president himself, walked in and brought out an inexpensive reel he wanted a spare spool for.

"We don’t carry that sh*t in our store", was the reply. He turned around and walked out.

Where did we get this attitude of "YOU Are So Lucky To Be In My Shop" anyway? The concept of just being nice is becoming so rare, that the shops that use it, never lack for business.

Kind: On the average, 50% of the shops business will come from the experienced local guys in the area. They know how to fish, they know what they want. The other half is from people off the street, many may have never seen the inside of a flyshop. All they know is they would like to try fly fishing. Want to build a successful shop? Learn this one rule. There is no such thing as a stupid question. NOONE APPRECIATES BEING TREATED LIKE CATTLE. "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care".

"People", by Dale Carnegie is talking to a room full of the top sales people in the country. He starts out by telling them about the art of selling. He confides that his favorite food is strawberry shortcake, he would rather eat this dessert than anything. His favorite sport is fishing, has done it since he was a boy.

Now he says, "This is the key to selling". "When I want to sell to a fish, I give him a worm, and not strawberry shortcake". The fish doesn’t care what I want. He cares about what he wants".

See, the problem with the experience with Mike was, as soon as the shop guy heard that money was not an object, he simply sold him the most expensive rod in his shop, an $800 rod he was trying to unload....."strawberry shortcake to a fish".

I am asked, "Why should I go into a flyshop that has these "seemingly" high prices, when I can order mail order and get "discount" prices?" The answer is SERVICE. A good fly shop should offer to help you with a casting question – grab a rod and take you out and give you a quick lesson. If you have a question on a fly tying technique, they should grab a vice and show you how it’s done. They should give you accurate information on river or lake conditions. They should tell you what flies are hot and what techniques might work well under present conditions.

When you enter a shop you should expect to be treated with respect. Someone who will listen, someone who is knowledgeable, and willing to help you buy what you need. You should make life-long friends with a fly shop. This should not be a "go in once and drop a lot of money" experience. You want a shop that will treat you right, answer your questions and truly appreciate your business. Those shops are out there, you just have to look around.

Co-written by Sandy Lockleer (Former owner of Creekside Fly Shop in Salem Oregon)

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