Favorite Fly Shops

Travis Bille said:
RIP Eureka Fly Shop, Eureka, CA.

The fly shop in Redding has an amazing selection of tying materials, but I think some of the guides are pricks and I've had unpleasant interactions with one in particular (I was in the right, he was acting like he owned the river and being butt-knocker). Ususally I save my $$$ for the Trinity Fly Shop in Lewiston, CA
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Is Mike still guiding?
 
When I lived in Portland there were 4 fly shops that I could visit, and they all had friendly knowledgeable staffs. It was nice to be able to see and touch products prior to purchasing. Especially fly tying materials.

Now, living at least 2 hours from the closest shop, I need to do most of my shopping by mail order. It can be hit or miss with fly tying materials. Especially with colors. Photos/descriptions don’t always match the image in my head. Luckily, most materials are fairly inexpensive, so not a huge loss if they aren’t exactly what I was expecting.

A couple of online shops I have had good dealings with are J Stockard and Wholesale Fly Company.
 
Jojo said:
I loved the Mowning Hatch! Gary (the owner Gary) taught me how to tie the swirl knot and was always so nice to me. The other Gary actually repaired my waders for me when i brought them in. Except for my boots, I bought all of my stuff there when i started out.

Why isn’t spawnflyfish here? I met him, along with Bruce Baker and salmo-g a couple of years ago when he was teaching young kids how to fly fish and my husband and unloaded all of our fly tying stuff. He was so nice! @Long_Rod_Silvers , i love that you mentioned that he writes handwritten notes with orders.
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Hey @Jojo. Good question about spawnflyfish. It seems he kind of disappeared (even on other site). I follow him on Instagram and his postings are not as frequent as in the past. I have no clue.

We need to do another meetup! Perhaps in a warm month when we can meet outdoors and/or indoors when Covid is as prolific as it is now?
 
chief said:
When I lived in Portland there were 4 fly shops that I could visit, and they all had friendly knowledgeable staffs. It was nice to be able to see and touch products prior to purchasing. Especially fly tying materials.

Now, living at least 2 hours from the closest shop, I need to do most of my shopping by mail order. It can be hit or miss with fly tying materials. Especially with colors. Photos/descriptions don’t always match the image in my head. Luckily, most materials are fairly inexpensive, so not a huge loss if they aren’t exactly what I was expecting.

A couple of online shops I have had good dealings with are J Stockard and Wholesale Fly Company.
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I’ll second the Wholesale Fly Company. I forgot to mention them earlier. Great service and decent quality and good prices on hooks and beads in particular.
 
chief said:
When I lived in Portland there were 4 fly shops that I could visit, and they all had friendly knowledgeable staffs. It was nice to be able to see and touch products prior to purchasing. Especially fly tying materials.

Now, living at least 2 hours from the closest shop, I need to do most of my shopping by mail order. It can be hit or miss with fly tying materials. Especially with colors. Photos/descriptions don’t always match the image in my head. Luckily, most materials are fairly inexpensive, so not a huge loss if they aren’t exactly what I was expecting.

A couple of online shops I have had good dealings with are J Stockard and Wholesale Fly Company.
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Unfortunately he sold that part of the business a few year ago too. Big loss for the area
 
I like to support All Points Fly Shop out here in South Portland, Maine. Josh and Joe are both very creative fly tyers, really good people and are always helpful with tips for both fishing and tying. It's a very small shop, but it's packed with good stuff for all levels (from TnT to TFO). Josh is a registered Maine guide so if you're out here and want to find some striped bass, he's a great option.

When I'm in Portland, Oregon I like to support Royal Treatment. Joel and his crew have built a legitimate community around his shop and the people that gather there take care of each other.
 
I have so much stuff that I don't often have a need to visit shops any longer. But when I do:

The Fly Fisher in Lacey since it's the closest to me.

Puget Sound Fly Company when I pass through Tacoma. Anil is enthusiastic and helpful.

One of the members here steered to to Big Y Fly company for my small dry flies that I can't see well enough to tie for myself any longer.
 
Gotta vote:

First, of course: Silver Bow. I doubt there is shop that does more to support their local waters and angling community? Great selection of actually usable stuff, too.
The Red Shed. International reputation, feels like your folks' place, so welcoming, for a shop that caters to the generally esoteric pursuit of spey. Rest easy and blessed, Mrs. Red Shed.
The Fly Fisher in Lacey. Yes, I'm absolutely sold on furled leaders.

I stop in to Swede's in Spokane from time to time. Good selection of tying stuff. I think he's trying to sell.

On the road:
I miss Clark Fork Trout and Tackle in St. Regis a lot.
Bitterroot Fly in Darby. Nice shop.
Cutthroat Fly shop in Dubois. Really, really helpful to the ramblin' Guy.
Troutfitters in Island Park, though at first glance it looks like I can't afford to go in, they're cool folks..
Montana Fly Fishing Co. in Ennis. Maker of my "Big Fish" hat. If I catch a big fish, I'm wearing that hat.
Sunrise in Melrose. If you know it's on the site of the old Quack Quack Cafe, you know.
Joseph Fly Shop in Joseph OR.
Fly Fishers Place in Sisters.
I bought a lot of stuff at Frontier in Dillon in the old days.
And at the old Dan Bailey. I hear the new is cool, too. Haven't been that way for a while.

Of course there's more....I guess I like fly shops, mostly the ones near bars that are also near quilt shops my wife wants to visit.
 
Since I am using Tenkara and Keiryu rods for nearly all of my freshwater fishing I'm not getting to local shops all that often.

But another praise for Anil @ Puget Sound Fly Co. Always super helpful. When a jaw set screw was stripped on my Renzetti vise I was dismayed at the cost of a replacing the vise. Anil dug through his parts bin producing a screw. I asked "How much do I owe you?" He said "No Charge" so I bought a stripping basket. Other times, he was out of say; some partridge I wanted for fly tying, and gave me a small skin off of his bench that he had been using to tie flies for stock with plenty of feathers for what I needed to tie at no charge and I bought several other items. I'll be in the area and stopping by again today to see if they now carry the competition - style hooks I use for Tenkara flies.

I also want to mention Gig Harbor Fly Shop. They were super good to me on my first trip there when I wanted to upgrade my "beach" setup. I was either going to buy a matched outfit or perhaps buy just a line if that was all I "really needed". I brought my 2-piece 9' 6wt Loomis Signature IMX rod and line with me to make the comparisons. I had one rod in mind that they had in stock and they suggested two others plus two lines for me. We went over to the park outside the shop. The shop guy waited patiently in a driving rain while I compared the 4 rods with both of the new lines, and the Loomis with my current line. I bought the outfit that was the clear winner; not the rod I had in mind. I paid MSRP for the rod & reel, and they gave me a great discount on the line. The GHFS website is super helpful for salt noobs. I ordered from the e-commerce portion of the website for some things PSFC didn't have and Delivery was super fast. I don't know what Scoones' beef with them was but if I wanted to show my appreciation for outstanding service and typed "Gig Harbor Fly Shop" in a WFF message it would display as "Puget Sound Fly Co." so I figured out how to make the name display properly. As "Elmer" would say; "How wude."

I also have had great service from The Fly Fisher in Lacey.
 
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Troutfitter in Mammoth, Ted Fay in Dunsmuir, Rogue Valley Anglers, Blackfoot River Outfitters, and Garue in Milan are highlights from past trips
 
I probably spend the most money at The Musky Fool, but nave never physically been to the shop, which they just recently opened a physical location....a bit of a drive though.

"locally", I would say Puget Sound Fly Co. has always been top notch, Deschutes Angler has always treated me well, Portland Fly Shop probably has the most usable fly tying stuff for me, Orvis Lake Oswego is good in that I know the folks well and can usually get much of what I need there.
 
The Blue Dun in Spokane was my favorite, but mostly because when I found it I was brand new and they welcomed me with open arms. I fished with a couple of the guys who worked there randomly when I met them on the river and they said let’s go fish. One time I came in when I was first starting to tie and said I was struggling with wings, and one of the guys said come back when we close and he tied with me for an hour showing me two or three different methods. They were just good guys and never made me feel stupid or like I was not part of the club. They have been closed for a long time now.
 
The guys at White’s Boots were great and supportive as well.I’ve always been disappointed they closed their shop. But I just named two shops that have been closed for more than a decade, so clearly I’m not very helpful.
 
Jojo said:
I loved the Morning Hatch! Gary (the owner Gary) taught me how to tie the swirl knot and was always so nice to me. The other Gary actually repaired my waders for me when i brought them in. Except for my boots, I bought all of my stuff there when i started out.

Why isn’t spawnflyfish here? I met him, along with Bruce Baker and salmo-g a couple of years ago when he was teaching young kids how to fly fish and my husband and unloaded all of our fly tying stuff. He was so nice! @Long_Rod_Silvers , i love that you mentioned that he writes handwritten notes with orders.
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I sent him a message @Jojo and he said he is aware of this site.
 
MT_Flyfisher said:
Sounds to me like like you‘re a transplanted Pennsylvanian?

I drove by the Penns Creek Angler Fly Shop last one day last fall and they seemed to be closed - maybe they’re only open in the busier time of the year? (I hadn’t been in that area for many years as I ordinarily come in from Poe Paddy when I fish Penns Creek.). Anyway, even with them being closed, on the morning drive past there I saw lots of deer and a flock of turkeys, and then riding my bike from Weikert to Poe Paddy and back, was worth the price of admission.

I may have bought more fly fishing and tying items than almost anyone during the past several years, both online and by visiting fly shops in person as I had to replace most of my gear when I lost it in a fire 3 1/2 years back - not that I hadn’t been buying plenty of stuff before then. Here’s some of the places that stick out in my mind as favorites:
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Yeah, was raised in Mifflinburg, but "grew up" all around the world during my service and contracting years .
Would bike to different locations on Buffalo creek, ride to New Berlin and fish that stretch of Penns Creek, etc. Started fishing Weikert and the west end after i got my drivers license. Rte 45 was too dangerous to bike on in the 60's and 70's, though the amish and mennonite kids did it any way.
 
A ways off the beaten trout path, but when In Columbia Falls, MT I like Lary’s Fly and Supply. Good folks, coffee and whiskey always available.
 
wanderingrichard said:
Yeah, was raised in Mifflinburg, but "grew up" all around the world during my service and contracting years .
Would bike to different locations on Buffalo creek, ride to New Berlin and fish that stretch of Penns Creek, etc. Started fishing Weikert and the west end after i got my drivers license. Rte 45 was too dangerous to bike on in the 60's and 70's, though the amish and mennonite kids did it any way.
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My wife goes to the Christkindl Market of Mifflinburg. That might not have been there when you were there - this is their 32nd year from what I see on the internet. My wife said it’s really grown over the years. All I know about it is from eating a lot of the delicious pumpkin bread she brought home from there this past year.
 
Yeah it started after I left there in 76... Still have family there though.

If you get there again, check out The Rusty Rail brewhouse. It's in the old coachworks and cabinet factory on 8th street. At one time that town was home to the largest buggy and coachworks industry in the U.S. and Rusty Rail is in the last remaining one.

And check out: http://buggymuseum.org/
 
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