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 Is the internet killing our tackle shops?? Are we becoming a school of Google?? Do we now know so much that we don’t need their guidance any more?? Why do some stores prosper, while others struggle?? Or is it the fait of all of them to eventually close their bricks and mortar stores, and just have a virtual shop front?? To me that would be a shame, to loose that kind of knowledge, to only have it in the written form, I have found the verbal lesions I have gathered, far greater than anything I have read.
As some of you know, I have learnt most of what I know while under the wing of a superb fly fisherman, my good friend Tony Kietzman, listening to him wax lyrically about tiny mountain streams, airing his views on fishing conditions, discussing tactics and, most of all, I learnt more by spending time next to him on the water, for this, I will always be grateful. But I am learning that this is experience is not just for the fortunate few, there are a few other place you can gather knowledge, like in golf, go spend time with your pro, in our case, at your local fly shop. Listen to the guys chatting about the new equipment, sometimes talking about the old equipment, like split cane or fiberglass sticks. Talking about the new saltwater patterns and tactics, or about the method they learnt on their last trip to the islands, or in my case, their last trip to the mountains. These guys don’t own fly shops because they are going to make millions, they own them because they are passionate about fly fishing, they teach, they hear other peoples stories and learn from what they say, but most of all, they fish. It’s not just about the guys behind the counter, it’s also the guys who come into the store to shoot the breeze, so to say. There is nothing quite like listening to a couple of guys who have just come back from a successful trip, or from some far away place, or even better, from a place you know well, with a few new and different ideas. Fly shops are a place for pictures and back slapping, tall stories and long fish, but an even better places to pick up new strategies and ideas, to hear guys giving up their secrets and their “Stream-X’s”. It’s a place where we talk about casting, fly tying, equipment, venues and most of all fly fishing… it would be a shame if we only had Google to teach us, imagine only learning the stuff written on your computer screen… Our hope for this little site is to become a Fly Shop, not just a virtual place on your screen, but a place were we can shoot the breeze, so to say… So back to the original topic, is Google killing the fly shops?? Are we become a society of know-it-all’s, purely because we read it on a website somewhere?? I don’t know, but I would hate to believe so, I would hate to wake up tomorrow and not have the privilege of visiting the guys down the road at my local tackle shop, just to shoot the breeze… However, this sorry state, is playing itself out across America, where the little tackle shops, in the small towns, are competing with the big guys, fighting the buying power of the mass marketing shops and competing with the arm chair experts, the guys sitting at home making fleeting comments about people and places, ensuring they are considered “experts”, passing on knowledge that they have gained from the pixels painted on their screen. And worst of all, it's guys like us, who sit there and soak it up, believing every word, then going out and buying that kit, at that shop, because that guy, said it was what you had to have. Are we all becoming androids, being absorbed by the “Borge” (Trekkie reference), or are we going to take a little heed of the guys in the shops or the guides out on the streams. So get out there and support your local tackle shop, grab a cup of coffee and listen to what they have to say. Listen, learn and absorb, and if by some small chance you learn something, then so be it… most all, buy something… |
