Do you think there is enough Fly Fishing shops in the DFW, or N. Texas area. Seems like the sport is really, really growing in the area. Most of the shops that I am aware of are not strictly what I would consider Fly Fishing shops, more like limited departments with in a larger retail establishment. Tailwaters in Dallas would be an exception to this rule. Just a thought!

Unfortunately the large mega stores like Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops, even to WalMart have put the squeeze on the small brick and mortar fly fishing stores. It's extremely hard to compete with the big box prices. No doubt we lose a valuable resource everytime one of these smaller stores goes belly up. The knowledge behind the counter is what we cherish but we are shopping with our wallets instead of our brains. When I get a guy from the Jerky section to help in the fly fishing section, I know his knowledge probably isn't based upon experience rather than a sales meeting. Don't even get me started about the infiltration of cheap goods from the other side of the ocean. Cheers,JP

Agree totally, great thoughts coolpix. Thanks for the input.

Brick and mortar stores are disappearing for almost all retailers. I prefer to see/hold something before I buy it but even I have become an online shopper for flies because I couldn't find what I was looking for around here. I also ordered my last Sage rod/reel combo online from Cabelas because it was on sale. As mentioned above, being able to speak with a salesperson that knows what they're talking about is a bonus however some of the online retailers now have live assistance. It isn't the same as speaking to someone in person but it's better than shopping blind. Anyone opening a store should be prepared for folks coming in and looking at products and picking their brains and then going home and ordering the item online for less money...it's the new retail paradigm.
With all that said, I would love a dedicated fly fishing shop in the Weatherford area. I would spend more for stuff if it was helping a small/local business with a helpful salesperson. I have stopped going to small/local businesses because the salesperson was a jerk.

Great Input FWBanger, Thank you

I don't totally agree with that. Bass Pro does hire good knowledgeable people and just because they work the "Jerky section" doesn't mean they aren't knowledgeable. When it comes to fly fishing one of the most knowledgeable people at the Bass Pro in Grapevine works in the camping section. All of the staff in the fly fishing section at the one in Grapevine have been helpful to me and been able to carry on a conversation about it. My experiences at several Orvis stores all in different states have been the more misses that hits. The only help I have been able to find at an Orvis store was the one in New Your City and the one in Austin that Kevin Hutchison used to work at.

That being said I always head over to Tailwaters first and if I can't find something there I head to Bass Pro and I never buy online.

I've found the guys at Bass Pro in Grapevine to be very helpful, especially to a newbie just getting into the sport. Another place you might consider checking out is Backwoods in Fort Worth. Very knowledgable and friendly gentlemen there as well.

I too have had some good guys help me at bp grapevine. Don�t quote me but an older gentleman named John I think. We have talked fishing to vegetable gardens. As I�m in Fort Worth shop back woods a lot. I�ve known Steven Woodcock for a long time. Great guy and real passion for fly fishing as well as the outdoors. The problem I seem to run into going into store fronts including fly shops along side great trout waters is this. I know they are there to make money,but way to many haven�t shown me the time of day when I go in. They are to busy chasing around guys with Simms jackets and g loomis hats. Most of them looking like rookies they have dollar signs in their eyes. Selling them 30 dollar socks and lanyards with 20 tools they will have to google to use. I normally know exactly what I�m in there for at least. I very rarely even ask what�s working because I research flows and hatches so much. Be nice to just get equal friendly service no matter how much I was in there to spend. Been to backwoods many time and just talked fishing and never bought a thing. Personal service like that is what brings me back for years to come.

What�s the percentage of all fishermen and women that sometimes or always fly fish?

https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/fly...e-united-states

This article pegs the number at a million or a million five that are really into fly fishing. I�ve seen other numbers that put the total number of fishermen and women in the USA at over 30 million.

Dallas/Fort worth Metro might represent about 2 percent of total USA population. 2 percent of a million fly fishermen total equals 20,000 people. Is DFW over or under represented by fly fishermen? I would argue under represented as compared to much of the country where fly fishing is more mainstream.

Let�s say it�s 20,000. Some, many of those are getting gear online. Some are getting gear at their destination fly area shops, maybe a place in Montana or Colorado or wherever they might be traveling to fish.

You start chipping seriously away at 20,000 with online, big box, or destination fly shops and there�s not much leftover for the local fly shops.

I haven�t bought anything in a Houston fly shop which are about an hour away by car. I�ve bought a few tying supplies at BPS. The image that� I see projected online by the Houston dedicated Fly shops is geared toward high end gear and high end trips to celebrated spots. I�m not into either so I stay away. They know the market and I think must be in catering to the affluent fly fishermen. There�s a limited number of those people so therefore a limited number of fly shops. One well off guy might easily drop $3,000 plus on gear in one afternoon. No wonder the fly shops give him the royal treatment.

There�s absolutely zero locally in fly fishing gear. What�s left is either drive a minimum of 40 minutes to a big box or go online. I choose online.

I think fly fishing in general and especially the dedicated fly shops at least in Houston have put most of their eggs in the cater to the affluent basket. That�s fine, I can manage to get the stuff I need online.

As the F&S article suggests, fly fishing doesn�t really want to broaden the base and therefore crowd out their precious rivers. As if I really care to go to an overcrowded, heavily pressured, fish elbow to elbow famous trout stream. You couldn�t pay me to fish in a place like that.

Give me my muddy redfish and flounder marshes, my sandy Speckled trout surf, and green water oxbow LMB, sunfish and catfish. I�m not sure I want to go to a shop where they appear to mainly speak Montana trout or Bahamian bonefish, no offense to either fish or location. But they don�t need me I guess because there�s no way I�m dropping $800 on a rod or $600 on a reel or $500 on some waders.