Undercover FlyShop Vist: LL Bean Retail Store

Our latest surreptitious fly shop visit finds us sneaking around the inside of an LL Bean retail store. The store, located in Southern, New Jersey, also happens to be the only source fly fishing gear within easy reach of my temporary residence in Cherry Hill, NJ. Since the bulk of my fishing and fly tying gear packed in boxes in a warehouse somewhere, I was glad to find a place to pick up a few flies.

As expected, the bulk of the store's square footage is devoted to men and women's clothing. While the Editorial Trophy wife picked up a few bargains from the clearance rack, I proceeded to the fly fishing section located at the back of the store.

I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to the fly shop, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. The shop carries a good selection of both trout and saltwater flies at normal retail prices along with a fair selection of rods from both LL Bean and other well known makers. I noticed a section of "pre-rigged" reels and "grab and go" bags of leaders, tippet and etc at what seemed like a good price and fit the bill for the angler who planned poorly and ended up with all his gear locked in a moving van.

It has always been said that the Editorial Trophy Wife had eyesight issues an eye for value, after all she did marry me. However, she outdid herself on our first trip to LL Bean, when she noticed a orange Clearance sticker on a Sage 9 weight fly rod. Since one of the upsides of my move North is the chance to fish the Salt, I wasn't able to pass it up. I won't divulge the price we paid but lets just say it pays dig through the clearance rack when you visit an LL Bean store. They had a bit of an issue locating the rod tube to go with my new prize but it all worked out and I was smiling when I left.

The staff at this location was friendly and knowledgeable and even took a bit of interest in some guy running around the fly shop snapping pictures with a camera phone. I explained that I was a blogger and in what must be a sign of the times, they simply nodded and went about their business. The location offers classes and has a FFF certified casting instructor on hand as well.

The question of the day came when a gentleman, who seemed to be new to the sport walked up to the counter and asked the equivalent of "what are they biting?" " If you could only buy one fly, what would you buy?" This caused a bit of debate among the other staff and customers. I managed to get some odd looks when I chimed in that "if you could only afford one fly, you should probably stick to garden hackle." I'll be back to visit our local LL Bean in the near future. I need to make friends with the Manager as I noticed what looked to be a carp or two cruising the pond beside the store....

Video: Copeland On Bones

Boone, North Carolina fly shop owner, Theo Copeland talks about everything from teaching trout anglers to cast for bonefish to being on the cover of what he calls "The Rolling Stone" of fly fishing, Fly Rod and Reel Magazine.

Road Trip: Myrtle Beach, SC

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No fishing on this trip as this is the trophy wife's birthday getaway. I did manage to drag her into the fairly new company owned Orvis store located in the Market Common here in Myrtle Beach, SC. The Market Common shopping / condo complex was developed on the site of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base and it has come a long way from the rows and rows of base housing that I remember from my elementary school days.

The staff was great and the store has a huge selection including a full featured fly shop. It has to be the largest Orvis store I have been in to date. One of the employees told me that they had been open since April but the Market Common area was just now starting to catch on.

A Successful Outfitter Must Have:

An article at BlueRidgeNow.com about Headwaters Outfitters in Rosman North Carolina, who has been in business for 15 years, offers a few suggestions:

The business plans to soon break ground on a new 3,200-square-foot paddle and fly shop."It's going to more than triple our retail space and it's going to have a lodge-like feel to it," said Nathaniel Axtell, director of fly fishing programs. "It's going to be keeping with the sort of ambiance we want to create, which is sort of a rustic mountain feel."Besides rods, reels, flies and gear, the fly shop will include a stone hearth fireplace, "an old hound dog lying around, and a fresh pot of coffee on the wood stove," he said."There's a lot of fly shops in this area, and we're not trying to necessarily replicate what they're doing," Axtell said.He said they're trying to differentiate by being a "one-stop shop, if you will, for the hiker, the paddler, the fly fisherman and the spin fisherman.

It looks like they might just be on to something.

Across the street from the liquor store...

Via the Hatch, Here's a link to an article about opening a flyshop in an urban area:

“My menu is a little different,” said Roche, using an analogy to match his former career. “If you like French food, you go to a French restaurant. If you like hamburgers, you go to McDonald’s. I am more of a French food kind of place.”

The owner of the liquor store across the street is excited about the future stream of fly fishers who will be visiting the neighborhood.

“It’s certainly a destination store,” said John Negrotti, 20-year owner of Silver Lake Liquors, which is two doors down from the fly-fishing shop. “And a lot of pedestrians will enjoy walking into the shop. I am excited about it. It will add and interesting dynamic to the neighborhood.”

A tall mocha & a dozen prince nymphs please!

TriCities.com posts a story about Damascus, Virginia fly fishing guide Richard Rominger who may have found the answer to the decline of fishing by opening a combination fly shop / expresso bar. He hopes the combination he offers at "Trail's Crossing" will help attract a younger crowd.

"I want my shop to be hip and cool,’’ Rominger said. "I witnessed the youth-driven growth of the snowboard industry, and the I think fly fishing is heading that way. I don’t want folks coming in and hearing the sound of crickets.’’

Don't expect a tail water float trip from these guys.

"We don’t do run-of the mill fishing trips to places like the South Holston or the Watauga River."
"We put backpacks on and take people out on back-country adventures where no other guide service would ever take them. We’ll also put you on wild trout. Fishing is like the icing on the cake on our trips, though.’’

This might be the perfect opportunity to fully document the effect of the caffeine jitters on the mechanics of the fly cast.

The glamorous life of the fly shop owner

This article from Salem Oregon's StatesmanJournal gives some insight into the world of the small fly shop owner in the age of the big box retailer.


Q: What was the impact of Sportsman's Warehouse coming to town?
A: (laughs) I always thought, "Hey I'm a big-shot fly shop owner. I'm going to get to fly all over the world and fish. I'm lucky if I get to fish at all now. Kathy and I get maybe four fishing trips a year together where it's not work-related stuff.