On Saturday I visited two fly shops in my area. The first shop I had visited before, the other I had not. There was nothing in particular I needed, although
I ended up buying a Sci Anger WF-5 at the first shop. I have to say that my experience at both shops could not have been different. At the first shop I
enjoyed nice conversation with one of their employees about an upcoming TU event, and at the end of the conversation I mentioned that I wanted to buy a line
and he gave me a 15% off coupon he had. Nice all the way around.
The second ship I visited was purely because I had heard from friend that they occasionally stocked some cane from a major rod maker, and I wanted to see for myself. I ended up having the most obnoxious conversation with the arrogant shop owner that I've ever had. My contribution to the discussion was, "Hello, I was wondering if you had any bamboo rods from ....... in stock." To which I heard, "Nothing right now." Ok, then I asked about the new Charlton reel that just came out and was curious if they had one. "Are you familiar with Charlton reels", he asked? I told them I was and that I'd sold my Charltons over the past year or so when the prices got crazy and I made a decent amount on them. I replaced them with Tibors for about a 1/3 of the price and pocked several thousand dollars. I've used Tibors in the past and they've never let me down once.
What came afterwards was an incredibly obnoxious conversation about how Charlton were the best ever made how I was crazy to get rid of them, I was told that Tibors are "total junk" and that if I wasn't really into the sport they he could understand and then he took out several reels that he described as being "far superior". Of course they weren't Tibor dealers. Talk about wanting to leave that shop and never come back.
The young owner's understanding of bamboo was also questionable at best and I have to say that he really showed his ignorance with the Tibor comments. While we were having our "discussion", which was really more one sided, he pulls out a Nautilus reel from Old Florida and tightens the drag to the point where it like turing the lid of pickle jar...he then says, "What do you think of that, lets see your Tibor do that..." I said, first it feels like a broken rod to me, but why in the world would anyone need to be able to tighten a drag to the point that the spool wouldn't move anymore? I've heard of Old Florida reels before, in fact I'm from Florida and spent many of my younger years fishing the 'glades and I can't say that I've ever heard anyone using one. That's not a knock, if you like them...fine. I know a lot of guides and a lot of experienced fisherman and I can't recall anyone using them or even really talking about them very much. Keep in mind, I never once said anything about the virtures of Tibors other than I owned them and they've never let me down, and that I used to own Charlton reels...which I liked, but wasn't in love with. Can you imagine going into any other type of store and listening to this kind of crap? This young guy went on and on and on. Talk about destroying any customer relations.
As far as Charlton goes, I thought they had an outstanding drag, but no better than I've found in other reels, and I thought that their finish was the best I'd ever seen, and their Tarpon reels were outstanding. However, much of what they did was overkill. The Signature Series was heavy for a reel of its size and required 300yds!!! of GSP to fill the spool of their .8 model and 500yds to fill up 1.2!!!. Its almost as if the reels were designed with no thought given for a specific purpose, like they were just drawn on paper, no one was thinking about line capacity or any specific style of fishing. IMHO, the 8450's were not even close to the same caliber as their larger cousins. But then, I could be perfectly happy with either, and under the circumstances, I am not a reel collector and was happy to have the extra cash.
I have to wonder if every little hole in the wall shop along this highway has someone working in it with this level of arrogance? If walked into the pet shop, or the shoe store, or the pizza place, or any similarly sized little shop along the highway, would I also find someone like this? Sometimes I think this kind of attitude is what gives this sport its undeserved elitist reputation and turns newbies away. Some shops are like this, many others are not, but there is no reason for it. An arrogant fly shop owner is a little like having a guide with a rotten attitude. You feel like saying, if it isn't fun for you, why not find something else to do?
The second ship I visited was purely because I had heard from friend that they occasionally stocked some cane from a major rod maker, and I wanted to see for myself. I ended up having the most obnoxious conversation with the arrogant shop owner that I've ever had. My contribution to the discussion was, "Hello, I was wondering if you had any bamboo rods from ....... in stock." To which I heard, "Nothing right now." Ok, then I asked about the new Charlton reel that just came out and was curious if they had one. "Are you familiar with Charlton reels", he asked? I told them I was and that I'd sold my Charltons over the past year or so when the prices got crazy and I made a decent amount on them. I replaced them with Tibors for about a 1/3 of the price and pocked several thousand dollars. I've used Tibors in the past and they've never let me down once.
What came afterwards was an incredibly obnoxious conversation about how Charlton were the best ever made how I was crazy to get rid of them, I was told that Tibors are "total junk" and that if I wasn't really into the sport they he could understand and then he took out several reels that he described as being "far superior". Of course they weren't Tibor dealers. Talk about wanting to leave that shop and never come back.
The young owner's understanding of bamboo was also questionable at best and I have to say that he really showed his ignorance with the Tibor comments. While we were having our "discussion", which was really more one sided, he pulls out a Nautilus reel from Old Florida and tightens the drag to the point where it like turing the lid of pickle jar...he then says, "What do you think of that, lets see your Tibor do that..." I said, first it feels like a broken rod to me, but why in the world would anyone need to be able to tighten a drag to the point that the spool wouldn't move anymore? I've heard of Old Florida reels before, in fact I'm from Florida and spent many of my younger years fishing the 'glades and I can't say that I've ever heard anyone using one. That's not a knock, if you like them...fine. I know a lot of guides and a lot of experienced fisherman and I can't recall anyone using them or even really talking about them very much. Keep in mind, I never once said anything about the virtures of Tibors other than I owned them and they've never let me down, and that I used to own Charlton reels...which I liked, but wasn't in love with. Can you imagine going into any other type of store and listening to this kind of crap? This young guy went on and on and on. Talk about destroying any customer relations.
As far as Charlton goes, I thought they had an outstanding drag, but no better than I've found in other reels, and I thought that their finish was the best I'd ever seen, and their Tarpon reels were outstanding. However, much of what they did was overkill. The Signature Series was heavy for a reel of its size and required 300yds!!! of GSP to fill the spool of their .8 model and 500yds to fill up 1.2!!!. Its almost as if the reels were designed with no thought given for a specific purpose, like they were just drawn on paper, no one was thinking about line capacity or any specific style of fishing. IMHO, the 8450's were not even close to the same caliber as their larger cousins. But then, I could be perfectly happy with either, and under the circumstances, I am not a reel collector and was happy to have the extra cash.
I have to wonder if every little hole in the wall shop along this highway has someone working in it with this level of arrogance? If walked into the pet shop, or the shoe store, or the pizza place, or any similarly sized little shop along the highway, would I also find someone like this? Sometimes I think this kind of attitude is what gives this sport its undeserved elitist reputation and turns newbies away. Some shops are like this, many others are not, but there is no reason for it. An arrogant fly shop owner is a little like having a guide with a rotten attitude. You feel like saying, if it isn't fun for you, why not find something else to do?
I can always find something I "need" (hooks,
tippet, leader, tying materials). It doesn't help that the butcher shop we go to is in the same building.
