I just drove to Forfar (7 miles) in the hope of getting snipe and / or starling wings - support your local tackle shop etc etc etc. Bit of a waste of time and petrol really. Every shade of turkey marabou, deer hair, tungsten bead and zonker strip - the entire spectrum of Dave Downie and Artifly florescent this, that and tat - but sadly little in the way of traditional tying materials - certainly no wings I could see anyway.
It made me feel a bit sad to be honest, traditional tying seems to have been washed away by a tsunami of stockie bashing glittery irrelevance. To be fair the shops have to stock what customers buy, but I think I'll just buy online from now on. No point in wasting time with local shops if they don't stock what you are looking for.
The trip was not a complete waste of time however.
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A sign of the times, as you say they stock what sells. I'd still rather have a local tackle shop that doesn't sell everything I want than none at all. If I cant get it locally then I look online.
Quote from: BARFLY on March 19, 2013, 04:43:37 PM
The man`s not got a scooby. :roll:
He is good if you like Guns but otherwise you are right, our local tackle shop is pish!
Fred check out - http://www.wellbanklochans.co.uk/acatalog/index.html (http://www.wellbanklochans.co.uk/acatalog/index.html)
Apparently very good for tying materials.
In Forfar they are very knowledgeable and know exactly what they don't have when you ask for it. I spent some time speaking to an older chap who worked there and he knew exactly why and for what I wanted the wing feathers and it was not for winging flies. The shop is very well stocked and has a lot of fly tying materials, sadly other than capes not much traditional stuff that I could see and most certainly no wings. Even Sloanes in Inverurie had the odd pair of those.
Quote from: Otter Spotter on March 19, 2013, 04:47:51 PM
Apparently very good for tying materials.
That's where I was Scott.
Ahhh,
Ok dont bother its shit :lol:
It's actually a nice shop Scott, just didn't have any wings. :D
My wee tackle shoppy is the same. The plus side being that when you do find something more traditional it's usually on offer having sat on a shelf for a bit. Real pain in the arse when it comes to buying flylines though. Last year I ended up buying a 6wt line for a 4wt rod and even then the guy had to go searching through the back to find one. The shop stocks hundreds of lines but they are all 7wt and above.
I make deliberate attempts to use local shops whenever I can and whilst the prices can be higher than they appear to be online, once delivery charges are applied I am rarely more than a few percent out.
The specialist shops (fishing and modelmaking) I patronised in Edinburgh were stifled by parking regulations- a trip to Wonderland Models on Lothian Road, Lawson's Timber on Lady Lawson Street or Mike's Tackle Shop on Portobello High Street added £2 or more to the purchase price simply to get there.
Whilst the web has its advantages when you know what you are looking for, it is light on advice (though some sites are addressing this) and misses out on two key elements of old-fashioned salesmanship- the concepts of "selling up" and "selling on".
In broad terms these are illustrated by this sort of shop conversation.
"I need a new 7ft 4# rod"
"Where do you fish?"
And you end up with a rod, reel, spools and three lines. You may not have exceeded your budget, but the salesman will have maximised his profit/ commission and you are content with the advice you have received.
On the other side of the coin.
After a lengthy power cut I visited a local tackle shop for a paraffin storm lantern I had seen on their shelves. There was an empty space in the shop where I had spotted them on my last visit, so I asked when they would be back in stock. "Nah, they don't make them any more, you need a rechargable LED version, £30 mate."
Home and online I got four for £28 + £5 P&P.
Online browsing just is not the same as visiting a trusted tackle shop for a pair of wings and walking out (after a free coffee) with a bagful of bits, the name of a newly accessible water, and an invitation to join a stravaig.
Quote from: BARFLY on March 19, 2013, 04:56:31 PM
Och at least you got a bridie. :lol:
It's gone.
As good today as they ever were. :lol:
Looking at the photo you posted Fred you were in the wrong shop :lol: I know where you are coming from went looking for hen pheasant and like you no we don't get asked for that sort of materials now days, and that was Neil himself
What saddened me was I went specifically because I wanted to support the local tackle shop. Turned out it was impossible for me to do so.
I just bought a complete starling skin - on line from ............... believe it or not ........ Lakeland ........they had stock. You could not make that up. :?
I've known Neil since we were bairns - he fair knows his stuff, and he's a pretty good fisher to boot. Agree though that it's a shame you can't get the more traditional materials as easily as you used to. Sign of the times and all that - Ach well, leave them to it I reckon.
I love popping into my local tackle shop - an experience in itself. Always a good natter, some decent advice and a chance to at least keep abreast of all the new-fangled stuff - not that much of it means anything to me these days. I'm happy to pay a few extra quid for that - if indeed you do. I've lost count of the number of freebies I've had passed my way - only small stuff (hooks to try etc), but enough to keep you feeling valued and not just a stat on t'internet.
Neil's shop is well stocked and there is loads of fly tying stuff. I know they have to supply the demand but I don't believe for a minute there is no demand at all for at least some more traditional materials.
Just reading some of the forums there seems to be a move, small, slow perhaps, but it's there, back towards fishing for real fish as opposed to farmed fish. In any case, would it be a huge ask for a tackle shop that sells fly tying gear to have the odd pair of starling wings or hen pheasant quills to cater for a slightly wider clientele? I know how much that stuff costs trade, so we are not talking about huge outlay even if you don't sell a lot of it or very often. It's good customer relations, advertising even, for not a whole lot of money.
Better, friendly more helpful service from the local shop, they will order something in for me so that I can see it before I buy and I dont have to pay for postage, even my wife enjoys her annual trips in before xmas, they know who she is and can recommend gifts which they also exchange if I prefer something else . Getting ones hand on something before buying or getting to try a fly rod and if you need to take items back for some reason, I've never had a bad experience.
I've had a few bad experiences online and once you add in postage its rarely cheaper, offcourse I live in the highlands this may not be the case for those nearer the central belt. Good things about online for me are, if I cant source it locally, worth surfing for bargains in sales which offsets the postage and probably the biggest thing is the local shops now have to be competitive with there prices to survive.
Dont most shops now do online as well ? My local shop will do a price match and was one of the cheaper places to buy Greys & Hardy until Hardys fell out with them for reducing the prices, so they will be stocking Sage soon.
Had they held a stock of starling wings I'd very likely also have bought hooks, some tippet material and no doubt a few other things on impulse. As I said the reason I went was I WANTED to support the local tackle shop.
As it was I was a bit hacked off having just burnt 1/2 gallon of petrol for nothing (bridie notwithstanding). I was saddened and left with the impression that perhaps tackle shops perhaps no longer cater for fly fishers like me and only for the up and at 'em stockie fishermen.
The fact that the shop did not have starling wings in stock reflects the change to suit stockie fisheries, but also the move away from tradition split wing dry flys or winged wets for our wild brownies. Did this shop just not stock them or were they out of stock, did he offer to get some in? I have to say I would expect my local tackle shop to stock some starling wings, though I always struggled to tie wings and try my avoid them with the modern alternative patterns instead. I'm sure the trout would like them just as much as in the past.
They don't stock stuff like that.Eric could not get hen pheasant either. I'm not knocking them, just poiting out that if they no longer cater for me I have no option other than buy on line. To be honest I am not interested in a shop "getting some in" for me - I can do that myself, quicker and probably cheaper. I fully understand no shop can have everything - but a few packs of hen pheasant quills or starling wings that cost a few quid trade?
You might not be interested but he should be as it sounds like he has lost a customer. These items wouldn't take up much space on the shelf and cost nothing to keep in stock.
As yet another email arrives from Lakeland flytying trying to get my custom.
Imagine walking into a tackle shop. Finding a bin of indian hen capes, sorting through, finding a few little gems, onto the cock bin, then the wings, pheasant tails - a few pearsall silks, a quick sift through dozens of hare masks and body pieces..... startling skins, partridge skins - imagine it if you can.
its getting hard even to bloody imagine it. :roll:
You would need to wear sun glasses these days before going into any shop that does fly tying.
Quote from: Colliemore on March 20, 2013, 11:21:20 AM
it sounds like he has lost a customer.
I'll still go back now and then. I still want to support the local shop if I can, but I am wondering if my custom is relevant in new age of fake fish angling.
Off course when I rant on about local, its a 75 mile drive, but then for us that is just what it takes to go shopping and doing a big shop including filling the car with diesel saves alot of money from going to the Co-Op every time something is needed. Luckily I think Grahams is a great tackle shop, likewise here in ABDN I have enjoyed going into Somers. As a kid I looked forward to spending all my pocket money in the local tackle shop.
If sitting on the west coast and not needing a trip to town then online is a good service and for fly tying bits postage is a minimum so I'm glad I have both options.
I'd like to think your custom is relevant in the new age of fake fish angling, your long legged black girl would have turned a few eyes among the traditional dry fly fishers of my youth :)
Somers is good even if the staff sometimes seem a bit dour. A long established local business. Parking is a nightmare though being just off Union Street. You have to remember to add £3 to your bill to cover parking.
Yes they can be a bit dour and the parking is a bit like playing Russian roulette with the traffice wardens. When I get bumped from going offshore its a walk down to the fishing shop, something to eat and a few pints in the Howff before walking back to the accommodation.
Quote from: otter on March 20, 2013, 11:46:06 AM
Imagine walking into a tackle shop. Finding a bin of indian hen capes, sorting through, finding a few little gems, onto the cock bin, then the wings, pheasant tails - a few pearsall silks, a quick sift through dozens of hare masks and body pieces..... startling skins, partridge skins - imagine it if you can.
its getting hard even to bloody imagine it. :roll:
You would need to wear sun glasses these days before going into any shop that does fly tying.
This would be an ideal shop.....Ive been in 3 different shops over the last couple of months,mainly cause the nephew needed stuff and found there fly tying materials are all lure related,nae gid ti me that!! Online has everything i need :8)
Change of the times!!!!!
I did try,
Arthur Allan... shut
Cafaro.... shut
W Robertson... shut
Alex Martin... shut
CC Mann...shut
James Kent ...shut
Tausney... shut
Pitchers of Paisley .....shut
Anglers Rendevous.......moved to the Eastern wastelands of Glasgow
Ach well, always the GAC
Alan
I would like to be able to inspect materials before buying, but as many have said it is very hard to find a shop which stocks the materials I am looking for. Having said this the last couple of times I have been in the Orvis shop in Banchory they have had various wings and other bits and pieces from Cookshill. I was also given a catalogue to take away and advised that they can order in any materials I am after, even offering to pieces with properties to suit the intended use.
I can see myself spending more of my hard earned in Banchory, this type of service deserves support, IMHO.
Orvis is good. Changed a pair of boots for me last season- I was actually going to buy a new pair as I considered I had fair use of the ones that fell to bits, but Ben Dixon reckoned they should not have, so I got them for free. It's a bit far to go for a a pair of snipe wings though. :lol:
Too far and they have too many shiny new toys!!!
Quote from: Alan on March 25, 2013, 01:02:39 AM
Aldi's more like :)
Aldi's is better quality than that :)
Perhaps ASDA ?