Support Your Local Tackle Shop?

[Wildfisher]

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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[Allan Crawford]

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.

[Otter Spotter]

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

Apparently very good for tying materials.

[Wildfisher]

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.

[Wildfisher]

Apparently very good for tying materials.

That's where I was Scott.

[Otter Spotter]

Ahhh,

Ok dont bother its shit  :lol:

[Wildfisher]

It's actually a nice shop Scott, just didn't have any wings. 

[bushy palmer]

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.

[Inchlaggan]

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.

[Wildfisher]

Och at least you got a bridie. :lol:

It's gone.

As good today as they ever were.  :lol: