Are there any fly shops left?

To the larger point: "Gone. All gone. The dog has barked and the birds have flown, gone. Gone, your $50. Gone the whiskey. Gone, your man, Cheney. Gone, gone. gone. "
 
PennKev said:
I'd much rather "deal" with TCO than walk into a shop that has little more than a small selection of flies and a few leaders and ratty old tying material hanging off some peg board.
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I'd rather deal with a shop where the staff are deeply knowledgeable about fly fishing and tying. In my experience, the TCO in Boiling Springs doesn't fit that description. That "ratty old material" may be just what I'm looking for.
 
Sylvaneous said:
To the larger point: "Gone. All gone. The dog has barked and the birds have flown, gone. Gone, your $50. Gone the whiskey. Gone, your man, Cheney. Gone, gone. gone. "
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Has someone hacked your account? I have a suspect.

To the point of the OP, I find that on-line ordering of equipment and flies is most convenient if you have time to wait.
 
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tddeangelo said:
Their website says they have Taylor. No mention of any other brands as far as rods/reels.
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Which Shop has Taylor gear? I looked at Pocono Fly Fishing's website and saw no mention of Taylor.
 
redietz said:
I'd rather deal with a shop where the staff are deeply knowledgeable about fly fishing and tying. In my experience, the TCO in Boiling Springs doesn't fit that description. That "ratty old material" may be just what I'm looking for.
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For the record, I like the current staff at TCO in Boiling Springs. They've been helpful every time I asked anything or needed anything. I think the current staff is the best that's been in that store since it opened.

My complaint with TCO in general has been the franchising of fly shops. It's like a Walmart, every store is the same.
Also the Grateful Dead crap annoys me. I get it the owner is an old hippie. At what point does copyright infringement kick in?
 
BrookieChaser said:
For the record, I like the current staff at TCO in Boiling Springs. They've been helpful every time I asked anything or needed anything. I think the current staff is the best that's been in that store since it opened.

My complaint with TCO in general has been the franchising of fly shops. It's like a Walmart, every store is the same.
Also the Grateful Dead crap annoys me. I get it the owner is an old hippie. At what point does copyright infringement kick in?
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The Grateful Dead stuff is the biggest redeeming feature of TCO, and why I only picked on the Boiling Springs store, and why I will continue to shop there.

Every time I've gone into the BS shop and had to ask a question, I've gotten a deer in the head lights response, You may be right, though that the current staff is better. I haven't been in there since the pandemic.

I really miss Yellow Breeches Outfitters.
 
I miss Cold Spring Anglers. I still hold them as the standard I measure fly shops against.
 
JackM said:
Has someone hacked your account? I have a suspect.
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You must not be familiar with my fascination (obsession?) with a few select movies; Full Metal Jacket, Patton and True Grit, the Cohen Brother's version, aka, the good one.
 
BrookieChaser said:
FI get it the owner is an old hippie.
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I knew Tony before TCO was 'big'. I don't remember that he was anything like what I would identify as an old hippie. Maybe a stoned-all-weekend frat guy.
 
Precision fly shop in Mt. holly springs, Lancaster and Beaver creek Maryland, Tco in state College, Boiling springs, Reading come to mind. Fly fishermen 's paradise in State College. Yes, I would say there are several in central Pa. area.
 
Up here in NW PA, we are lucky to have 1 legit fly shop, Neshannock Creek, SORT OF. Northern PA is usually considered anything north of I-80, but N.C.F.S. is south of 80, so not really. But that's the one we have. We had 2, but now it's zero.
 
Ryan's fly shop (Risenfly) moved locations. I believe he's in Big Beaver now.

Yes, the NW PA mountainous area has a lack of fly shops compared to the rest of the state. To the NW in Erie there's Foley's End and a lot of the other fishing stores have their share of fly gear. To the SW is RisenFly and Neshannock. To the SE and E is Brookville Fly & Bait, and Featherman Creations in Penfield.

But yes there's a huge hole around the ANF itself. From Oil City, Tionesta, Marienville, Kane, Warren, etc. I think you're close to an hour to the nearest fly shop, and that's good fishing country in there too.
 
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falcon said:
Which Shop has Taylor gear? I looked at Pocono Fly Fishing's website and saw no mention of Taylor.
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I was in there a couple months ago. Small shop. Helpful owner. They did have a few Taylor rods and reels in stock.
 
You generally need to buy direct from Taylor. Trident carries some their rods and reels. If you have questions email Matthew Taylor from the website as he will get back to you in a timely manner. Taylor is always at the Edison Fly Fishing Show. There is a 30 day return no questions asked on all equipment. Taylor runs a sale from time to time generally later in the year. He does discount pre release on new products where you can save a substantial amount on the post release price. Get on their email list for notifications. There are rods and reels for all price points and the gear is really good and among my favorites and I generally fish higher end rods and reels. I have a 9ft 6wt Anomoly Z and a 9ft 4wt Truth Z and a Revolt reel which is his top end offerings. However don't discount the less expensive offerings as they are excellent.

In certain rods he has "missing" rods in certain line weights such as the 9ft 6wt Truth Z. The reason is Mathew will not release a rod where he doesn't have the taper to his satisfaction. When he gets it right it will be added to the rod series. This is in contrast to most other rod companies that have a complete rod selection where some are much better than others within the same series.
 
It is either online sales for me (yep, guilty by convenience) or I'm mostly a Fly Fisher's Paradise shopper. I'll go to TCO in State College if I have to, but I prefer FFP. I don't mind Spruce Creek Outfitters. Is Aquatic Imitations still around? While not specifically a fly shop, that guy has always done me right.
 
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