Day trip

[Bulldog5485 0]

So today I went on a little road trip to Roscoe about a 45 minute drive unfortunately I had no time to stop on the river and wet a line but did stop into two of the local shops. The first shop that I stopped in at was the Catskill Fly shop right on the main drag, I had high hopes checked the website and it seemed promising. I was in search of some G rated thread and figure if it was at one place it would be at one of these shops. I got there and spoke with the Gentlemen who was busy behind the vice and when I spoke of this type of thread he looked at me like I had about 8 heads, So he went over the products that he carried and was extremely helpful but like he said they limit the amount of materials in the store to what they would feel are essential to what they tie. OK I understand this, but I mean the look I got was like are you kidding what the hell is this outsider talking about. I just felt like I was being sized up about my knowledge of the sport and industry and though I do not claim to be a master or a know it all, I do have a fair share of knowledge when it comes to this stuff and I do my homework so I do not sound like an idiot when it comes to things I am unfamiliar with. Lets just say that I do not think I will be spending my money there. So I go acrossed the street to the Beaverkill Angler Shop paruse the inventory, lots of good looking and quality material, the owner Evan, i think was his name was more than helpful and was unsure about the GX2 thread that I was looking for but showed me and my girlfriend the type of thread his tyer used and it was a G rated orvis thread that he said was very good and believed that it was similar to what I was looking for....Well we got to kickin the willy bo and I will say because of his knowledge, willingness to take the time out of his day to share some knowledge on the area and tying materials/patterns I now know where I will be spending my money at........ Does any body else have some insight on these shops........ please I am not bashing the other shop I just felt like I was an outsider there and to each his own, take what I am saying with a grain of salt this is just meant to spark some conversation between the members

 

 

Kevin

[redietz 0]

Funny you should mention this. I was up there last weekend for the first time in twenty years and visited both shops. I could definitely see how you could get the impression that you did. To be fair, when I was in there, the Catskill Fly shop was busier than the Beaverkill Angler (probably because I was in the former on Saturday, and the latter on Friday) so there guy in Beaverkill Angler had more time to spend with customers. The Catskill Fly Shop seemed to be a bit "clubbier" than the other, which can be either a good or bad thing, depending on whether you're in the "club" or not.

 

I had similar discussion on another forum about a different set of neighboring shops. The perceptions of the places seemed to divide along age lines. The younger guys felt unwelcomed in the more established shop, and thought it was you needed to belong to good-old-boys network to shop there. Being older, I felt just the opposite, and was more comfortable that shop, but I could see their point.

 

I won't knock either shop in Roscoe; I bought stuff in both. I'll definitely agree that they have different "styles".

[Bulldog5485 0]

Oh no doubt dietz no doubt I made sure I did my part and spent some greenbacks at both places I just felt that one had a little better customer service than the other one

[Worstcaster 0]

Both owners are friendly enough. Orvis has more selection, but Catskill occasionally has a really good deal on necks. If you continue to go up 206 acrossed form the school is the Baxter House which also has a good selection of materials. If you continue down the main street past Catskill and under the over pass, you will see a Mobil station, turn onto that road (Cottage St) and if you follow it about 1/2-1 mile there is a shop on the right which specializes in fly tying materials.

[JSzymczyk 0]

OK, I've never been accused of being overly brilliant, but I also don't know what "G rated thread" is. I did a quick google search of "g rated thread" and "fly tying", and the only thing that came up was this forum thread.

 

Do you mean GSP (Gel Spun Polyethylene) ??

 

As for shops, I agree. Some I've been to are run in such a way that I really wonder how they stay in business?

[whatfly 0]

To be fair, I'd never heard of "G-rated thread" either, and I probably would have given you the same look initially. Of course what came next really tells you something about the customer service ethos of a shop. A quick consultation of the Orvis web site or even a call to their 800 number probably would have solved the puzzle. There is a tendency to judge shops too harshly at times, but from the sounds of it they could have been a bit more helpful.

 

By the way, if you had asked for "monofiliament thread," you would have gotten a much more straightforward response. Not sure why Orvis decided to give it such a obfuscated name, but then that's par for the course for them.

[Bulldog5485 0]

right guederod or how ever its spelled developed a thread in the g rated series which was better than kevlar is. Its a gel coated poly like you said they just called it g gx1 and gx2 kelly galloup and chris helm use this thread quite a bit because of its durability especially when it comes to spinning deer hair bugs/streamers

[BobHRAH 0]

This type of experience is what contributes to the continued demise of local fly shops everywhere. If a local shop can't/won't provide good knowledge, good customer service, and good selection, why not just shop on-line? This applies to all of their product lines. I would prefer to support a local shop, but to compete, they have to provide the service and advice that I can't get on-line.

[Teioneon 0]

Back in May, 3 buddies and I road tripped to Toledo to take a class given by Chris Helm at his shop. I cannot tell you how friendly and helpful he was and how much knowledge he has and shared with us.

 

The amount of materials he has had all 4 of us drooling like babies.

 

Call him at Whitetail Flytying and I know he will help you out.

 

As a side bit, I too have experienced both the old boys club mentality and the friendly one. I have found sometimes, if you personally know some people, it pays to drop a name or 2.

 

You could even road trip to Somerset in Nov. for the flytying show. Lotsof stuff there. And from what I hear, very helpful people.

 

Hope this helps you out.

 

Dave