The Complete Angler

[DFoster 0]

  I'm not sure if anyone seen this?  It's really well done.

 

[redietz 0]

Yes, I've seen it before. but thanks for posting it so I could see it again.

One thing that struck me on this viewing is how much it looked like an ad for Hardy reels!

[Jim P 0]

Great bit of fishing history.  Thanks for posting it.

 

[DFoster 0]

14 hours ago, redietz said:

Yes, I've seen it before. but thanks for posting it so I could see it again.

One thing that struck me on this viewing is how much it looked like an ad for Hardy reels!

Do you ever get the impression that non Hardy tackle is illegal in England?  LOL

[redietz 0]

1 hour ago, DFoster said:

Do you ever get the impression that non Hardy tackle is illegal in England?  LOL

Actually, I follow a UK fly fishing forum, and Hardy isn't nearly as ubiquitous as you would think.  Also, the Brits are not nearly the gear heads that we are.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

My own experience with Hardy in London wasn't anything to write home about.   This was a few years back when I was visiting family on my wife's side.  I was a well established commercial tyer by then, just beginning to write an occasional magazine article and had heard that Hardy's was THE place to check out while in London.  I went in, browsed a bit then stood there hoping someone (anyone) would ask if I needed anything... After a few minutes of being carefully ignored... I left and won't ever be back... Wish it weren't so.

[Bill_729 0]

On 9/2/2020 at 11:40 AM, DFoster said:

  I'm not sure if anyone seen this?  It's really well done.

<snip>

I enjoyed it. Part of me kept thinking how much it might bug the anti-elitists (AE) among us.

You might give it with an N-AE rating, as it may not be suitable viewing for everyone--but the learned AE-er  is likely to surmise this from the title. ; )  As is suggested only briefly, by the association of the word angler with anglicon, the book is said by some to be a symbolic representation of a political statement.  I'm on the side that just enjoys the environs where fish are typically found.

Bill

[Bill_729 0]

16 hours ago, Capt Bob LeMay said:

.. and had heard that Hardy's was THE place to check out while in London.  I went in, browsed a bit then stood there hoping someone (anyone) would ask if I needed anything... After a few minutes of being carefully ignored... I left and won't ever be back... Wish it weren't so.

I went to my local (30 mile away) fly shop twice and was totally ignored.  On the 3rd time I wasn't (it must have been 5 years before I went the 3rd time).  Turns out there are at least two owners. The one I happen to meet the first time just seems "naturally quiet", not a bad guy, the other fellow much less so. Neither had any sort of answer for "Where can I fish around here?", which I asked on my 3rd visit, and they weren't busy (what sort of policy is that-ha!).   I mean seriously, I could have answered the question better than they did. Incidentally, I did spend more than 3 years behind a "fishing tackle counter"--but it's "their" store, and not mine. It may get tiresome answering the question, "Where can I fish around here?", but if you are running a fly shop...then (IMHO) you ought to have some sort of answer ready...LOL (just a few miles from them, the Orvis store provided me with a map to a state park!).  So perhaps the owners of my local fly shop are elitists, or perhaps mainly fishing for elite clientel...whatever they look like...  But in response to Capt. LeMay's post, I'm sure it's just may be a matter of who you run into on a particular day.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I got my first job in a tackle shop... in 1972.. and a few years later began tying for shops, some years for three at a time around the country... I finally quit tying commercially a few years back but over the years I've had quite a bit of contact with different fly shops.  About 26 or 27 years ago, before I came back to guiding I fully intended to have my own shop... To this day I'm very grateful to Chico Fernandez who was kind enough to sit me down with paper and pencil to go over the actual financials of having my own shop.... The info he provided lead me directly into guiding instead of having a shop.  As he pointed out - you can make a small fortune with the right shop - but first you'll need to start with a large fortune... 

As far as Hardy's goes... I was being a bit restrained in my description of that visit.  In fact I was the only one in the shop with two or three employees - and was very carefully ignored for the fifteen minutes I was there.   Some of my long time anglers come from the UK and when asked have said "that's Hardy's..."  Hope they've changed since my visit almost 35 years ago.  For what it's worth, at least back then, a fly angler in the UK was paying roughly double for his or her gear than the prices I was familiar with back here in the Miami area... Visiting anglers from Europe in general thought that the US  was the promised land for high end fly gear since they could bring back items that were half what they'd have to spend at home... I have no idea if that's still the situation.

"Be a hero... take a kid fishing"

[DFoster 0]

I've never been to a Hardy store (I'm assuming they're similar to Orvis here?) but I hate being ignored by counter help, especially if I'm planning on spending money in your establishment, be it a fly shop, bar or restaurant.  There's simply no excuse for it and once it happens I almost never go back.  I would have walked out too-

[skeet3t 0]

9 hours ago, Capt Bob LeMay said:

I got my first job in a tackle shop... in 1972.. and a few years later began tying for shops, some years for three at a time around the country... I finally quit tying commercially a few years back but over the years I've had quite a bit of contact with different fly shops.  About 26 or 27 years ago, before I came back to guiding I fully intended to have my own shop... To this day I'm very grateful to Chico Fernandez who was kind enough to sit me down with paper and pencil to go over the actual financials of having my own shop.... The info he provided lead me directly into guiding instead of having a shop.  As he pointed out - you can make a small fortune with the right shop - but first you'll need to start with a large fortune... 

As far as Hardy's goes... I was being a bit restrained in my description of that visit.  In fact I was the only one in the shop with two or three employees - and was very carefully ignored for the fifteen minutes I was there.   Some of my long time anglers come from the UK and when asked have said "that's Hardy's..."  Hope they've changed since my visit almost 35 years ago.  For what it's worth, at least back then, a fly angler in the UK was paying roughly double for his or her gear than the prices I was familiar with back here in the Miami area... Visiting anglers from Europe in general thought that the US  was the promised land for high end fly gear since they could bring back items that were half what they'd have to spend at home... I have no idea if that's still the situation.

"Be a hero... take a kid fishing"

Regarding your second paragraph about being ignored- "Pardon me, gentlemen. Is there an Orvis store close by?"

 

[redietz 0]

I think that as far as the Hardy's store in London goes (not the company as a whole) their business model is to cater to the carriage trade.  It's hard to maintain a cachet of elitism if you wait on just anyone.

[DFoster 0]

On 9/4/2020 at 6:08 PM, redietz said:

I think that as far as the Hardy's store in London goes (not the company as a whole) their business model is to cater to the carriage trade.  It's hard to maintain a cachet of elitism if you wait on just anyone.

Or an American- perish the thought 'ol boy.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

What I haven’t said.... is that back then I was hoping that any shop I visited might become my customer since almost all of my commercial customers came as a result of a personal visit first... If they expressed an interest I would bring one of my master pattern boxes or send them samples of my work to order from.  At times years ago I was tying for two or even three shops at the same time as well as filling orders for guides or serious local anglers, nights and weekends.

Years before, I’d done the same thing as a rod builder in a small way.  If I’m ever forced to leave the water I might return to commercial tying,  rodcrafting simply isn’t very profitable considering the labor involved compared to how much you can make...

[DFoster 0]

In the process of learning to restore old bamboo rods I came across a video of a guy who said.  "Yes a hand crafted bamboo rod can sell for thousands of dollars. But if you need to earn a living allow me to direct you to the position of Walmart Greeter.  The hourly rate is better".