New Eastern Shore Maryland Fly Shop - Feedback Please

[Tissy Furnes]

The DC area with a large population base does not have and cannot support one dedicated fly shop. We have Orvis (there is more space for dog beds than FF gear and I get the impression the fly stuff being displayed is more about creating a certain vigorous outdoor ambiance than it is about actually selling any gear). Then there is BPS. We used to have Noel's shop until he got out of the business entirely and is reportedly in the framing business in Florida. Larry Coburn's shop closed long ago. Urban Angler took his real estate but was not able to make a go of it. They say they are looking for new space but I am very skeptical we will see them again in this area.

So if we can't support a shop with a few million folks in the DC/NOVA/MD Metro area, I can't for the life of me see how Easton could do it. I don't like being so negative because I have long lamented the loss of the individual owner operator, not just in FFing but in so many other walks of business. We have become a nation of franchises and big boxes with the computer in-between.

I have to think if you are going to make a go of it, it will be in a different and more creative form than what you originally proposed. Maybe a marriage of Brady's idea along with a technology piece such Water Boy suggests.

[Don Hershfeld]

Brandon,
I wish you luck and fortune with whatever you decide to do ...

...PS: If anyone can find a picture of that elitist Don ice fishing or holding a bullhead please post it for all to enjoy.

I 'de-baited' whether or not to respond, and decided to play it totally straight, at face value, without hint of satire here (not easy for me). Took the time (not that this was any burden) to review some threads you have started, and to see if there was some reason I might have that elitist adjective coming. Not a comprehensive search, just enough to find that we've enjoyed some positive banter, at least if you were playing it straight with me.

You know, in some ways I really AM an elitist. Wherever it makes sense to do so, and won't cost me too many ops to catch fish, I DO prefer fly tackle. I DO prefer fishing for wild fish in free-chase settings. I DO gravitate to more challenging venues and species. I DO gravitate away from crowds. Some of my all-time favorite fishing has been wade-walking for steelhead on the larger sort of northwestern rivers, and in one may have broken a long-standing state record, except that I released the catch (those WERE the rules at the time, but it wouldn't've mattered one iota). Often (not always) I DO quickly grow bored with easy fishing involving predictable serial catching, and may soon start trying to figure out what they WON'T take, if anything. I DO sometimes fly fish with my off (left, and injured) hand, just to make it more interesting. I have, on too many occasions, practically walked upon trout water, in the opinion of OTHERS who were watching, and who chose to proactively comment afterwards. A willful enemy has said of me, "what he doesn't know about fishing [lotic waters] for trout isn't really worth knowing." My wife, who is a fine anglerette in her own right, even though she doesn't get to practice very often at all, refuses to play "Fishing Trivial Pursuit," claiming I at some time must have read ALL the answers on the backs of the question cards. Heck, I'll even write a paragraph like this one, in public, taking the sure risk of being completely misunderstood. So, in some sense (not at all sure if you were serious or joking) you've nailed me, at least as a fisher.

Then again... Let me take this occasion to share that in truth I really AM NOT an elitist. Wherever it makes sense to do so, I will drown a worm or maggots under a bobber, using a spin-casting combo. I DO find myself on occasion trying to torment concentrated stockers who's change-of-address cards still bear wet ink, with barbed and treble hooked spinners. I DO gravitate to ice fishing for bluegills when and where they are most vulnerable. I DO somtimes join conga lines of other anglers, shoulder to shoulder along both banks. Some of my favorite fishing was done wading a smelly swamp seeking bowfin and golden shiners, but yes, on the fly I'm afraid to admit. Occasionally (not very often) I CAN'T get the skunk off, even when someone else has managed to do so, and may start asking for advice about what to use, and how to use it, from those who are at least for the moment, if not the entire outing, quite a bit more succesful than I am. I DO sometimes flub an easy fly cast, backlash a bait casting reel, or snarl up a spinning combo, and might even allow myself to rarely become outwardly discouraged. I have, on too many occasions, tripped and fallen into trout water, and otherwise in the opinion of TROUT who were watching/hearing/feeling, ALL of whom chose to comment the entire time, BEEN FOUND UTTERLY LACKING, under.some conditions. Friends have said of me, "So, if you are such an expert, why aren't we catching anything out of this little pond with the fish right here in plain site? My wife, who is a fine anglerette in her own right even though she doesn't get to practice very often at all, has 'spanked me silly' on the water quite a few times over a long and diverse fishing career, but never rubbed it in even once... she has however, called me to her side and handed over her tackle before she gigged every single catchable fish out of a productive hole. Heck, I'll even write a self-deprecating paragraph like this one, in public, taking the sure risk of being completely understood.

Soooo... Since I use my real name here instead of a handle, and stuff lingers on the net, I just want you, and anybody else following this thread (in the event they'd even care either way, now or in the future, LOL) to know that I have, as a spoof, more than once placed a bullhead catfish and my fly pole tastefully amidst the late-spring bluets (wildflowers), taken the time and trouble to get a good digital image, and have been 'vain' (or impishly amusing, you decide) enough to post same (along with the full account, naturally enough) to an international bulletin board / listserv called Flyfish@, where in the mid-90's or so, some folks thought I may have held a (not 'the', just one among many, fwiw) 'position of some prominence.' It was, at least at the time, a very friendly and mutually supportive 'family' of fly flingers, which I'm sure included some elitist types as well as regular joes, along with a few eccentrists (humorous and otherwise). Rank beginners may have been reluctant to do more than lurk there, but a guy named HenryK kindly had written all manner of excellent instructional material which is very likely still there.

If your 'tag' comes from where I think it might, upon re-reading my words any objective fisher ought to discern that I was in fact mocking elitism, not endorsing it. I know the type very well, and think they ought to get a little perspective on what may or may not make them so gosh-darn special, or a sportier-than-thou, or a better person.

Its just fishin' after all. I happen to have endless enthusiasm for, as well as endless curiousity about the game, but that is all it is... like watching NFL football maybe, just a recreational pastime for the harried, the bored, the non-atheletes, the aging has-beens, etc. Once upon a time it very nearly defined me, but it became a taskmaster, and in due course I have mostly gotten the upper hand over my hobby again.

If I really were trying to be perceived as an elitist, I should have kept my ice fishing habit in the closet here. Darn, why did I not think of that earlier?!?!? Oh well, since the ice is yet partial and too dicey at DCL its time now to go find my spinning tackle and plugs, and try to nail a walleye or two. The shame of it is, AND I think I just realized this, all that good eating has gone temporarily out of season. Bummer. Well, at least I won't need to hunt up any stringer or five gallon bucket now. Wish me 'luck.'

It would at this point take more effort, with slimmer odds of success, to find what I might have done with that bullhead image, than it would be to just compose another one just like it in the spring. If there's any interest and someone will remind me in about four or five months, I may just try and do that instead. Reply and let me / any others (who could perhaps also be unsure which if any adjective belongs in front of my name) know what you decide, OK? If forced to guess, I'd say that you are just pulling my cleats or something, in which case I'm glad I caught the comment, but if not I'm not upset or too worried about my rep

Tight lines, with whatever legally floats any TF reader's boat,
Don

P.S. This thread is now officially returned to its sole relevant topic. Oops got almost to the end before breaking my 'no satire' pledge. Only Brandon can officialy do anything here, I presume. Sorry about that.

[Water_boy]

Don, That's all it is, positive banter. Sorry I forgot to put the sarcastic / eye roll emoticon in there when I made that little dig, hopefully you didn't take (too much) offense... and don't be so darn sensitive ...


In all seriousness it’s probably very hard for people who have reached the highest level of achievement in a sport as involved and difficult as fly fishing not be perceived as having an elitist attitude. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with achieving elite status, just as long as you don’t look down on the little people when you finally get there....

[Don Hershfeld]

'Yo, Water_boy,

Never was a real problem, I was just covering my bases for the imaginations / 'entertainment' of third parties,
whether they be actual elites or humble duffers, which can hold equal standing before the fickle fish.
So we're good, and btw thanks for the op to navel-gaze for a bit. Never hurts to check.
Really, there are many flavors of fly fishing I'm unlikely to even get to sample,
much less learn to do well, and that's OK too.
1st steps down fly paths are steepest.
After that, not so tough...

Hey, I really did go plugging for 'eyes at DCL from 3-7:30pm tonight.
It wasn't the sort of 'day' I'd've picked on my own, but a pal was restless and called,
so we went anyway. Very windy and cold early, then becalmed but COLDER later.
My bud who'd called got one yellow perch at dusk, and left early!
I stayed on, working 'our' nocturnal bank(s) plan, but not sure
if I even got bumped or not, the whole time, anywhere.
Sometimes you're the bug.
Nothing ventured...
Still had fun.

Oh, not that it became an issue but 'eyes are in-season here through February, actually.
Without ice cover, apparently I get disoriented!