by midger » May 30th, 2009, 5:13 am
I second Blue Fly Cafe out of Garden City(Boise) Idaho. BTW, Mike's place is also a brick and mortar shop as well, and if you are ever in Boise you can stop by and hand pick your flies from his many bins, and he carries TFO rods if you have a hankering for a new, well-priced rod.
The flies are well tied, on Daichii hooks primarily, and with good materials.
Hill's Discount Flies were also good, but I haven't ordered anything from them in the past 6-7 years.
There are very few shops that can/will match the .65 to .75 a fly price you will find online. What you do get from local shops in the areas you'll be in is local fishing info and "hot" patterns for their particular waters. I tie my own flies, but feel obligated to buy something when I pump these local shops for info when fishing an area I'm not that familiar with, so I'll usually buy some flies--patterns I don't particularly like tying like size 18 royal wulff's, size 20 adams, or a time consuming hopper pattern.
"Should you cast your fly into a branch overhead or into a bush behind you, or miss a fish striking, or lose him,or slip into a hole up to your armpits-keep your temper; above all things don't swear, for he that swears will catch no fish."