Discover Fly Fishing at WILSON’S

As January draws to a close many fly fishers in Ontario spend their time tying flies, thinking about the season behind us and dreaming about the fly fishing season to come. As the owner of a fly shop I also try to take a step back from the business side of things as often as possible to take stock of where we have been, where we are and where we’re heading. Those who are in the fly fishing industry get to put our feet up a bit more than usual around this time of year because, frankly, we’re not as busy as we would like to be.

One of the things I have learned over the years is that fly fishing means different things to different people. Some people take up the sport because they want to learn a different way to catch fish. Not a better way, just a different way. Other people take up fly fishing as a means to relax (and being located in downtown Toronto we see a lot of those people!). Others still take up fly fishing because of the ‘lifestyle’ it represents (whatever that is). I originally took up fly fishing in my early 30’s to spend time with a business associate who was an avid fly fisher but the initial reason I got into fly fishing lasted all of about 15 minutes…

I remember the first time I cast a fly rod – it was on my friend Alastair’s lawn at his home near Shelburne Ontario on the first day of the fly fishing season in 1993. After practicing a basic overhead cast we headed down to the Boyne River in pursuit of my first trout on a fly. I didn’t own a fly rod, I didn’t own a fly reel, I didn’t own waders and I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing – but it didn’t matter.

After getting caught up in more trees and losing more flies than I care to admit I finally resigned myself to wading in the river in my jeans and running shoes because it was the only way I could get a decent cast out. The river was 2C but I didn’t care because I had fallen in love – with fly fishing.

In the years since I first picked up a fly rod I have had the privilege of fly fishing in some incredible places. I have also had the honor of meeting many people and I have made many friends. Many of us in fly fishing retail also have innumerable nights waking up at 3 am worrying about the business and trying figure out ways to make it better. Those problems are not specific to fly fishing retailers but they are perhaps more pronounced because our sport is a cottage industry where margins are incredibly slim and with the recent economic downturn every sale counts. This is a very tough way to make a living in the best economic times let alone now.

So as you sit reading this at your computer you are probably asking yourself, “If fly fishing retail is so tough why do we keep doing it?” We keep going because we share the same aspirations of any fly fisher. We share the dreams of where we will catch our next fish and we are thankful for the opportunity to be part of our close-knit community. We take satisfaction in helping our sport thrive and we value the friendships we have made over the years. Most importantly, we keep doing it because we love what we do.

That’s why.

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