Tight Lines Fly Shop - what a great store!

I stopped by the Tight Lines Fly Shop last week after work; in hopes of some special flies for the upcoming warmer weather. Well, I wasn't out of luck; they had just what I was looking for. We also had a good chat about catch & release fishing in NEWFishing Land, and shared some fun tales about fishing for "golden bones" up in Door County (that's carping on the fly for the uninitiated).

As I left the shop, I was struck by what a great store Tight Lines is; a little piece of angling heaven that somehow still captures the essence of a traditional tackle shop. To me, a fishing store needs to offer the following attributes to be a "great store" experience:
1. Welcoming atmosphere - I want to go somewhere where I feel like a guest and a friend, as well as a customer. Too many stores these days seem like angling-themed mini-Walmarts.
2. Quality gear - these mid-western "fishin' warehouses" bore me; it's always the same cheap stuff, stacked high and low-priced to sell. When will the "buyers" for these chains realize that some of us want a specific product, the best product, AND the most knowledgeable salespeople to help us make a decision?
3. Tradition - You can't buy it, but you can't run a successful fishing business without it. Call it the "know-how" of generations, call it the smell of well-varnished split cane; whatever it is, most tackle shops don't have it in this part of the world.

I suppose that's why I like Tight Lines so much, it has all of the above 3 features and then some. Maybe it's because it also reminds me of the great tackle shops in England that I knew? I was a sponsored angler for a couple of stores during my competitive fishing career, and both of them had and still have that "come in and make yourself comfortable" feel. I still get offered a "cup of tea" whenever I can spare the time to make the trip back across the pond to visit them!

Nostalgia, fishing stories, a variety of quality tackle, great service and that wonderful "guest at the fishing club" atmosphere; yes, Tight Lines is a proper fishing tackle shop! Here's the link, go visit (mention that Lee sent you!), and enjoy the experience: http://www.tightlinesflyshop.com/