B. Moffitt
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Well it took a while but I finally was able to speak with the shop owner yesterday. We had a good conversation and to say he was audibly distressed at the outcome of the trip is an understatement. When I contacted him I was simple in my request. I didn’t ask for a refund of any kind. I merely asked for an apology for the day on the water not being what I’d asked for. What I received was a full refund of all fees paid to the shop (though I insisted several times they could deduct the cost of the flies I have (and the one I lost)). The owner was a stand up guy who 100% agreed with me that they hadn’t provided the service I wanted and that he’d take it up with the guide I went out with. I’m going to continue my practice of not publicly naming the shop as I don’t want to associate their name with the negative experience I detailed given they handled it beyond my expectations. However, if someone privately wants to know I’m happy to share as I’d like to direct business to them since they stood up and took responsibility for the guides poor decision making.
Brian
Zach and Karlin,
Thank you for the replies. To your points Zach I totally agree. The more of thought about it the more I think this guy didn’t want to drive a long ways knowing he’d lose a good portion of his day both to the trip and to driving. And honestly, I totally get that. I only do 1/2 day trips because, lets be honest it isn’t a fishing trip it’s the family vacation. When I’m gone I miss out on things my kids are doing and I want to be involved in their activities. I’ve done “1/2 day” trips that have gone on 5 hours of fishing and 3 hours of driving (out and back) and had to deal with a frustrated spouse who had her expectations set at 4.5-5 hours.
Karlin to your points I also 100% agree. This was the first trip I’ve been on where flies were “calculated” at the end of the trip (normally it’s as you describe) and it wasn’t until later that I realized I’d essentially been charged for flies I didn’t receive. Given I think the guide had 1000+ flies with him in various boxes and places I see where they all came from. As to the trip I’m not sure if I’d call it the end of the season, but certainly late in the season (fishing in the CO high country is generally good until the snow flies and even then winter fishing isn’t unheard of). I’m not sure about the permitting issue as this was a walk/wade trip but I know the shop is permitted on all of the waters suggested to me when setting up the trip. As you note you don’t want to be “that guy” and start pitching a fit about where to fish as the guide might have information you don’t. However, I should have stuck to my guns and insisted on fishing elsewhere or just outright canceling of the trip when it seemed like I wasn’t going to get the trip I wanted.
To both of your points I’ll be contacting the shop owner in the next few days and airing my concerns to him. In any event I’ll report back on my experiences. As with my original post I’m going to continue my practice of not naming the shop until I feel the community needs to know about an unethical shop.
Brian
Jim,
What you’ve experienced is something my eyecare professional warned me about. All these coatings on eyeglasses and sunglasses have a tendency to break down over time. I recently went in thinking my prescription had changed and was told it was exactly the same but the coatings in my lenses had broken and they were actually making it hard to see.
Sadly, the lack of warranty on prescription sunglasses is the primary reason why I’ve avoided them and instead wear contacts when I’m on the water or wearing sunglasses for long periods of time. Sadly at two years Costa’s warranty is better than Smith who only warranty theirs for a year.
George,
If you are starting from Denver you’ve got a lot of good options already mentioned. The Blue River is about 90 minutes west and will be your closest option (short of urban fishing around Denver). I’m not familiar with Trout’s Fly Shop though I’ve heard good things about them. Another option is Charlie’s Fly Box in Arvada. Charlie (Charlie Craven) has a great staff and they are always helpful and quick with information and suggestions. If you decide to fish the Blue, Breckenridge Outfitters in Breckenridge is my go to shop and they’ll have information on all major rivers close to Breckenridge including the Blue, South Platte, Colorado and others.
http://www.southparktrout.com/ has rights to fishing leases all over Park County (South Platte and other rivers), and the daily rod fee isn’t crazy.
http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Pages/WildlifeAreaMap.aspx is a listing of all State Wildlife Management areas in Colorado and you can filter to find those that allow fishing. I’ve fished many of them in Park County and caught some really nice fish (my daughter caught a monster 20″+ Rainbow on her first fishing trip last year in one of these management areas).Getting from Denver to the Gunnison is quite a trek (figure most of a day) so that wouldn’t be my first choice. If it’s an area you really want to fish I’d fly into Grand Junction instead.
Brian
George,
As R mentioned it would help knowing where you are traveling from/to (e.g. if you are flying into Denver or Colorado Springs on the Front Range or Grand Junction on the West Slope). The amount of fishable water in Colorado is vast and so far snow pack levels look great so that time of year should be good for fishing.
A good resource is the listing of . These are conservation easements and many are located on prime fishing waters. There is no overnight camping in these areas, but they are generally close to camping areas or cheap hotels.
Brian
Zach,
Out of curiosity, what did you think of the ChromaPop lenses? Did you feel they work as advertised?
Brian
After reading all the comments I decided to give the Nikwax Tech Wash a try with my waders (1 pair Orvis, 1 pair Redington) and a 10 year old Helly Hansen raincoat which was no longer waterproof. The net result was 2 pairs of waders that look like they just came out of the box and are just as waterproof. The raincoat is now waterproof once again and doesn’t wet out like it had been.
The only negative I can see with the product is the volume necessary to wash more than a few items (3 oz. per load up to 3 items). After washing the coat and waders seperately I’ve essentially used the whole bottle. In the long run however, it is probably worth it as it will save you replacing expensive outdoor gear on a frequent basis.
