Joel Thompson
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Hey Split shot!
It was very gratifying indeed. I went through five other guys before I hooked up with Tim. And it wasn’t long before he made all my worries go away. He has a great story that goes with him as well. He started out his career as a fish biologist and was flying around one day with a carpenter friend of mine in a piper cub tracking bull trout. He started asking a lot of questions about wood working especially what it takes to make furniture type items. My friend the carpenter told him he should get a copy of fine wood working magazine and read it to get more ideas. Well to make a long story short he went out and bought every issue of fine wood working magazine and read them all from cover to cover. Now he is featured in fine wood working magazine. I thought that was a great story.
I have made contact with the Boo boys. Their company is called Sweetgrass fly rods. Very nice stuff, but a two year wait to get something. I also got Wintstons side of the story on why the Boo Boys left. Now I don’t know what to believe.
As far as carrying Thomas and Thomas and Abel in the shop goes…only if they demand it. I will be carrying Winston and Sage for rods and Ross and Tibor for reels. I have all of these and like them and more importantly know them. The nice thing about most of my clientele so far is that they are really nice people and they trust me and my opinion. I can honestly say I have only come across maybe two snobs in the year that I have worked there. That’s what makes the place a great place to work! Well that and the tips. 😉
JT
I agree with Cameron! Damn nice work Paul!
On the topic side of things I have 3 fly fishing magazines sitting in front of me right now. Two of them have articles from Zach and another from board member Buzz Bryson. Great stuff from both and I feel pretty lucky to have input from you two when ever I need it. Keep up the good work guys!
JT
Andrew the skull is made out of metal. The shape was cut out and then hammered to give it a 3D affect. I was really pleased with how well it turned out! I am not sure what they applied to give it it’s color, but what ever it was they nailed it! I am anxious to see what the skull looks like when there are twenty fly rods standing in front of it. I will post pictures when that happens.
JT
Hi Billy!
I think that is a great question and one that concerns me greatly. I have talked to the golf course Superintendent on several occactions about that exact thing. He has assured me that the stuff he uses is enviromentally friendly and won’t harm the creek. My guess is since we just spent several hundred thousand dollars restoring the creek he is not pulling my leg on this one.
JT
Are we mere mortals allowed to have a look there if we ever happend to be in the neighbourhood                                                               Â
Jay that would depend on a lot of things. The fly shop is for members only. These people pay handsomely to be a member of the club and they like to have things, like the fly shop, that are exclusive to members only. That said if you are a family member of mine or a friend I am sure I would have no problem showing you around especially in the off season. (winter months) I just have to be careful when doing it that it doesn’t interfer in anyway with a member. I know that kind of makes the place sound kind of stuffy but it really isn’t.
I hope that all made sense Jay! And you ever make it to Montana let me know and I will see if I can give you a tour.
Joel
One more just so you can get an idea of how big of a paw this is. I wear a large glove and that is my hand in this picture.
Quote:In light of the cougar thread, how many have ever seen black bears while fishing?
I see black bears almost yearly while fishing. Unfortunately I have never managed to get a picture because they always seem to turn and burn as soon as they see you!
Back to the Griz side of things I am attaching a picture of some Griz tracks that were about 15 feet from my tent on a hike I did in Glacier a couple of years ago. We saw Griz sign around every corner, but never saw the bear itself.
Joel
I like my Winston BIIx 9′ 4wt for streams and dry fly fishing and my Sage XP 9′ 5wt for everything else.
Hey Drifter, the ranch is located right outside of Deer Lodge in Western Montana. I live both there and in Missoula during the winter months. My wife is a spanish teacher in Missoula and is only about 7 years from being able to retire so we are not quite ready to make the big move as of yet.
Oh we have the track lighting as well. And the skull in the fly rod display is back lit as well to really draw peoples eyes to the display. You can see that bad boy all the way down the hall way of the lodge. And right next to the fly shop is the bar. Imagine how easy it is going to be to talk people into the new Simms G4 waders after they have had a couple of pints! 😉
One of the neatest things about these cabinets is that they are all made from the same walnut tree. We found a Mom and Pop sawmill in Albany Oregon that cuts out trees like these for people who no longer want them in their yards and they keep the wood from that tree seperate from the others so you can get a lot of consistency in the way the wood looks.
All of my goodies for the fly shop will start rolling in next month and when I get everything filled up I will take some better pictures of what everything looks like full.
Joel
