I am in Bozeman, Montana at the invitation of Simms to attend a meeting with 11 other owners of some of the best fly shops in North America. LeLands, FishWest, Blue Quill, TCO, Kingfisher, Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters & River’s Edge amongst others are here and I consider this invitation quite an honour because I am sitting amongst some of the brightest retailers in the industry. To be honest, I am focused on listening and taking notes because I don’t want to embarrass myself too much…

KC Walsh, the owner of Simms, invited us to Bozeman for the inaugural “Simms Fly Fishing Retailer Summit” and we kicked off the meeting yesterday with a tour of their wader factory. Let me correct that. To call the Simms facility a “factory” is doing the brand a disservice because the word factory implies mass production and, perhaps more importantly, a lack of attention to detail in the drive for the almighty dollar. At least at Simms, nothing could be further from the truth.

If you are not aware, Simms waders are made in Bozeman, Montana and, having now toured their facility, I know that the men and women who work here are artisans focused on producing the best fly fishing waders in the industry. Our group was taken through the production process from where the roles of Gore fabric are received by the friendly guys in the receiving department to the final inspection and shipping area where each wader is re-checked before being sent out. Between these points there are literally dozens of people who are involved in producing each pair of waders. We looked on with interest as roles of Gore were cut by hand based on a computer design to ensure as little of the fabric was wasted and followed the fabric as it was stitched by expert employees who sew each part of the wader together. Some of us tried our hand at the taping station that reinforces the seams and laughed as we realized how much skill it takes to do what appeared to us to be a simple job. Like any professionals, the people at Simms are so good at what they do they make it look easy. The production line ultimately weaves its way around an incredibly organized and clean room to the final testing area where each wader is checked for leaks. Think about that for a moment. Each wader is checked for leaks before being shipped. The craftsmanship and dedication to quality at this facility blew me away.

One thing in particular that caught my eye during our tour was a spot near the lunch room where production mistakes are hung for all to see. While we were there we saw a pair of waders on display that had been sent back by a customer because two left feet had been sewn onto them. The occasional mistake like this will happen at any company but what struck me was that these waders are not displayed with an intent to embarrass the person responsible but rather to remind everyone to pay attention to detail and take pride in what they do. As we heard from more than one employee on the floor during our tour, “Every wader we make is important because we don’t want to lose even one customer.”

The sense of pride we encountered from the employees was for me perhaps the most surprising thing I encountered during our tour. The culture at Simms truly is a credit to the management team and what I saw on the production floor gave me a better understanding not only of the products but but also of the company and its people. Simms charges what many consider to be a premium for their waders and having now seen the process and met the people who make them I have a better understanding of the craftsmanship involved and I know they are worth every penny. It was great to see a company where the people working on the floor not only believe in the importance of the quality of their work but they also take pride in learning from their mistakes.

And that is why we at WILSON’S are proud to be a Simms dealer.

“World economy in ‘dangerous phase’ IMF warns” – Toronto Star

“EU crisis raises bank risk…” – Globe and Mail

“Volatility is the new norm” – New York Times

“IMF warns of new threat to banks” – BBC

I don’t know about you but the more I read newspapers the more I want to go fishing…

Part of me hesitated writing this but because of the number of inquiries we continue to get on a daily basis we thought we should let you know what is going on… which is this.

We went live with our new website 5 months ago and our website traffic jumped by over 30% but so too did the number of calls and emails asking when the ecommerce part of our site will be live. To our surprise the biggest stumbling block has been the difficulty in getting the right information in a downloadable format from our suppliers. We require high resolution images and product descriptions in a CSV file and when we have approached the majority of our suppliers most have said, “Ummm, we don’t know what a CSV file is. Just go to our website and start cutting and pasting.” This would be okay if we were only dealing with a few hundred items but we have over 10,000 items that we have to transfer into our system so the cut and paste route doesn’t quite cut it (no pun intended).

Well, after a bit of insistence from us many of our suppliers have stepped up to the plate and we have downloaded a considerable amount of product into the site and we are now in the process of screening it for mistakes to prepare for a staged launch that will feature a limited number of products from a select few suppliers. Our ecommerce team is continuing to work feverishly (they have even been threatened with not getting dessert) and we hope to surprise everyone by actually having the site live in the coming weeks.

No one is more anxious than us to have the site live and we hope that you will like what we have done when you finally get a peek!

The first day of March is symbolic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the light of spring we see at the end of the winter tunnel. Around this time of year fly fishermen start stirring from hibernation and spouses wake to find gear bags dug out of basements lying in the front hallway like a suitcase waiting for an expectant mother on her way to the hospital. Dining room tables are overrun with reels taken out of pouches and sorted alongside fly rods and boxes of flies that are again sorted by type… and then resorted the following week by hatch. This process is a reawakening of a shared passion and an annual rite of spring that brings a smile to every fly angler’s face in Ontario because, at the end of a long day at work, we know that trout season is creeping ever-closer…

It’s late January. It’s snowing. I’m heading to work. I drive over Bronte Creek on Appleby Line and just as I crest the hill on the north side of the creek and reach Sideroad 2, I slow down. I have a meeting in Milton that I have to be at in 40 minutes – but I can’t help myself. I turn and head down into the valley to see how the creek is looking. I slow down as I near the valley floor and go even slower as I approach the bridge that I know so well. I stop and look north towards the dogleg upriver that leads to Zimmerman Park and then look south where the creek flows past the Scout camp. I feel better for having taken these few moments but recognize the clock is ticking and my meeting awaits – but I smile when I realize that so to is the coming season… Life isn’t all about work.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: We received another 2 shipments of fly tying materials in the store yesterday and we are pleased to report that because we have so much more inventory in fly tying materials it is getting difficult to find wall space. As a consequence the reorganization of the store has finally begun so come on in and check out what we've been up to!]