This is the 14th Christmas season in our store’s history and we hope it is going to be our best yet for one simple reason: we have more inventory in the store this year than we have ever had at this time of year. In fact, we are expecting a(nother!) fill in order from Simms before the end of the week and we have more fly tying materials coming to shore up the occasional holes we have on our material walls that are starting to appear. The fact that we have a few holes appearing on our fly tying material walls is also a great sign because this has never happened so early in the fly tying season. Word on the inventory we have has spread and we look forward to seeing many more of our customers in the coming weeks!

We had our 13th Anniversary Sale to celebrate our anniversary last Saturday because we like to hold special sales in the store on weekends when more people are available to come in and last weekend made more sense than the coming Easter weekend that is also the trout opener. But this past Wednesday April 20 was the official 13th anniversary of opening the doors for business at WILSON’S. The anniversary almost went unnoticed but for something pretty special that made our day.

I was in the store mid-afternoon chatting with a customer as were Bill and Ian and the man with whom I was speaking had never been in and asked what year we opened. He had come into Toronto from Barrie after having driven to Kitchener/Waterloo thinking that at least one of the stores in that area would have the fly lines and tying materials for which he was looking. Not one of them had what he wanted and he had called ahead to see if ‘the store of last resort’ (us) could help him out – and it turned out we had everything he wanted. After he told me his story I asked, “Why didn’t you come here first?” and his reply both frustrated me and made my day. “First, I don’t like driving in Toronto and secondly, I had heard you were more expensive than the other fly shops. But to tell you the truth your pricing is better, you are the only fly shop with inventory and you have got great selection. Frankly, this store is a good reason for me to get over having to come downtown!”. He then smiled, thanked me for my time, congratulated us on our ‘official’ anniversary and headed to the sales counter.

13 years to the day we opened and we still hear new customers say they had never come in to to see us because they thought we were ‘the expensive store’ and then find out otherwise. Oh well, that is the nature of retail. But it’s still a thrill to win over a new customer… he made our day!

As the trout opener in Ontario creeps closer we are continuing to be amazed by the number of calls we are getting from customers across Ontario and, for that matter, Canada, with requests for inventory. Don’t get me wrong – we appreciate the opportunity to sell more product to new customers. But we are starting to feel like we’re the only fly shop that has any inventory. Hmmm. Maybe we should be filing this in the category of “Don’t Look a Gift Horse…”

On that note, we received our new inventory of Cocktails this week which started selling the moment they were put on the wall and we have placed another order with a new fly tying material supplier for a few interesting items that will be arriving shortly…

What it comes down to is this: we have more reserve inventory in our back room at the moment than most stores have on the floor so if you are looking for something please let us know!

[And if you are not aware WILSON'S is having its 13th Anniversary Sale this coming Saturday April 16. Members of our online fly fishing club are entitled to 15% off all purchases so sign up as a member this week and plan on coming in for a visit. We will also have Junior St. Onge who manages the Salmon Camp and Camp Bonaventure on the Gaspe visiting the store - we hope you can join us!].

There are two ways to look at the current economic situation in Canada. The first way to look at this situation is to consider the rise of the Canadian Dollar as a reflection of the sound economic policies of the current Federal Government in Ottawa. The second way to look at this situation is that the American economy is tanking and everyone else in the world at the moment, including Canadians, are benefiting from the devaluation in the American Greenback. Either way, what this means is that the Loonie is on par with the US dollar and it makes a whole lot of sense to shop across the border… which is great… unless of course you own a fly fishing store in Canada. Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

As of today, WILSON’S will be selling all fly fishing rods, fly fishing reels and fly fishing waders at US suggested retail pricing.

We are pleased to announce that Brady Johnson is the first winner of our monthly photo contest! Brady’s silhouette photo of a blue winged olive may fly perched on his reel is the one that caught our attention and for his efforts we are sending Brady a $50 gift certificate to spend at WILSON’S. Brady is originally from Vancouver Island and now lives in Hamilton, Ontario. Remember to send us your fishing photos every month for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate – all you have to do is sign up as a member!

Brady took his picture while fishing the Provo River in Utah – to view it please go to www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/gallery.php