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.

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!

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