This photo by Dennis Nazarenko is one of the 12 pictures we have received for our December photo contest. We would like to get 4 more pictures submitted this month so we can beat our total for November so send us yours today! Remember, pictures of trophy fish are nice but we appreciate receiving photos of everything and anything associated with people enjoying fly fishing so don’t be shy about sending us your favourite shots! You can check out the pictures at http://www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/gallery-photos.php

With all of the choices out there we are delighted that this customer (who by the way is a recent convert to fly fishing from float fishing) has chosen our store in which to buy his gear and he explained that the main reason he has done so is the guys we have behind the counter. As he said, “They know their stuff!”

My frustration was not with the customer but rather with his innocent and heartfelt response to our suggestion that he submit some of his pictures to our monthly photo contest. As we were speaking I asked if he was aware of all the information we have on our website and he said, “No. Not really.”

He was interested so I took a moment to explain that we have almost 30 fly fishing access maps for southern Ontario as well as the major hatch charts you need to fish them effectively.

I then asked if he was aware of our monthly photo contest and when his response was again, “No” so I explained that we give away a $50 gift certificate every month to the person who sends us what we choose as our favourite photo. When I suggested to him that he should send us some of his pictures because we only get a handful of pictures each month and the odds of winning are excellent (!) he got a bit sheepish and replied, “I don’t think so because I don’t have any pictures of trophy fish…”

His comment, but more so the look of embarrassment on his face, made me pause.

“That, my friend, is preferred!” I said. “Let’s face it. Pictures of people holding big fish are at times impressive but after a while they get pretty boring. Our contest is not about boasting but rather about sharing and we would appreciate receiving any pictures you send us.”

With that he smiled and said, “If that’s the case I’ll see what I can do!” He wished us a Merry Christmas and out the door he went.

There are too many people – beginners in particular – who are intimidated by our sport and embarrassed by their perceived lack of knowledge so we hope that everyone reading this blog will send us a picture every month for our contest of anything EXCEPT a trophy fish!

That might change shortly…

“I trust most would agree that the Star is not a fan of the Mayor and often goes out of its way to criticize and/or paint him in a negative light. This is not a criticism but rather an observation. Accordingly, I find it amusing that The Star is up in arms for getting in effect some of their own medicine. The editorial board of the Star is now complaining that the Mayor is fed up with being, well, a target. You may not agree with his policies but he’s human (but at time you would even have difficulty discerning this from some of the coverage in The Star). Perhaps if the Toronto Star got into the habit of reporting the news instead of putting a left leaning editorial spin on much of what they write they would be more welcome at Toronto’s city hall. I was told when growing up that if you keep poking a dog you’re gonna get bit… Fair is fair. Just a thought.”

Frankly, it would be refreshing to see the Toronto Star and other media outlets (including Sun Media) focus their efforts more on informing the public instead of influencing it.

It is worth noting that this is the second time Jordan has won a $50 gift certificate from us as he was also the winner of our photo contest this past March! Jordan said then would be sending us more photos and it is a good thing for him that he did. Keep up the great work Jordan!

If you are not aware here is how the contest works: just send us your fly fishing pictures each month and if one of them catches we will send you a $50 gift certificate to spend at WILSON’S. There are no restrictions except that the pictures must be yours and they must be fly fishing related. We have received entries from across Canada, the United States, Mauritius, New Zealand and Europe and we look forward to receiving yours. It is also worth noting that there are no restrictions on what you can buy in the store with your gift certificate and you don’t have to visit the store to make your purchase because we now have an online store!

One of our customers who had purchased a new fly rod unfortunately had it break the first time he used it. He was of course not impressed and brought it back to our store to have us deal with it. Well, we sent the defective rod back to the manufacturer and then, as is the manufacturer’s policy, we had to pass along the repair bill to the customer imposed by the manufacturer. Needless to say, the customer who had to pay an additional $65 bill for a high end rod that broke within an hour of first being used was not impressed. Frankly, neither were we so we have decided to add the following addendum to our customer service policy:

Our ‘Got Your Back’ Guarantee

“If anything goes wrong with a purchase from our store within 30 days of receipt WILSON’S will cover all warranty costs. Just bring in the defective product with your receipt and we will take care of any charges imposed by the manufacturer.”

We hope that this new guarantee continues to give our customers the added comfort that we stand behind our service. We want to earn the right to be Canada’s fly fishing retailer of choice – and are going to do so one customer at a time.

Check out our December Newsletter on at http://www.canadasflyfishingoutfitter.com/news-view.php