We complain about it…a lot. Six weeks ago every Ontario Fly Fishing Guide and angler was pulling his hair out due to the lack of rain. Two weeks ago we complained as there was too much rain. It’s often feast or famine. Living in rural Ontario, I often talk with farmers who for the most part, have identical complaints and equal concerns. Is it worth complaining about? That depends on how dead the conversation is and how much one person wants to revive it but beyond that, complaining does nothing. You have to find the good in everything though and the big rain event in early May was a gift. Although we complained at the time, we needed it badly and it has left the area in pretty good shape in terms of trout fishing. Of course a steady and light helping of rain will always be welcome but for now, take advantage of the conditions.
So what do we do about it? Gain and maintain a sense of how the rain effects the rivers that you fish. For example, the last major rain event in our emmediate region put a lot of the systems out of commission but several rivers west of us were in great shape and fished well during that period. Use the tools available to you and take the time to do some exploring after those rain events to get an idea of what happened to your river. Develop your own patterns and it will pay dividends.
So here is what we know about the region: The tail water is fishing well and at normal flows. Hendrickson’s are still hatching strong with grey foxes mixed in. We are getting to that period where the fishing will steadily improve and with the resevior full, we can expect pretty good temperatures for late May and June. Caddis have also become more important and the tail water is experiancing solid daily hatches.
Finally a reminder of “Grand Opportunities” at Belwood Lake on June 2nd. Grand Ops, as we often call it, is a great day filled with friends, food, educational seminars and masterclasses, and gear sale/swap. Also, there’s The Friends of The Grand draw for any single handed Sage “ONE” rod, with matching line and reel, of your choice (tickets available at our Fergus location).

Tight lines,

The team at WILSON’S

The deposit for the lease on our new premises has been paid, the landlord has our comments on the lease, the current tenant is advertising a “Moving Sale”, our inventory for our new fly shop in Fergus has arrived and we are now looking at when we can book a truck to get our fixtures and inventory moved.

It would definitely appear that “WILSON’S on the Grand River” is on track!

This morning’s Globe and Mail has a feature story on Sail Outdoors which is the newest entrant to Ontario’s retail sporting goods landscape. A big box retailer based out of Quebec, Sail is the latest juggernaut small retailers like us have to respond to – and we are certain it will not be the last. The last big box retailer that came to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was Bass Pro in 2003 and at the time it scared the heck out of us. We were just entering our fifth year in business and finally getting our feet under us for the first time when Bass Pro announced they were opening. After an initial panic attack I scraped the money together to attend the Fly Fishing Retailer’s Trade Show held in Denver that year with the intent of getting as much advice as possible from fellow fly shop owners in attendance. I ended hijacking one of the breakfast sessions when I stood to ask a question, as I said at the time, “Not so much for the members of the speaker’s panel but rather for the 200+ other people in the room.” I went on to explain where I was from, that Bass Pro had announced they were coming to the GTA and asked two questions. First, had any other fly shop owner been in a similar position and secondly, if so, what they had done in response. I recall clearly the comments I heard that morning and what it came down to was this: the entrance of Big Box retailers to a market does not cause the demise of small fly shops but it hastens the demise of poorly run businesses. The other thing I heard loud and clear is that Big Box retailers cannot provide the customer service you find in a good small retailer. They do not do customer returns or special orders – but we do.

Our current circumstances are similar to what we faced in 2003. We are just now getting our feet back under us after the crash of September 2008 and Sail is the new Goliath with whom we have to do battle. I went to Ottawa a few months ago to visit their store there before they opened in Vaughan and what I saw made me feel a bit more comfortable. Sail has a nice loking fly fishing section in their stores but they do not have the scope or depth of inventory we carry. For example, they carry Simms waders, wading jackets and boots but only in the basic size run of small, medium, large and extra large. If a customer needs a medium king they can’t buy it at Sail. If a customer has a warranty problem with a purchase at a Big Box retailer they also have to deal with the manufacturer directly. If a customer has a question they need answered the people behind the counter often do not have the knowledge or expertise to answer it. That is not the case if you are shopping at WILSON’S.

So with Sail planning to open a third store in the GTA this spring at Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke and a fourth in Burlington, under the circumstances you might be asking yourself why we are even considering opening another store? Sail has millions of dollars to invest overnight in stock they can sell at a discount but our store’s inventory has been slowly built up over the years through the efforts of our team in the store and our owner whose income is earned solely through his ‘day job’ in commercial real estate. The odds are not exactly stacked in our favour but every member of our team believes in our shared vision to make WILSON’S the best independent fly fishing outfitter in Canada. To reach this goal we have to continue to build the business and our customer base and the best way to do this is to focus on expanding our guiding and school program. The quickest way to do that is to open a second WILSON’S Fly Shop on the banks of the Grand River and the recent closing of Grand River Troutfitters in Fergus has unexpectedly presented us that opportunity.

The last three years in particular have been incredibly stressful and, as we mentioned in a previous blog entry, we can’t afford to do this – but we can’t afford to pass up the opportunity. You can call it crazy, stupid, foolhardy… or perhaps brave. We just know that in order to survive in this business a good defense is a good offense.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/courting-the-granola-and-gun-crowds/article2338622/

As we prepare to open our new fly fishing retail store on the Grand River in Fergus this spring we want to reach out to the local fly fishing community to ask for your advice. What would you like to see in a Fergus fly shop?

For example:

- What hours do you think the store should be open?
- What specific inventory would you like to see in the store?
- Is a great selection of fly tying materials critical?
- What courses would you like us to offer?
- Is guiding something on which we should focus?
- Is it be okay to ship purchases to you from our Toronto location if the item isn’t in Fergus?

We want to incorporate your wish list into our business plan so we are taking this opportunity to seek out the advice of the most important people in eyes – our customer base. We sincerely hope you will help us establish a second successful fly shop by offering us your feedback.

Please know that there are no wrong answers and that all feedback will be greatly appreciated. It is important to note that we think the folks at Grand River Troutfitters did a great job over the years but we hope with your help we will be able to build this new venture into a fly shop we will all want to visit on our way to the river this spring and in the years to come.

Thanks!

The Guys at Wilson’s

With the recent demise of the only fly shop on the Grand River we have been doing some ground work to determine if opening a second WILSON’S store in Fergus or Elora makes sense – and we are currently leaning very heavily in that direction. To that end we are now accepting resumes so if working in a fly shop is something that interests you please forward a cv outlining your fly fishing and work experience to Jim@CanadasFlyFishingOutfitter.com