In the day-to-day operation of a fly shop,
you see first hand the results of buying Fly Fishing products from
inexperienced personnel. Unfortunately, it is the consumer (time
and money wasted) and the industry (consumer confidence) that is
most negatively impacted by this type of transaction:
A reel spooled
by a "Sporting Goods Store" contained a $50+ Double
Taper Floating Fly Line that had been cut in half (leaving roughly
40 feet) to allow for what the clerk felt was a sufficient amount
of backing for trout fishing (well over a 100 yards)?
A supposedly
"Defective" reel recently purchased from a "Fishing
Shop" was in fact set to Left-Hand Reel while the line
was spooled for Right-Hand Reel (and the seller had deemed it
"Fine" during a subsequent visit to the shop by the
buyer).
An apparently
under lined reel rigged at a "Fishing Shop" had the
Fly Line knotted directly to the spindle leaving a one inch
tag end buried beneath the coils.
An 8'6"
6-Weight Fly Rod was sold to a beginner as an "All-Around"
Trout Rod by an employee at a large "Cataloger/ Sporting
Goods Store".
A 9' 8-Weight
Fly Rod was sold to an experienced Dry Fly Angler as the "Perfect"
Wet Line Trout Rod by an employee of a "Fishing Store".
A reel spooled
by a large "Cataloger/Sporting Goods Store" contained
a $50+ fly line in which the taper had been cut off because
the clerk had line left over on the spool due to overfilling
the reel with backing leaving roughly 40' of basically Running
Line!
A "Custom
Made" Fly Rod purchased from a Rod Builder that did not
cast as well as the angler expected was built with Ceramic Spin
Casting Guides!
A
rod sold by a large "Brand Specific Store" that
would not fit back in the sock properly had a top section
that was 3" longer than the bottom section (and this
was the normal configuration for this model?)