Kaufmans and orvis in bellevue off 405. AATF in monroe off Hwy 2. I hope you weren't planning on fishing the rivers on your way through. If you are going to wade in this stuff, you could probably rent your cojones to Goodyear to fly over quest field this sunday. :beer2:

 

I recommend Puget Sound Fly Co. They are less than 5 minutes off of I-5 and they are great guys with solid products. They have a linky on the left side of the page.

 

I'll second Puget Sound Fly Co. Not a real large store but a decent selection and Clark and Anil are great guys and a pleasure to visit with.

 

Have to second the AATF vote. They certainly speak "Spey".
Cast all ya' want.

 

Creekside in issaquah or downtown seattle. great guys and tons of cool stuff. The issaquah store has more stuff but seattle store isn't lacking by any means.

 

Clark and Anil at Puget Sound Fly Co. are great guys as are Hugh, Pete, Brett, Dan and Craig from Creekside in Issaquah. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Peace,
Aaron

 

Tough to narrow since most or all of them are quite good. I’d say PFF and Avid north of Seattle, and PSA to the south if you come straight down I-5. If you use 405, hit PFF before the interchange, then Orvis in Bellevue and Creekside in Izzy. Each of those is inside of 10 min from freeways (believe all of them have good directions online). All have 5-star rating on nice-guy scale. Have fun!

 

Creekside beeeotch...represent

 

+1 for Avid Angler!

 

i say pacific fly fishers, there in mill creek right next to bothell everett highway. there a small shop but a good one, they even got a pond out back where you can test rods

 

avid anglers!

 

I have found shops to be either supper awesome or total di**s.
Awesome Shops: Kaufmanns, Creekside, puget sound fly company, all about the fly
Neutral: pats in seattle, avid angler (sorry, maybe if I shopped their more they would be in the totally awesome category

total jackholes Pacific fly fishers in mill creek (was nobody in shop except 2 employees and was totally ignored), orvis in bellevue (have liked a lot of Orvis company stores btw)

 

total jackholes Pacific fly fishers in mill creek (was nobody in shop except 2 employees and was totally ignored), orvis in bellevue (have liked a lot of Orvis company stores btw)

Bizare I've always had great service in the orvis shop in bellevue. The handfull of times I've been there, I've always been dressed like a moonpie eatin dirtbag on my way to or from the water. Definatly not the appearance of a big ticket item buyer or card carrying member of the Orvis fashion club. I'm not a "regular" there either. Everyone has always been egar to help me out. Hell I strolled in there one day the place was packed to capacity with free whisky and live music; Leyland? dropped what he was doing and rang me up immediatly for a pack of cheap hooks so I could get out the door and to the river. Can't beat that type of service these days. ptyd Especially after recently standing in line for 30 minutes to buy a f-ing cd at a Fred Myer and waiting for the clerk to finish her argument with her boyfriend.

Never been to the mill creek shop, but have heard good things from a co-worker who bought some waders or boots or something there.

:beer2:

 

lots of good shops in the area. I personally patronize avid angler and All About the Fly. If you want to mess with some spey rods I highly recommend paying Ron at All About the Fly a visit. He's right on the Skykomish river and hes got a pretty good number of different spey rods at the shop. As a plus, NW spey casting guru Mike Kinney works their and if he's in the shop you stand to learn alot about spey/steelhead fishing.

Will

 

Anything besides kauffmans should serve you well. My favorite in the area is Puget Sound Fly Co.

 

Kauffmans in bellevue gets about 95% of my business. They have great products, comperable prices, and all the guys are real knowledgable and helpful...I would definetly recommend them.

 

I can't recommend the guys at Kaufmann's in Bellevue enough. Great guys and good shop.

I find it funny a guy from Walla Walla and Montana bashes a shop so far away from him. Why don't you bash shops you are close to.

JJ

 

I'm not sure why I'm sticking my nose in this except maybe it would be nice to see more polite discourse on the board. It that sprit the following is offered:

Forum rules at http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php?t=26321 say in part "When at odds, debating the idea is perfectly appropriate but attacking the member is not."

Inappropriate response:

....I find it funny a guy from Walla Walla and Montana bashes a shop so far away from him. Why don't you bash shops you are close to.

Where Zen lives or doesn't live is irrelevant. Either what he is saying has merit or it doesn't.

Appropriate response:

Kauffmans in bellevue gets about 95% of my business. They have great products, comperable prices, and all the guys are real knowledgable and helpful...I would definetly recommend them.

 

oh no another pissing match on the way!!! :hmmm:

 

Ya....if your still checking your thread, Kaufmanns is a good shop. I prefer the one downtown, but I don't like to mess with the parking. If you find yourself on the east side, check out Creekside, they will give you good info too.
b.

 

I think it depends on what day you visit them :hmmm: I have had my cold encounters too...usually when dressed in sweats and unshaven but hey!
Where as many other shops usually have at least one employee that can service customers on all dress codes and experience levels (or lack of experience, or shaved :thumb:

 

Porter, well said. It's not like folks have bad days once in a while, and not every shop just has one salesperson, and not all personalities and approaches to business jive. We're people.

All of the shop listed are great shops in their own right. Even within the same shop there will be people with whom I would prefer to interact, and that's because we're all people.

Bottom line, you just need to stop in and check 'em out, whichever is the most convenient for you. They're all really good - we're fortunate up here to have so many good shops. Except, I think you'll notice that the 'older fly shop on the West Coast' rarely gets a customer service vote, and it happens to be the smallest shop and a (accordingly) small inventory.

 

The Avid Angler in Lake forest park is a great shop, my favorite in seattle.

 

ive had great experiences at mill creek (PFF) and michael ties some wicked bugs

 

The referance Zen makes might have had me agreeing with him 10 years ago but not anymore. Good folks at those shops.

Funny how nobody mentions the "oldest shop on the west coast" anymore. Just one persons opinion but the lack of recognition has been well earned by that place.

 

I've only been in there once, but the proprietor of Pacific Fly Fishers is a hell of a nice guy and good fisherman too. PT, by the "oldest flyshop on the west coast" I take it you are referring to Patricks? I couldnt agree more, its really a bummer how far that shop has slid. There are still great guys who work in there Bob Young and John Farrar are both great fishermen and provide excellent service, if they arent in though, good luck. They're supposed to open at 10AM on sundays, I showed up one day last year at 1030 and the shop was still closed. Jimmy showed up after about 5 minutes and then acted like I had done something wrong by wanting to shop at his store. I waited outside for like 10 more minutes while he "opened up" and then was completely ignored when I was let in. Plus they're out of like half their inventory and it seems like it sort of stays that way. I just wish someone with an honest interest in running a great flyshop would buy that place, its a classic location and from what I hear it was once a great flyshop. Funny thing is, Patricks is about 5 blocks from where I live, but I usually wait to buy any materials I need until I'm out in Monroe or driving through Lake Forest Park.

Will

 

I had the same expereince there, they had nothing to offer and the person behind the counter wasn't in to people being there. I haven't been back since. Someone shlould buy it.

 

Hey guys, yep I am still taking notes.

Maybe i should have put a poll up to make it easier to keep track of. I'm thinking I'll be making more than one stop:beer2:

Cheers

Jamie

 

Hey guys, yep I am still taking notes.

Maybe i should have put a poll up to make it easier to keep track of. I'm thinking I'll be making more than one stop:beer2:

Cheers

Jamie

I say you hit 'em all and do some 'investigative gear shopping' -- you could even work up a little score card (hardgood inventory, softgood inventory, bugs, tying materials, customer service, local tips for where to wet a line, etc.)...maybe even some pics/vids...and report back on your research.

 

Kauffmans. I usually go downtown, but the B-Vue store is great as well.

It's not likely that I'll be visiting Patrick's again anytime soon.

 

I went into Patrick's a couple of months ago and got the same sort of attitude as earlier stated. I had been poking around and checking out what they had when I was informed that they would be closing now. It was only about 2:30 so I asked why? BIG MISTAKE! "Becasue I said we are closed now so if you don't want to buy something than you must leave." This is after not returning my hello when I entered, caring less that I was there (almost seemed like I was a pain rather than a customer), and never asking if I had any questions or anything. I know that there are good people that work there and have an amazing love for the sport. It is just a shame that the heart has left that place. I hope someone does buy it and soon. It would be great to recieve better vibes from the closest Fly shop to my house.