Blog

Summer 2020 Update

Sean Visintainer - 07/10/20

A nice Spokane River cutthroat trout fell victim to a large chubby chernobyl.

At least we got fishing still!

Summer of 2020... I would like to say it is starting off as business as usual, but we all know the world we live in currently is anything but normal.

Masks are now mandatory in Washington businesses such as ours. This polarizing topic puts employers such as myself and our employees in weird and awkward situations. We are now supposed to enforce the policy like a no shirt, no shoes kinda deal. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole on this subject so all I am going to ask of our wonderful customers is to help us follow the rules and wear the masks upon entering the Silver Bow. Whatever side of the mask fence you are on I don't really care, I don't make the rules, we just need to follow them for now. 99% of the people coming into the shop are doing their part, and if you need a mask, just ask, we have plenty of disposables for your use. The last thing we want to do is put people, and our business at risk so please help us continue to thrive in this messed up world we are living in right now.

Alright, that is my only non-fishing speech I have to give so back to normal business. Kind of. While the world was running out of sanitizer and TP, the angling community was also running out of things like 4x tippet and 5wt rods! Disrupted supply chains and a massive increase in outdoor recreation has put a huge strain on fly fishing manufacturers to deliver the goods that are normally never out of stock. Despite fairly strong forecasted ordering on our end, even our shop has experienced the supply and demand issues all fly shops and outdoor recreation shops are facing... running out of inventory and long back orders! While we are working hard to stay fully stocked there has been, and will be, unavailable items from time to time for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of disrupted supply chains, fly rod repairs are seeing long wait times this season as well. With many manufacturers shut down this spring or running on skeleton crews, repairs stacked up. Now that things have more or less opened up, rod companies have been working overtime to get caught up. Lead times can be upwards of 12-16 weeks for a broken rod! So be EXTRA careful with your equipment this year, or plan on not having it for the remainder of the season if it needs to go into repair. And one last word... don't shoot the messenger!

Fishing: all good! It's July, fishing is good! Comfortable and seasonably cool temps with good water supply makes for great fishing conditions. Our guide crew is crushing it on the Spokane, we are also personally fishing it daily and having great success. What a terrific nearby fishery. The NF CDA, Joe, and Kelly Creek are all fishing. Ants, goldens, pmd's, sallies, drakes, and caddis all are on the menu still. Travel into Montana for some continued salmonfly fishing as well!

We appreciate your support of our little fly shop and we hope to see you in the store soon... with a covered face of course!


Silver Bow guide, Kenyon Pitts, netting a quality trout on the Spokane River, Washington.