About The Riverkeeper Fly Shop

 

         

Who We Are

The Riverkeeper Fly shop is owned by yours truly (Tim Burke) and was opened in early winter of 2002. After years of working in the fly fishing industry, the decision was made to go it on our own and start a fly shop. This desire was born out of a passion for fly fishing and the deep rooted desire to provide our customers with HONEST, up-to-date information. All too often, an air of arrogance surrounds many fly shops which only lessens the experience for all anglers - particularly those new to the sport. Not at The Riverkeeper. It takes far too much time to be that self absorbed - time that we would rather spend on the water.



Why Choose The Riverkeeper Fly Shop
 With so many choices in today's retail market, why would one seek out our fly shop? Why come to a smaller store when you could go to a mega-mart warehouse that stocks  items in staggering numbers and offers steep discounts? Here's why we think you should come to see us:

    Hand Selected Inventory
     We hand select all the items that we stock in our store.  Sure, we stock many of the largest names in the business, but if it doesn't help you catch fish we won't stock it.


    We Only Endorse the Products We Use
     We will not stock items that we ourselves would not and/or don't already use. It doesn't matter if a paid celebrity endorses a certain product. If it doesn't match up to our standards of durability and performance than you won't see it here - no matter how big a name brand may be!


    Highest Quality Fly Tying Materials
     We hand select all of our fly tying materials to be of the highest quality available and thus the most user friendly around. Others may have more stuff, but you don't need stuff, you need to know that what you are buying is exactly what you need.

    The Best Selection of the Highest Quality Flies
     We are VERY, VERY, VERY, picky when it comes to our flies. This little item (the one that the fish are actually interested in!!) is overlooked by many anglers but  is the principal focus of the entire store. That's right, we spend all that time on the tiniest items. Why take this approach when many anglers simply buy the cheapest flies available? Because if the fly isn't tied right then it won't fish right and you won't catch that fish that has been snubbing its nose at you.

    We Support Contract Fly Tiers

    Many of your favorite fly patterns are designed by individuals who license their patterns to commercial fly companies. When these companies sell their patterns these tiers are paid royalities. Unfortunately, many companies will knock off popular patterns and sell them to fly shops for significantly less then the licensed company does. When this process happens the contract tier looses money and we loose innovation in our sport. The Riverkeeper does not purchase contracted fly pattern from companies other than those licensed by the tier.. Sure we could save a lot of money in purchasing 'knock off " patterns but that would not be in line with supporting the fly fishing industry and certainly not in the spirit of our great fly fishing traditions.

    Our Lives Are Dedicated to This Sport
     We are passionate about the sport. We didn't get in to this business to make a quick buck or to capitalize on the popularity of fly fishing. Much to our families chagrins, we don't have second jobs with real incomes. We are what we are: Fish Junkies! We are passionate about our sport and our natural resources and are actively involved in the science and advancement of fly fishing. The Riverkeeper has acted in advisory capacities for some of the larger companies in the business and we are always searching for new and better products to aid in your fishing endeavors. And besides somebody has to field test this stuff.

 

The preceding statements are but a few of the reasons that we feel that you should choose The Riverkeeper Fly Shop for your fishing needs. We also offer classes in fly fishing and fly tying, trips to locations like Canada, and Mexico, numerous store sponsored fishing outings, and lots of free information. So if you are brand new to fly fishing, interested in improving your skills or simply want to talk shop feel free to look us up sometime we'd be glad to help.

Tight Lines -

Tim & friends