Feather & Fly Sporting

No Ego here! Pros: The most experienced and helpful staff in the area. Cons: prices, but what you get is quality and they back everything up 100 pct. more

Gosh, BrookieHunter... were you talking when you should have been listening? Actually even the most novice angler knows that Orvis and R.L. Winston rods are American made. In fact, it was C. F. Orvis who invented the 8 strip laminated bamboo fly rod and Orvis is the oldest fly fishing company in America. And, the old timers in the shop?... well... John Bolton (me) knew Lew Stoner, one of the founders of R. L. Winston, personally and even spent time in the back of the shop scraping twine off bamboo rods when they were in San Francisco. John also fished with Ernie Schweibert, Lee Wolff and used to go steelhead fishing with Art Neumann who was one of the original founders of Trout Unlimited. Chris Zahnd is a legend in Chattanooga sporting circles and is one of the most knowledgeable flyfishermen in this area. Michelle, the manager at Feather and Fly is a terrific fly fisherlady and great wingshot plus heading up the local TU chapter.... and.... she loads her own ammunition. Mike Stewart, the owner, is the nicest person you will ever meet and he always has words of encouragement for beginners as does Austin Kuhlmann, without a doubt, the best guide in the area.\r \r Nothing pathetic about the Orvis casting classes either... they are very successful and have taught thousands of people how to fly fish. \r \r Lets try to build the sport up. If you didn't hear what you wanted to hear, come back and let us know just where you think we need to buck up. We would do the same for you, after all, we share the same water.\r \r John Pros: Knowledgeable professional staff with no egos to boost or limited selections of equipment to try. IATA certified travel agent and Delta affiliated. Cons: needs two checkout registers to handle crowds during sales more

i have never seen nor heard so much fluff and BS in any fly shop til this one. it was hard to take the two guys in the shop very serious that i met. i couldn't tell if they actually fished or if they were the proud graduates of some pathetic orvis-type fishing school. their experience sounded as if it they had some years, but the quality of their experience and skill to pass on to me as a fellow angler and as a customer was minimal at best. i thought a fly shop in the ""big city"" would have more to offer than crappy advice and fly rods made in the far-east. yeh.... it just wasn't my kind of fly shop. Pros: Pretty from the outside Cons: Not much to the inside more