I think this must be a great place to shop IF you're male. If you're a woman, not so much. Lots of avid fisherMEN I've talked to love this place. The other reviews suggest that this is a great place to go if you are new to the sport and looking for advice. I have fished before, but only in eastern Washington. I am interested in salmon fishing on this side of the state.
I decided to give it a try. I think I made a couple mistakes: 1. I was wearing a skirt and heels when I visited, 2. I am obviously female.
When I entered, a man was there with a couple kids buying licenses. While she was completing this customer's transaction, the woman behind the register looked disdainfully at me standing there holding my inherited fishing rod and said, "What do you want?" Not, "I'll be with you in a minute." Not, "Hi there." No smile. Just a scowl and, "What do you want?" as if I had asked her for something before she'd had her morning coffee. (It was early afternoon, for the record, and I was waiting silently and patiently behind the current customer, smiling because I was thinking about how fun it was going to be for those kids to go fishing with their dad.)
When I explained what I was after (a considered opinion on whether my inherited fishing rod would work for Pink salmon, and some advice about gear), the owner quickly interceded. Where did I want to fish? I said I wasn't sure yet whether I would be doing salt water or fresh water fishing. "I can't help you until you know. The two set ups are TOTALLY different," he said. I was perplexed. I didn't tell him I'd already done some research, and that two experienced fisherfolk (one male and one female who is a fishing guide) whose advice I'd taken in said there were only slight differences, which meshed with the reading I'd done. He exhibited exactly zero interest in giving me any idea what those differences were. His demanor was basically one that suggested I didn't know anything and didn't deserve his time or attention. I was the only customer in the store, but apparently not worth his time.
Shifting conversational gears, I asked his opinion on the rod and whether it would work for salmon fishing. A friend of mine, an avid humpie fisherman, who had attended my grandfather's funeral with me had selected it from his extensive collection and said it would work for salmon fishing. When I presented it, John frowned at it and said, "You put the reel on backwards." I didn't tell him that he had ASSUMED that I was the one that put the reel on. I didn't tell him that my grandfather, a man who very successfully gun and bow hunted and fished his entire life, had set up the rod that way. I didn't tell him that the guys at Cabela's had restrung the reel and hadn't seen any problem with it. While giving me a disdainful look, John turned it around and positioned it in a way that looked upside down to me and with the fishing line twisted around it. He smirked in that contemptful 'You are a dumbass novice' way when he handed it back to me. When I asked a friend about this later, he said that it's the way some people set up trolling rods for fishing the Sound. So, okay, maybe to this guy it looked backward based on his fishing experience.
If this is the attitude she has to deal with, I understand why the woman who works here is so cranky.
He did suggest I get a rod with a spinning reel, which was sort of helpful. I just wish he could be helpful without being condescending and disdainful.
I left. If I ever go back here, it will be because there is absolutely nowhere else I can get what I need, and I will bring some giant, rugged mountain of a manly man with me to stand there grimly and silently with his arms crossed while I try to get what I need. Sometimes accessories really do make the outfit. read more