Hello Everyone,  After putting 30 long years in a steel mill, I feel I’m slightly qualified to know what it is to work for a living.  I also now realize how hard you work for your money. Had I worked in a Fly shop all my life, I would feel like I never worked at all. The shop gives me something to do besides collecting my pension.

If it were imperative that I make lots of money doing this, I wouldn’t be able to handle the stress of having to make a sale. Whether it be selling cars or selling flies, if you’re counting on making a living from it, and you want to get good at it, you have to lie!

I don’t have to, nor do I want to make $300.00 profit on a fly rod, like they do selling the expensive rods. If we can keep our heads above water and meet some great people, and do some good works through fly fishing, we’re ahead of the game.

When we first started this journey, the only tools we had were honesty, a conscience, and 30 years of experience. We can only sell you something that will enable you to enjoy the full experience of fly fishing. We pick and choose the products we offer. The company has to be honest and every company you find on this site is. We make sure of that!

We also thought we could use this opportunity to do good for others. We don’t advertise the things we’ve done over the years. The big shots of the companies are good at that and they have no problem stepping into the spotlight and taking the credit. If you have to tell people what you’ve done, then in God’s eyes, you’ve done nothing.

Our fly tying classes are free. We believe if our youth are involved in Fly Fishing, they are more apt to have good morals. We will gladly teach them to tie and to fly cast rather than see them on the street corner. We help them in any way we can. We’ve seen the dramatic effect that fly fishing can have on a child. We also realize that it is an expense for the parent, but the rewards are great.

We also must give credit where credit is due and we thank God for guiding us in all of our decisions. We know if our conscience isn’t bothering us, then we’ve done the right thing. Whatever is done for charity or for others is not just twopeople. This is accomplished through every member of "The Contented Angler"

The “Genuine Fly Shop” is derived from the “old time” fly shop, complete with rocking chair for you to relax while youare here. After all, the only thing left after we retire are the good things that we’ve done for others. We know how hard you work for your money, we know you’re looking for honesty in this cyber-world. We think you will be happy you
found us.

Everyone is equal at the Contented Angler. You won't find that condescending attitude that you experienced at the other place. When you take a casting class it has to be with someone you are comfortable with on the water. Not someone who thinks he is better than you. Fly casting can be a nice relaxation and exercise "Joe is a member of seven different pro teams and can show you how to do that. One place does it to try and sell rods. We do it because we wantto see you on the water with a fly rod and know that we played a small part in it.

Helping others with free fly tying and fly casting lessons is a rare opportunity to do something good. Not just another way to make money. When you're gone, you won't be remembered for what a good fisherman you were. You will, hopefully,  be remembered for being a good person. That's the best we can hope for.