Let's talk a
bit about fishing licenses. In my business, licenses are like
hemorrhoids. They're a pain in the back side but they let you
know you're alive. Like almost all license agents I know,
we hate them with a deep and constant passion. But they are
the best way I know to get people into the shop in the hope
they'll actually buy something to fish with. There are several
reasons we all hate them. First, in Montana the agent
commission for all licenses is fifty cents. Second, they take
time to write and that's time that could be spent actually
selling fishing tackle. But they are a must to offer if you're
in the fly shop business. So, for this rant I'm going to give
you a few simple tips to make getting your fishing license as
painless as possible for both you and the license whether it's
me or somebody else.
First, don't
let the first words out of your mouth be "I need a license".
You'll have whoever is writing licenses immediately down on
you and any fishing information you get may not be of the
highest quality. Second, don't act like you're doing the
license agent a favor buying the license. Even though you may
be dropping as much as seventy bucks for a non resident
license, we're still making only fifty cents. Most important,
buy something else, especially if you're going to ask for
fishing information. We've had days in the shop where we've
had ten or twelve people in a row buying licenses and walking
out the door without buying anything else. It's the buyer's
right. but, if everybody did it, the shop wouldn't be around
the next year when they need another license.
Finally, if
you've gone into a shop, bought a license and nothing else and
asked for directions to the best place to fish, don't believe
what you are told. I usually tell people that they can go
anywhere on the creek and they'll catch fish. That's actually
true. You can catch fish, and good fish, anywhere on Rock
Creek. But, at any given time some stretches will be better
than others. And, like a good businessman, I have to save
those favored places for those people who have actually bought
something to fish with. The bottom line is that we all need
licenses to fish, but if you'll just buy a couple of flies or
a leader, you'll make the fly shop guy happy and you'll get a
lot better
information.
