The shop actually opened in 1976
as the rod finishing facility for 3M Scientific Anglers. Dick
Johnson did the finish work and also sold a few flies, leaders,
books and SA fly lines. Only two years later SA decided to
get out of the fly rod business and Dick had to figure out
what to do with his inventory.
Bob Mitchell’s father was
a sportsman of national renown and Bob grew up shooting and
fly fishing, getting his first fly rod at age seven. After
serving as a bombardier in the army air corps in WW II he
completed his degree at the University of Minnesota and went
to work in the advertising world where he worked as a copywriter
and account manager. His clients were always glad to see him
come through their door because his integrity always preceded
him. But by 1978 he’d had enough of the advertising
rat race and he and Jean decided to stick their feet into the
unknown waters of operating a small retail fly fishing shop.
They consummated the deal with Dick early in March of 1978
and changed the name to Bob Mitchell’s Fly Shop. Bob
was a beautiful and deadly accurate caster and a highly accomplished
fly tier and he decided to see how far those talents would
take him. The very first decision he made was to get out of
the rod building business. Since that time The Shop has only
sold finished equipment and fly tying tools and materials.
The
second decision Bob made was to become the center for fly
fishing education in this area. He started by offering fly
tying classes during the cold winter months, and then offered
a casting clinic in spring just before the Minnesota trout
opener. Finally, he started offering travel and fishing programs
put on by well-versed local anglers and budding professionals,
thereby giving his customers many reasons to make the trek
to Lake Elmo. Always the customer was greeted warmly and fresh
coffee was poured all around before business was conducted.
Under Bob and Jean’s
care The Shop gradually developed a sense of community, a
gathering place where folks liked to spend a few hours on Saturdays
talking with and making new friends.
In 1994 Bob and Jean
retired, sold The Shop and moved to Montana. I’m happy
to report that I helped fund their retirement. I’m Mike
Alwin and I bought The Shop from Bob and Jean. I’d also
like to report that their dream is still alive and well and
living in Lake Elmo. In the past decade we’ve
greatly expanded our educational offerings. We now have
an extremely comprehensive casting school as well as our
free casting tune-ups. We also have a number of different
trout fishing schools, something I started way back in
1980. We still have our beginning fly tying classes, but
we now have a wide array of intermediate and advanced one
day tying classes as well as hosting open tying sessions
in winter. In fall and winter we offer tying demonstrations,
travel programs and fishing programs as well as rigging
and leader construction courses and a very popular aquatic
entomology course. The Shop continues to be the center
for fly fishing education and it’s still crowded
on Saturdays. Some folks will tell you that the only thing
I’ve improved is the coffee, but
it’s still the center of the universe for most of
them. Come on out and find out why. You’ll find the
latest gadgets and reels to play with and have an open
invitation to try out the latest fly rods.
Michael Alwin
Proprietor
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