The Fly Shop

The Fly Shop In Redding, California Goes Global

Being a keen fly fisherman himself, Mike Michalak launched The Fly Shop in Redding on April 15, 1978. With $2,750 of his own and a $125,000 SBA loan, it began.

Hard work, dedication and a love for the sport of fly fishing drove this business forward. This is a sport one can start young and continue for decades. Some of Mike's first clients still frequent The Fly Shop. In fact, it's not uncommon for them to visit the store more than once a day sometimes to pick up this or that so they can get back out on the river to fish. If you've ever known a keen fisherman, this isn't a stretch of the imagination.

The Fly Shop started mailing out a 4 color 176 page catalog each January. Today this catalog is mailed to 250,000 people globally.

It's website is ranked the #1 fly fishing website globally. In fact, The Fly Shop has become the most popular retail fly fishing store in America. Located in Redding, CA, The Fly Shop does 1% of the entire world of all fly fishing retail.

Today, TFS brands fly rods, reels, waders, luggage, tippets, leaders, and clothing. They have been the recipient of several prestigious awards known in global fly fishing communities. They have been recognized as the #1 fly fishing store in the world, the finest fly fishing travel company in the industry, and were inducted into the 2010 Fly Fishing Federation Hall of Fame.

While they have many items for purchase in their catalog, TFS's #1 product category is flies.

 The Fly Shop does approximately 2200 guided trips in the Redding area each year. The majority of these trips are between Redding and Red Bluff which results in 3000+ bed nights in Redding hotels which is a wonderful injection of tourist dollars into the local economy.

Just his year, TFS has opened up a bass fishing learning center on Steiner Lake, 23 acres in size, which is 15 minutes from downtown Redding. It is where a person can learn the fundamentals of bass fishing.

The Fly Shop is a wonderful local success story. The shop itself has 14 fulltime employees, all with benefits. To walk through the shop, it's apparent each employee is dedicated to the customer's experience - be it in the shop, setting up the right fly fishing adventure in Northern California or globally, or mailing the right fly off to a fisherman so he / she can enjoy fishing at their next destination - wherever that might be.