Your Local Retail Shop: Montana Angler
Our Local Retail Shop Series highlights local gear shops and tells their stories. We chat with shop owners and staff to find out what makes their shop unique and how they serve their local communities.
Shop Name: Montana Angler
Location: Bozeman, MT
Owner: Brian McGeehan
What’s the story behind Montana Angler?
We’ve been outfitting in Montana since the mid-2000s and opened the retail store about eight years after that. There was a lot of work to start the retail side of the business, but we brought in some great folks who knew what they were doing and once all the heavy lifting was done on the front end, it was really wonderful.
What got you started in the outdoor industry?
Since I was about three years old, I couldn’t get enough of catching blue gills with my dad, and eventually got into fly fishing when I was 11. From there, it really accentuated, and my passion for fishing took me travelling around the United States and eventually became a profession. It’s been my life’s journey.
What sets your shop apart/makes you unique?
There are a lot of shops and outfitters who do a little bit of everything we do, but there’s not a lot that do everything we do. Some days we are taking folks out for a half day of fishing, and others we are hosting them with chefs and staff in a lodge, or arranging international travel. We really try to be their spirit guide into the world of fly fishing, from the time they first try the sport out to if they’re still doing it 20 years later. We want to be able to help curate that experience for them and take the difficulty out of enjoying the sport.
What type of products do you sell/specialize in?
There’s only so many products and vendors one can expect to see in a fly shop, and if you go to another shop in town you can find a lot of the same products. We specialize in having local knowledge. You can order all of this gear online, but when you walk into a brick and mortar retail shop like Montana Angler you get everything you need in one place, encapsulated with friendly people who also enjoy the sport.
How can we (Outdoor Prolink + people of the outdoor industry) best support your gear shop?
From an outdoor professional, it’s great to have support from companies like Outdoor Prolink. Our employees have chosen a path in life that allows them to lead a great quality of life, support their family, and enjoy outdoor pursuits, but this isn’t Wall Street and they’ve still got to pay attention to budgets. It’s unusual that any outdoor professional only enjoys their professional pursuit. Outdoor Prolink gives us the opportunity to acquire the gear we need to make it possible to pursue these hobbies outside of work.
What’s it like being located in Bozeman, which is such an epicenter for fly fishing?
My wife and I moved up here from Colorado – fly fishing being the sole reason. We get year round traffic from locals because everybody wants to fish. But during the summer, we get quite a bit of tourist traffic, from people who just pop in and don’t even fly fish or people who are avid fishers back home. I personally have a hard time not walking into fly shops or just good old bait and tackle stores. It’s always fun to walk around and see everything on the walls.
Do you own a local gear shop and want to be featured on The Link? Shoot an email over to [email protected] so we can spotlight your awesome shop!