HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Arrick’s Fly Shop, Inc. has been serving the West Yellowstone area since 1993.

Arrick’s is owned and operated by Arrick and Lorie Swanson of Arrick’s Fly Shop, Inc.

Arrick began his journey of fly fishing in 1974, when he was just eight years old. What started as a hobby when Arrick was eight, gradually grew into his life’s passion as he learned more about what fly fishing had to offer. When Arrick would go camping with his family in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, they would camp along the small stream and it was here that he learned how to fly fish with his father. It was also in 1974 that Arrick began being interested in tying flies for himself and for Christmas that year received a fly tying kit. Soon afterwards, he began taking fly tying lessons from a local shop in Albuquerque and from there he took private lessons from a local expert.

Back when it all began, Arrick and his dad, Ken, would be out fishing all the time. Arrick’s first and favorite book on fly tying is below as well as some of his old fly tying tools. Check out his old vise, hair stacker and hackle pliers. How many of you out there remember using these old school versions for tying your favorite flies? Ah, the good ole’ days.

It was in 1980, when Arrick was 14, that he and his family first visited Yellowstone. During this trip they fly fished together and after seeing all the rivers in the area they became serious about fly fishing. Arrick learned a lot by exploring fly fishing from anything he could read, but he feels his best teacher was being on the rivers and streams with his father, learning together as nature taught them.

After reading one of Charlie Brooks’ books, Arrick would sieve the rivers and look at the insects, then he would tie flies that looked like the insects, matching the size and color the best he could.Arrick started tying flies commercially for his own business, Arrick’s Fishing Flies, in 1982, when he was sixteen years old. He ran his operations from his parents’ home a few years later.

April 4, 1985: “He’s a businessman with hopes of owning his own fly fishing shop some day. He’s been tying flies…”

Read the full article

In the summers of 1987 and 1988 he worked in West Yellowstone at a local fly shop. Once Arrick graduated from the University of New Mexico with a biology degree, which he pursued with fly fishing in mind, he moved permanently to West Yellowstone. This is where he worked as a guide in the summer and tied flies in the winter. He continued guiding for several years while he and his father ran Arrick’s Fly Shop and both he and his staff continue to tie flies for the shop today.

In 2012 Arrick and Lorie got married and Lorie joined Arrick in running the business. They both love helping others enjoy this area and fly fishing. They live in West Yellowstone year round. They like to spend their free time enjoying the outdoors in and around Yellowstone. They have enjoyed visiting many beautiful places and National Parks, but wherever they travel they know that Montana with it’s mountains, pristine waters, and intact wilderness is where they want to call home.

Arrick’s is now a Guide Service, Online Store, and a place to order Custom Tied Flies by Arrick.

Lost Our Shop Lease, But Not OUR PASSION!

Below is the letter to our wonderful customers that we posted on Facebook back in spring of 2021 explaining what was happening and where Arrick’s goes from here.
 
We’ve had a new landlord for 3 years, but we were fortunate enough to have three years under our old lease. The landlord told us when he bought our building that we all would be paying double rent when our lease was up. He told us that we could stay and we could have as long as of a lease as we wanted. After the shock hit that we would have to pay double rent in three years we began making plans and figuring out how we could do that. We began making changes knowing we would have to bring in more income if we wanted to stay when our three years were up. The three years passed and we were doing well with the changes we had made and we were ready to sign the new lease. But now the lease has changed. The landlord has decided that he doesn’t want to double our rent, he wants to increase it even more (he also wants a $10,000 deposit at the signing of our lease). The real issue on top of the changing terms of our lease is that he has now decided to put restrictions on what we can and can’t sell in our shop along with other things. And, this increase in rent will come with only a 5 month’s lease as opposed to a 12 month lease. Disgusted to learn this, it was an easy offer to say no to. We asked him if he’d be open to a counter offer and if not we would have to decline the lease. He replied that he was sorry to hear we were declining.
 
So, our store at 37 Canyon St. will be closing on May 31, 2021. We have to be out by midnight. We are sad to not be able to see all of you before we close since our shop’s last day is the official start to the summer season, but we are not going away, just changing. We have looked for a place to move our shop to, but there is nothing available. So after May 31st, we will be focusing on our guide service.
 
Arrick will return to some guiding, and will also continue to tie custom flies for customers, that means any of you! ☺
 
Lorie will continue to work behind the scenes of the business and they’ll be making plans for adding something new in the future. We will share with you in the future once we know more.
 
We will also continue to run our online store. So please remember we are still around for helping you find what you’re looking for! We are keeping our same phone number, email addresses, and our website. We are looking at this as a new adventure for us, focusing on the good. One of the tenants (now friend), who owned a shop in the same mall as us, that also just lost his lease, had a nice way to look at it. He said to us as he was closing his little shop and we told him our news, “When one door closes, two more open.” We really like that! So, while it is hard to say good-bye to the shop that we love, and that Arrick has been running for 28 years this spring, we know it is time. The silver lining in this change is that we will be able to get out and fly fish again and get outdoors into our backyard where Montana, Yellowstone, and their waters have been patiently waiting for us.
 
We want to thank you all for your business and friendship through these 28 years. We’ve enjoyed being there to help you. We want to thank you more importantly for trusting us, and letting us be a part of your fly fishing adventures, and for letting us be a part of your fly fishing memories. We take all of that to heart and carry that with us! Here’s to good friends we’ve made along the way!
You may have noticed we didn’t say good-bye to any of you. This is very intentional. We hope to still be connected to each of you in some way. Guide trips, custom fly orders, online orders, Facebook postings, YouTube videos, Instagram, and fishing reports online, and best of all bumping into you out in Yellowstone or out on the rivers! So this is not goodbye, because we know we’ll be seeing you again! And remember, if you’re not losing flies, you’re not fishing!! ☺ Enjoy the outdoors!
 
All the best, and thank you all again,
Arrick and Lorie
of Arrick’s Fly Shop, Inc.

Arrick has been a licensed outfitter (#1604) since 1991 and in 1993 he opened Arrick’s Fly Shop. He decided to move to Yellowstone Country, especially the West Yellowstone area, because he says the fishing here gets into your blood and soul. It just grows and you compare all other fishing to the Yellowstone area because it is the mecca of fly fishing. Whenever he was anywhere else he would dream about the next time he would be back fishing near Yellowstone. This is why it felt so right and natural for him to move here and to open Arrick’s Fly Shop here in West Yellowstone.