227Michael
I had a free day and a half in Central New Jersey this week while my wife had a business-related trip in that area. I emailed Shannon's Fly and Tackle just the night before I was driving up from Virginia and Brian called me back promptly and told me that Harvey, one of their guides, would call me. Harvey called and we arranged to meet at the shop at 8:30 AM. I am a permanent novice fly fisherman and Harvey took me to a local river (one of a number in the area) where I spent about 4 hours casting and catching a few rainbow trout (and missing many more). He was a great teacher and never grimaced or expressed any negative feelings despite my feeding some of his fishing flies to the rocks or trees. It was a great half-day trip with very reasonable rates for a private trip. On the way back to the shop he drove by and pointed out other great fishing locations. Everyone in the shop was very friendly and helpful. This shop has lots of fishing-related items for sale including materials for fly tying. I returned the next morning and met Don, bought an item I needed and then went off to try my luck at the Ken Lockwood Gorge of the South Branch of the Raritan which is very close to the shop and is so pretty that it is worth a walk or jog along the parallel path even if one is not fishing.