Into the Bear’s Den

Over the years, Bear’s Den Fly Fishing Company in Taunton, Mass., about forty minutes south of Boston, has earned a reputation for knowing not just the best new gear, but also the value of vintage. It’s a robust shop with an unusually wide range of rod brands: Beulah, Diamondback, Douglas, Echo, G. Loomis, Hardy, Nam, Orvis, Redington, Sage, Scott, St. Croix, TFO, Thomas & Thomas, and Winston. Bear’s Den reel offerings are also wide: Abel, Bauer, Cheeky, Douglas, Echo, Galvan, Hardy, Hatch, Lamson, Nautilus, Orvis, Redington, Ross, Sage, Seigler, Shilton, TFO, and Tibor. 

The greatest aspect of this for Bear’s Den customers, of course, is not just the breadth of brands, but of prices, with rods ranging from an Orvis 1856 Bamboo for $4,500 to a TFO Bug Launcher for $120.

Bear’s Den owner Scott Wessels also carries quite a collection of pre-owned rods, ranging from $50 beginner sticks to cane poles from legendary builders. Wessels was recently going through boxes of old fly gear from an estate sale. “There were a bunch of rods—Paynes, Leonards—and I came across the last two rod socks and slid out the find of a lifetime,“ Wessels said. 

He immediately called his friend and renowned cane rod maker, Bernard Ramanauskas, of Eden Rod. “You found an Olin,” Ramanauskas told him. 

About a century ago, a few rod makers toyed around with a revolutionary cane design, twisting the strips of bamboo. The idea was that it would give the rods better recovery speeds, essentially making them faster action. Only a few were made and the technique faded into obscurity. Wessels invited Ramanauskas to come and take a look for himself. “I don’t want to look at them,” Ramanauskas told Wessels, “I want to build one.”

Taking on the project would be time consuming and costly, but they both believed it was worthwhile. Wessels committed to bankroll it and Bear’s Den would sell them. 

Because Ramanauskas uses modern epoxy and resins, he can shave the bamboo extremely thin. They are nodeless, meaning that he joins the ends of the bamboo lengths together and hides the intersection for a beautiful, clean look. Ramanauskas and Wessels just finished three sets of one-piece rods and two sets of two-piece rods—twenty rods in all. These spiral Eden Cane Twist rods might be some of the finest cane rods ever built. 

Projects like this are almost commonplace at Bear’s Den, which seems to have ripped up the playbook for how to run an ordinary fly shop. Wessels has always liked bringing the old back to life. He started a sister business, Faultline Kustoms, doing antique restoration on anything from classic cars to tractors, stripping them down to their bones and building them back up. Currently, he is building a 10,000-square-foot facility for Faultline next to the 12,000-square-foot Bear’s Den. As he was driving by Westgate Lanes, a bowling alley he frequented in his youth, Wessels saw that they were doing some construction and noticed a bunch of wood from the old building scattered around the discarded pile. 

“I just hate seeing anything go to waste,” says Wessels. “So I made a deal to demo and reclaim some of the old wood, including, hopefully, the old bowling lanes themselves. Like in the fly shop, we try to save everything.”

Wessels, a true visionary, has been a part of Bear’s Den since 1989 when it was in the basement of his father’s veterinary clinic. He moved the shop to its current location in 2012. Bear’s Den started as a general sporting goods store, but Wessels wanted to specialize in all things fly.

While they are purveyors of vintage cane rods, the shop will also take in someone’s used starter gear to help them upgrade, guiding their customers along their entire journey as an angler. 

Walking into the massive shop, it appears to be half museum, half Pawn Stars set. You feel the history. With no blue ribbon rivers at the doorstep or world class flats around the corner, Bear’s Den exists in its own unique world. While it’s clearly not a destination shop, it is located southeast of Boston, kind of on the way to Cape Cod and other striper fishing hotspots. Nevertheless, most Bear’s Den customers have to be intentional about going there. 

“The Bear’s Den is such a great company to work with,” says John Wolstenholme, Vice President of Thomas and Thomas Hand Crafted Fly Rods. “I have met few people who work as hard as Wessels, his unique approach to business makes them a pleasure to deal with.” 

The 120-foot indoor casting lane helps those intentions, as does the back of the shop being a huge open space where Bear’s Den holds events. But the shop’s finest feature is undoubtedly the one that’s impossible to replicate: Wessels himself. When I first met him I was a bit intimidated. He is tall, with long hair and an extremely long beard straight out of a biker rally. 

“I’ve had this look forever,” says Wessels. “I kind of like that, if you really want to talk to me, you have to break through the look.”

Fortunately for Bear’s Den customers, behind that look is one of the most genuine humans on the planet, and an extremely thoughtful and knowledgeable angler. “If a kid comes in with $75 to spend on his first outfit, we will make sure he leaves with something that works for him,” Wessels says, “even if we have to take a hit.”

Wessels believes in the pay-it-forward relationship with his customers. And it has served him well for years. Josh Lane was one of those kids who, in his early teens, Wessels helped get set up with gear. Lane became a shop regular and flyfishing fanatic, later working for Wessels over summer break. After getting a degree in architecture, Lane made the decision to follow his dreams and pursue a career in flyfishing. “I developed an abnormal interest in it,” says Lane. “I love the marrying of form and function in flyfishing gear.”

Lane showed an interest in cane rods and rod building, playing a role in bringing the Eden Cane Twist rod to life. He has been shadowing Ramanauskas, learning as much as he can about cane rods so he can help carry on the shop’s legacy. Lane’s day-to-day management, combined with Wessels’ knowledge, makes for an incredible team, leaving Wessels more time to attend flyfishing events.

So, if you are the type that attends these gatherings, and you see a tall, long-haired guy with an even longer beard, just walk up to him and say hi. You won’t regret it.

You can visit Bear’s Den Fly Fishing Company at their massive shop in Taunton, Mass. or online at bearsden.com