I quickly learned that when fishing near any blue ribbon fisheries, buy your flies in advance! Those little fly shops charge an arm and a leg for their flies. One place that comes to my mind especially, is fishing the Green River in UT or WY. The fly shops around there charge like $3 a fly! That really makes you hurt when you snap one off!
The good thing about those local fly shops though, is they will more than likely have the hotfly of the moment and plenty of advice. We always stop in them just to browse, but most importantly to ask what they are hitting on and what is hatching. My dream is to one day own a fly shop and guide service next to the Green River.....keep on dreaming...
Take it easy Tim.
-Rich