My wife and I stopped by late on a Friday afternoon and Jerry was very helpful providing information about where we should fish in the area and flies to try. The fishing is very technical and her advice was spot on Great fly shop with ample selection of flies and accessories for any level of angler. read more

Mat is always so helpful and friendly he always treats like a friend. Always willing to help, make a suggestion, or provide guidance. I've been in a lot of fly shops and if you ain't one of the boys...good luck Some of the inventory is a little light but 2020 has been one of those years. Thanks Mat read more

A new fly shop is open in the driftless region. A rare source for fly fishing gear in the heart of Wi spring creek heaven. I stopped in on a Saturday morning and was greeted by the owner, Mat Wagner. A nice, guy, he had the coffee pot running and a tray of really great home baked cinnamon rolls (his wife's quite the baker!). Echo and Scott rods, a nice selection of flies too- impressive stock overall for a brand new shop. And the space the shop is in is beautiful, right downtown in an historic building with wood floors, vintage restored tin-plate 10' ceiling. The walls are decorated with Wi artist Gaylord Schanilec mayfly woodcut prints too! I'll stop in whenever I'm up that way- you should too. read more

Geri and her husband run a beautiful fly fishing shop in the heart of Wisconsin's famed Driftless region. Fantastic selection of really well designed and constructed flies, fantastic! Awesome customer service. Wonderfully informative and up-to-date web site. Extremely helpful and friendly, overall. Quaint Main Street location. A true pleasure to shop at this husband-and-wife, independent business. Hope to hire D.A.'s guide service during next trip to Viroqua. Gorgeous countryside, by-the-way. Continues success, Driftless Angler... read more

If I could have left no stars I would have! I will start out by saying Matt the owner is a very nice guy, Pete was our guide for 2 days which we paid a total of $690 to the shop and a tip of $200 totaling $890. I have to tell you as a previous guide my self, we got some of the worst experience I have ever received as a client!!! The guide refused to change my flies when they were unraveling, I did ask 2 times and he refused to change them, I landed 95% of my own fish, I got 100% of my own snags out, when I finally hooked a 20" plus fish I asked for a net and guess who netted my fish NOT the guide, it was my cousin! Pete was a personable person and pleasant but he did not guide us!!! I have been on numerous guided trips and have never had anything like this happen. Plus some of his choices to take us to torn up areas (from the flood, and yes some areas were worse than others) on some of the streams was ridiculous, we went from landing a good number of fish on one area, then after lunch he took us to a place where there where hardly any fish, it made no sense to me what so ever! I have been fly fishing for 33 years and have guided for 7 years as a walk wade guide in Colorado, when a spot is good you ask your clients if they want to move or stay, if you like tips this is what you do!!!! I went from landing 20 fish in the first 4 hours and probably loosing 15, then on the second section I went to landing 5 fish and losing 2 in 4 hours, that was a horrible way to end our trip!!! The worst part is, once we walked back to the car, Pete said " I need to get those flies from you guys" he proceeded to cut the flies off of our lines!!! WTF really you needed those tattered up flies he refused to change, back in his box!! WOW that blew my mind. I was completely caught off guard, I did the stand up thing and still tipped this guy, but he should not have received anything!!! I did call Matt about this 3 days later to give him a chance to show me some customer service. Well he apologized profusely but no offer in the future to give us a discount and no offer to refund us something, no real customer service which really sucks, oh he did offer to guide us him self next time for the normal price! I own my own business and I work with a lot of doctors in Colorado, you always give good customer service no matter what especially as a business owner! Just remember guys you don't really need a guide in Wisconsin, the fish are super easy to catch on a hopper dropper set up on any stream, and they have the "keep your feet wet law" so there is no private property, now if there is private land to get to the stream you could very easily ask the land owner permission and you could even through them some cash for the privilege......So when you pay for a guide service in Wisconsin they need to be TOP NOTCH, and really give you good service, because when we guide in Colorado we guided on private water 90% of the time!!!! read more

Excellent fly shop and guide service...I would highly recommend the Driftless Angler. Their guide service is great whether your are a beginner or seasoned caster. They know the local waters better than anyone in the area, and provide excellent guides, an extensive selection of flies for the local water, as well as good information, both in person and on-line for fishing reports. Kudos to Mat, Geri and the whole team for providing a great shop and outstanding service read more

Fish enough and you can recognize the difference between a mill and a craft shop. These guys are the latter, for sure. Mat and hid wife Jeri (sp?) are super nice and accommodating (to the point of having a two-bedroom apartment for rent over the shop for the Chicago folks who drive up; only $70/night!). Add to that Mat's willingness to share good spots with passers-through and their impressive inventory of relevant local flies and you have a solid if not amazing hub for regional fly fishing. And if you are a decent caster, ask to have Pete as a guide. He is a great coach, knows the water (literally called two strikes to the second with me), and is just plain good fishing company for a day on the local water. Beginners take heart in knowing that Mat is very patient and will put you on the right water to catch fish and gain confidence. read more

My sons and I have taken annual trips up to the Driftless region the last few years and this place is on the itinerary. We usually end up in Viroqua about mid-trip so it's a good place to stock up on supplies and replace all the flies my kids have lost. But we also look forward to picking up a new Driftless Angler t-shirt. They have custom designed shirts that look pretty cool and we wear them proudly back home. I picked up the "Year of the Scud" shirt this year. It was perfect because we had been slaying them for three days on scuds before seeing the shirt. The shop has all the flies and supplies you need and some high end equipment too. read more

Fantastic resource for female anglers; complete beginners are made to feel welcome! Geri and Matt, the husband and wife team who own and run this great shop are the most down to earth, welcoming people you could ever hope to meet. When I expressed an interest in going out as a complete beginner (and a woman to boot!) with a guide for a half day I was worried that I might be treading on turf where I did not belong. There is no doubt that it is a sport dominated by men, but Geri and Matt are downright enthusiastic about having women in the shop and involved in learning to fish. I went out with Geri for a half day and it was one of the best experiences of my life. She took me to a gorgeous spot, supplied all the gear including waders, and energetically and enthusiastically taught me what I needed to know to have a good time and catch fish. What a day! Unforgettable! I think I learned more in that 4 hours than I could have learned in 4 years of trying to tag along with friends and fish. If you are a woman who wants to get into fly fishing look no further than this shop. They will take great care of you! read more

We had a girls weekend in Viroqua. We had fly fishing all set up at the Driftless Angler. We had a full day reserved but after a rainy night they decided to let the streams clear and banks dry up. We had Nick and Pete as our guide. We were in good hands. They took us out and taught us well. Very patients do super knowledgeable. I caught 6 browns and the other ladies caught 3. What a great experience! read more

I needed waders, in a hurry! No time to chat and grab any names. but I was helped promptly, found the waders I needed (Redington Sonics) and was on my way. At check out I was given 20% off(!) even though a sale was not advertized. Inventory was a little thin but it was also September and understandable that ordering and restocking is a winter task. Great fly shopand information resource for the Driftless region. read more

I had a wonderful fishing experience. Matt understood what I was looking for and Nick was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable, patient and with very effective explanations. This is a gem of a fly fishing shop. I will be coming back. read more

Great little shop! We were on a trip in early June and stopped in to grab items before heading out. They had everything we needed and the owner was friendly. I will definitely go back when we get out to the driftless again! read more

since i live in pittsbugh pa i dont get out there to often. I have been to driftless 6 times in the past few years and every time i go i know that matt will give me the truth on what flies to use and where. Great fly shop to get everything you need to catch fish in the area. If you are new to the driftless area then this is an absolute must stop at cause if you dont you wont have the right gear or the area you should fish. read more