If you recognize these brands–Hardy, Winston, Keystone–you know what to expect in the white house next to Terry B’s restaurant. Bailiwicks Outdoors opened in time to outfit 2014’s trout fishers with these prestigious brands of fly rods. Hardys are from England, Winstons from Montana, and Keystone, located upstate in Grayling, makes beautiful, old-school bamboo rods.
Bailiwicks sells flies, delicate enough to be jewelry, and fly-tying supplies. Another room of the shop is devoted to Dubarry of Ireland and Filson, tony canvas and leather outerwear that’s a realm above Orvis. “It’s pricey, high-end,” says co-owner Lauren Kingsley, who makes no apology for the cost or quality: “That’s the market we want to be reaching.”
Kingsley and business partner Dirk Fischbach are serious fly fishers. Fischbach is a licensed fishing guide and author of a couple of books on the subject. Kingsley is a former equities trader who also taught English at the University of Michigan and most recently launched a business called the Painted Trout, designing what she calls “fine goods for the sporting life.” She sells her trout-bedecked bandanas at Bailiwicks.
Much of Bailiwicks’ wares, like the $800 fly rods, are probably not for casual walk-ins, but Kingsley offers a 5 percent discount to anyone who brings in a receipt from another Dexter business. That brings those trout bandanas down to $14.25.
Bailiwicks Outdoors, 7940 Ann Arbor St., Dexter. 580-2102. Tues. noon-6 p.m., Wed. & Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Mon. bailiwicksoutdoors.com
