Flies and Common $ense

There’s been a lot of back and forth these days about tying flies, buying them, variations in quality, pricing and so on. We’ve done our best to stay off the boards and out of the peanut gallery. However, it’s time to take a shot across the bow.

Through all the latest marketing hype and silliness swallowing up the fly fishing industry, there’s probably one thing we actually take seriously. You guessed it – flies. Many out there would like you to believe all flies are the same, there’s no difference in quality and price is all that matters.

I’m not here to argue, but in my experience, excuses and deceit tend to outweigh reason and logic when it comes to resisting common sense.

We’d like to share a few of our favorite objections and excuses with you and deflate them once and for all.
 

"I lose a lot of flies so I don't want to pay a lot for them."

If you’re losing them on fish, then I’d suggest heavier tippet (or a good book on knot tying). If you’re getting hung up in the back cast there are a lot of ‘how-to’ casting DVDs out there to improve your aim. Don’t forget to raise the toilet seat.

If you’re absolutely content with losing a butt-load of flies, then I guess it’s not my place to convince you otherwise.

"There's really no difference in flies from one shop to another - they're all tied overseas anyhow so there's no point in paying more than I have to."

Really? Two things to consider here. First, there’s no denying most (if not all) legitimate shops purchase flies offshore to accommodate seasonal demand. However, not all share the same ‘properties’ - as Tim puts it, fillet mignon and Alpo both started out as a cow.

Not all (offshore) flies are the same. Some factories are sweat shops and some are legitimate companies paying livable wages to their employees. I’m not going to get into the logistics of the matter, but which one of the two do you think produces better quality flies?

Second, some shops still employ specialty fly tyers. These are people who live, eat, breath and fish on the same waters as you. Wouldn’t you like to have tried and tested patterns hand crafted by local anglers? You may be paying a little extra, but you’re also getting superior quality from people who know your home waters and understand fish.

"My cheapo flies use the same materials as the higher priced ones."

When I was in the Navy, the Sysco Food trucks would always pull up to the doc and offload before we went underway. Now let’s put it in perspective. I was at Goodwood BBQ about a week back and saw the same type of Sysco Food truck offloading the goods.

No difference in ingredients right? So it must be all the same! If that were the truth, back in the day I wouldn’t have been dreaming about a mopped New York Strip Steak while choking down green hot dogs and smashed up taco shells with ketchup.

By the way, that’s exactly what you get about five months into a Westpac (a six month pleasure cruise to the Persian Gulf for you non-squid types).

The point is, yes ingredients (materials) are important but it’s not what matters most. At the end of the day the quality comes from the person who puts it all together.

"Cheaper flies are just a better value."

Nothing could be further from the truth. Cheap flies are cheap for a reason. They suck. And by suck I mean you get exactly what you pay for – a production line of factory hands strapping thread, feathers, and fur to hooks as quickly as possible.

There isn’t much ‘quality assurance’ in your garden variety off-shore fly factory. In many cases workers in these facilities are paid by production and not by the hour.

Before we get too far off topic, let’s lay out the bottom line. Here’s the rule with manufacturing (fly fishing industry included):

• SPEED
  
• QUALITY
  
• PRICE

You have to pick two but you can’t have all three. Since the objective of cheap fly manufacturers is to crank out as many flies as possible as quickly as possible, and sell them as cheap as possible, guess what you don’t get…here’s a hint: starts with ‘Q’.

If that logic doesn’t work for you think about it this way. I tie commercially and every so often I crank out a fly that may not be up to production standards. Maybe the hackle’s a bit off, it has one too many wraps, the tail fibers are slightly shorter than they should be, or whatever the case may be.

In any event, these flies go in my ‘seconds’ bin. These are the patterns I generally fish and pass out to buddies on the river.

Recently, Tim and I fished one of our non-production ‘second’ patterns on the South Fork of the Boise. For shits and grins we purposely tested the fly to see how well it would hold up. Tim and I took turns casting and noted a few interesting facts:

• The fly actually fished how it was intended – it rode half in and half out of the water like a cripple should and fish seemed to have no problem sipping it down.
• By the seventh fish we examined the fly for damage and strangely enough, it looked about the same as it did on the first fish.
• The materials (CDC, hackle, biot, tail fibers) remained in place and didn’t roll to either side of the hook.

Unfortunately, like all good things, the test finally came to an end on the ninth fish. The tippet pig-tailed. Game over. If a ‘second’ performs to this standard think about what happens with flies we actually send out to the public.

"I can't tell the difference."

Really? I’ll make this quick…

No difference? Send me the bill. I’ll cover the cost of the eye exam.

"I do well enough with $.75 discount flies."

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. If you’re doing well enough you may not realize the full potential of the situation. You may even pick up the odd idiot fish here and there and call it great day.

I’m not here to be your good day/bad day fishing barometer, but why not take advantage of a good opportunity when it’s presented. Fish, especially the picky ones, care about flies and how they’re presented – it’s pretty much all they care about. There’s nothing more frustrating than having your ass handed to you over the matter of four quarters.

There are a lot of philosophies when it comes to fly selection. Some people get it, but unfortunately some snub the obvious. I’ll leave you with a final question to sum things up.

Which of the following absolutely matters when it comes to fishing success?

A.    A shiny new SUV
B.    Over-priced waders that look really cool to passing spectators
C.    The latest designer mauve-infused $80 fishing shirt
D.    Freshly frosted tips and a new visor
E.    Quality crafted, durable flies (and your ability to place them)