About
Buying Fly Fishing Flies Online
by: Steve Clark
For many fly-fisherman, fly-tying is a serious hobby.
Given that tying your own flies provides so much
satisfaction, why buy flies online?
For many fly-fisherman,
fly-tying is a serious hobby. Not only is fly-tying
economical, it is enjoyable. Nothing beats the thrill of
mastering a new fly pattern, or creating specialized
flies for ones' unique fishing situations. Also, one
cannot underestimate the sense of adventure that
accompanies the fly-fisher on the prowl for the perfect
materials, whether browsing the local fly shop,
ransacking a craft store, or even salvaging road kill.
Given that tying your
own flies provides so much satisfaction, why buy flies
online?
Obtain local fly
patterns
The first reason is that
as your fly fishing experience grows, your desire to
test new and foreign waters increases. As a result, your
need for localized patterns becomes more important.
Sure, you want to do the research and tie your own
variations of the Club Sandwich before you hit the Snake
River for the first time, but there's something to be
said about fishing the tried and true local patterns on
your initial outings to foreign waters. With that idea
established, you can either buy these flies from a local
shop or purchase them online. I recommend doing both.
Say you live in New
Jersey and you're planning your first trip to Colorado.
You and your buddies plan to hit a few a rivers within
10 days. Before you go, do research on the internet -
find out what's hatching on these rivers when you plan
to visit them, and what patterns work best. Then, based
on your research, purchase enough flies online to cover
you while fishing these waters. Now you have a safety
net - you won't have to worry about not having enough
flies for the rivers you'll fish at the end of your
trip.
Next, research local
shops on the internet - find out who the proprietors are
and when they are open for business. Now this idea might
seem obvious to many of you, but make it a point to stop
at these shops before you fish. When you arrive, ask
them about recent fishing activity and what flies they
would recommend. Tell them about your trip, let them
know you found their site on the internet, and ask for
their advice. Tell them what flies you already have and
ask about what else you may need. If your budget allows,
purchase as many of the flies they recommend.
Save time while
supplementing your current collection
There comes a time in
which your energy is better focused on fishing than
tying flies. A typical North American fly-fisher and
fly-tyer spends the "off" months tying flies for the
season ahead. Many fisherman focus the bulk of their
tying efforts on the winter months to prepare for
spring, summer, and fall fishing. If you are one of
those anglers who feel like they never have enough
flies, purchasing your "basic" flies online can leave
you time to focus on the more specialized,
region-specific flies that you might not find on the
web. For example, why not buy your attractor flies such
as Adams or Stimulators, so that you can concentrate on
the special mayfly flies that you know will require
special attention to detail? The same idea applies to
those "hard-to-tie" flies - if you dislike tying size 24
Tricots, why not buy those items online so you have more
time to crank out the flies you prefer to tie?
Also, consider how much
your time is worth. Think about your fly-tying time as
if you were a professional fly-tyer. How much is an hour
of your fly-tying time worth? If it takes you two hours
to tie twelve size 26 BWO emerges, you might be better
off spending $10 on a dozen of the same fly so that you
can use those two hours to tie 18 Rusty Spinners.
Variety
No matter what you want
to purchase, nothing beats the internet for window
shopping. I have seen the same fly pattern tied three
different ways on three different sites. This variety
allows you to find the best pattern that matches your
intended fishing location. For example, if you plan to
fish faster moving water, your parachute patterns might
need a bit more hackle, or even a brighter post. On the
other hand, if you plan to fish tail waters, your mayfly
patterns might need to sit lower on the water. By the
same token, if you intend to fish mostly in the spring,
your mayfly patterns might need to be a lighter color
than if you intend to fish in the fall.
By browsing different
sites for the same patterns, you will be able to compare
patterns and ascertain the right fly for you. The best
way to do this is to open two or three browser windows
at a time on your computer. Then go to different sites
in each browser and compare the patterns you are
interested in.
Save money
Quite simply, buying
flies online can save you money. Not only can you find
discounts for large orders, the actual cost of
individual flies can be lower than if you purchased
flies from some of the larger fly fishing retailers. The
best online merchants often charge as little as 65 cents
(sometimes, even 50 cents for fly patterns). One
disadvantage is that you don't get to inspect the flies
before you purchase them, unlike in a store. I recommend
buying a few different patterns your first time so that
you can determine not only the quality of the flies, but
the consistency of the quality across different
patterns. For example, a good initial purchase might
include a stonefly nymph, a caddis pattern, a mayfly
emerge, a mayfly dun, and an attractor pattern. This way
you could check the various elements of typical flies
such as tails, dubbing, hackle, deer-hair, and hook
strength.
Types of web sites
There are hundreds of
web sites that sell flies online. These sites fall into
two categories: companies that only sell flies, and fly
shop owners who run web sites for their businesses.
Businesses whose sole
purpose is to sell flies online usually have a greater
amount of flies available. One advantage these sites
offer is that they are more likely to offer discounts on
larger purchases. Also, their web sites tend to be more
user-friendly (though not always). Many of these sites
typically include advanced functionality that make
selecting and purchasing flies easier on the user. The
best of these sites allow you to set up personal
accounts or use "shopping carts" to store your
selections before purchasing. In this manner, the
purchase experience is more convenient. Shopping carts
tend to be "persistent" - in that a visitor may select
items to the cart one day and return to the site at
later time to find that the shopping cart still contains
the previous selections. This allows you to select items
you are interested in, leave the site and do more
research, then alter or add to your selections later.
Fly shop web sites, on
the other hand, typically present the user with flies
specifically relevant to the area that the fly shop
services. You have a better chance of purchasing flies
that are most effective to the area you want to fish if
you purchase them from local fly shops. Furthermore, you
are supporting the local economy of the area in which
you desire to fish. Many fly shop web sites also include
online hatch charts which can inform you of flies you
most likely need.
The authors experience
In the spring, and
summer I do a lot of fishing on the Delaware River in
the Catskills Mountains of New York. Throughout the
winter I will tie a decent amount of the flies I
actually need. As spring approaches, I have found that
supplementing my collection with web-bought flies
ensures that I am ready to meet the various hatches
encountered in the spring. Any Delaware River fly
fisherman will tell you that hatch-matching is a
critical part of success on this river. In my limited
experience, I have encountered days in which four or
five different hatches took place. On top of that, the
hatches change from week to week. I have ensured a
decent modicum of success by checking local hatch charts
ahead of time and then purchasing a dozen flies from
week to week.
Hopefully, these tips
will help you increase the amount of flies you own, and
enhance your fly-fishing experience.
