Unseen fine detail makes the Idylwilde brand = quality
Ask any angler what brand rod they fish? What brand waders they like? What tippet they like? etc… Each angler will easily be able to immediately give you the brand name and a reason they have chosen that brand. Not so with flies.
Why should you care about what brand of flies you are buying either on line or when looking through the bins? Here is a quote from Mike Hennessy that says it all.
” What really drives me bat crazy is clients coming from far away spending thousands of dollars on travel, lodging, restaurants, charters, rods, reels, fly lines etc…. and they show up with a $3 fly with a crappy hook that straightens out like my &$*%*^# on any fish over 5#s HELLLLLOOOOO the fly is the end game to all this fly fishing investment buy the best fly you can find!!!!”
Here are a few reasons the next time you purchase flies online or at a fly shop you should be concerned about the brand you are buying.
1. Over your lifetime as a fly angler you will probably spend more money on flies than any other single piece of fishing gear! Rods are $600.00 that’s a major investment! Flies are just a couple bucks here and there. Not so. A $600 rod will last a life time (if not the rod companies will give you a replacement for free). If your fishing career spans over 20 years your investment in that rod is just $30 a year. Show me the fly consumer who spends less than $30.00 a year on flies! As a guess I would say on average people spend a minimum of a $100 a year on flies.
2. A Parachute Adams is a Parachute Adams no matter who ties it. Wrong! Just because the cosmetics of 2 flies look similar does not mean they are both worth $2.25.
3. Construction of a fly pattern is what you are paying for. That means that no tying steps are skipped. Tying steps are skipped by some brands to bring their costs down and profits up.
Quality in Quality out!
At Idylwilde quality is what our brand is built on.
4. Quality of hook is essential as Mike points out in his quote. Good hooks cost more money but on the water is where the return on investment is. You can dress a cheap hook up real pretty. When a fish eats your fly and the hook bends out or the point breaks “pretty” doesn’t really mean much.
5. Buying less expensive poor quality flies is not saving you money. In fact in the end it will cost you more money. You will end up using 2-4 as many flies for the same amount of fishing you will get from one quality fly.
6. It is cost prohibitive to patent a fly. This means when certain flies become popular they are copied by inferior brands and sold to the consumer as the same thing. Its the nature of the fly business. That said by paying attention to brand you can be assured the version you are paying top dollar for, is from a trustworthy brand. For example the Chubby Chernobyl has become a popular and versatile fly. Look for the Idylwilde brand next to it before adding to your shopping cart.
There is no reason you should not know what brand of fly you are purchasing when buying on the internet. Idylwilde will provide branded pictures to the dealers at no cost to the dealer. We offer this so you can be assured you are getting your money’s worth.
Identifying flies by brand out of the bins is not so straight forward. Bins can sometimes have a mix of quality and substandard flies in the same bins unidentifiable to the consumer. In some cases dealers will purchase the unique flies (like the Chubby Chernobyl) from a quality brand like Idylwilde. With the standard patterns like Pheasant Tails, Parachute Adams, Elk Hair Caddis etc… they will buy from substandard manufacturers at much lower prices. This is possible as they count on you the consumer not being able to tell the difference and chose not to identify their flies by brand.
Flies are not big dollar items when looked at on an individual bases. $2.25 big whoop. You aren’t writing a check for $600.00 for a rod. Rather think about the amount of money you spend on flies over the course of 1 fishing season and you might just surprise yourself.
CONNECT!