Thanks again to FAOL members!!

Hi folks!

I'm Ron from Hook & Hackle. Thanks again for your support! -- (There's a special at the bottom of this post -- exclusively for FAOL members!)

First of all, I'm going to try and post on a regular basis, so I'll just try and pick an issue/topic that's brought to my attention by recent customers -- sometimes complaints, discussion, problems, thought etc.! I'm sure you get the point.

Just a little background: Many of our customers are well aware that I bought H&H because I had been building fly rods for about 18 years and that was always my first love, but for the past 12-14 months I'm learning, with a lot of help from the references on FAOL, how to "really" tie flies. Yeah, like a lot of folks I tied a few nymphs, streamers -- some woolly buggers -- I'm sure you know the drill. But I was never 'serious' about fly tying until recently. And as a result, we're constantly trying to add and upgrade our array of fly tying stuff, especially as we see some of the large companies offer fewer and fewer things.

So here's the point I want to make about fly tying -- and I'm making it because I get emails every day from folks, new tyers in particular, who are afraid to try new materials, stray from fly "recipes" or learn how to substitute materials. Please . . . please don't make yourself crazy getting the perfect hook, tailing material, winging material, case material, etc.!! Instead, try and build yourself a "collection" of materials over time, and seeing how they work. Although fly tying is fun, I hear from too many folks that 'give up' because they can't get it "perfect" every time. This is what I do and I'm please to say that I was well armed for the opening day of trout fishing in Pennsylvania. For the first time, I ONLY stocked my fly boxes with flies I tied myself. And yes, I did catch a couple of trout!!!! It was very rewarding to land a rainbow and brookie on flies I tied. (By the way, one of the flies was a bead-head pheasant tailed nymph and the other was a, well, uh . . . okay, it was a chartreuse green thing with no name that I invented the night before. You might say it was a caddis nymph imitation tied with v-rib body, brass bead head and a collar of either peacock herl or some prismatic dubbing.)

I know that I get to try a lot of new materials because of our company, but the point is that I'm not afraid to try them and make whatever I want -- or use a new material as a substitution of something similar. One last point is that I'm constantly asked for some obscure hook that someone, usually a new tyer, think that they MUST HAVE in order to make an effective pattern. Well, it is nice to have some specialty hooks, but there are only about a dozen styles that folks use on a regular basis and I believe you should learn to use these first, before making yourself crazy!!! (By the way, that's why we came out with our own brand of hooks -- just 12 types in the popular sizes -- and a great price! They're always in stock and we (you) don't have to worry about waiting or backorders like happens with so many of the "big name" hooks.)

For our special offer to FAOL members who read this post, we're again running our 15% off our best value in rod building, the Hook & Hackle Tradition rod building kits. This offer will only be seen by FAOL readers. You don't have to order online to get this special, just give us a buzz and tell us You're a FAOL member! Here's what I said:

"This is a particularly good time to get started in rod building for several reasons. First, the prices of these introductory kits will increase when we reorder from our current manufacturer -- we?ve just about 500 kits left. Second, these kits are priced way below the cost of what you?d pay for the rod blank along, without any of the components!! And lastly, and most importantly, you?ll end up with a fly rod that is ?better? than many of the mass produced products in the big stores ? for less money!!! On top of all, you?ll even get a limited lifetime warranty ON A ROD YOU BUILT YOURSELF!!!! And when we run out of this series, they?re gone at these prices!!"

This 2-day only offer will not be advertised anywhere other than here on FAOL. Look here: http://shop4.mailordercentral.com/ho...nts.asp?dept=7. You can also see a better picture of everything in the kit on our ?specials? page here: http://shop4.mailordercentral.com/hookhack/.


Actually, we don't have 500 any longer as they're been selling well!! Thanks again for your support and don't forget, "GO FISHIN'" and have fun!!

Ron (Russ, Terry & Eric, too)

P.S. ? Please understand that it is impossible for me/us to respond to individual posts on this board. As always, you can reach us via the links above or 800-552-8342 during our normal hours. We are a small company and ask that if you leave a message with our answering service when we are absent, please give us a day to call you back. Also, it is impossible to return calls/emails over the weekend, but do our best to ?catch up? on Mondays! Thanks for your patience and understanding.

i've started tying my own and never looked back! I catch fish on the flies I tie almost everytime I go out. what a rush it is! I too started thinking I would save money but quickly found that isn't happening at 1st.. now I have stocked up on lots of different materials and have enough to tie thousands of flys. I just spend 10 bux here and there on materials. the hooks are the most expensive part but you can always retie a fly on a old hook when that fly falls apart. all in all fly tying is great!! especially since you can make anything you dream up and give it a try! hey ron my cousin said thanks for the st croix combo he got from ya the other day. he is very happy with it. .