Are commercially tied flies cheap today?

[Byron haugh]

I would argue that commercial flies, today, are quite cheap and I believe this is due to the global world economy which allows us to import flies from under-developed countries with very cheap labor.

I offer a couple of examples.

I recently mentioned the Bunyan flies in another thread. These were tied by Paul Bunyan (Norman Means) of Montana in the early to late 1920's and for many years thereafter. They were unique and did command a premium in price.

As shown in the picture below, the flies were sold for $0.50 each. Not certain of the original date of the purchase of this fly, but, if it were purchased in the mid-20's, This, brought to current time with annual inflation over the period would be over $8.00. If purchased later, it would be less than $8 today, but still more than today's flies of premium quality/difficulty of tying.

Likewise, Franz Pott's extremely popular woven hackle flies, of the same general time span, were sold for $0.35 each which, in today's dollars, would be over $6.00. Granted, less popular, locally tied flies, were probably selling at prices much less. Still, I would guess today's flly prices are, adjusted for inflation, cheaper.
It is also, I would argue, why there isn't much money to be made in tying flies for commercial sale.......unless you own the shop yourself.

Do others agree that, if not for foreign competition, locally tied flies would be much more expensive?
Thanks

One of the Bunyan flies:

[redietz]

I totally agree. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not, though.

[Fontinalis]

Hi Byron:

I can see that flies in cost has dropped due to the over seas input. Also see this as more competition in the fly bussiness. It does n't mean they are tied better or have detail like one might get from Dette's fly shop in Roscoe NY or for that matter from my bench. Keep in mind those over sea's flies are tied with the cheapest materials as possible and with slave labor. I would gladly pay a little more or like I do tye them myself with the materials I want and the details I need and want for the streams I fish. Lastly one of my flies will catch a ton more fish before the fly is destroyed unlike the cheap tyed over seas flies.

[Byron haugh]

Font,
Wasn't making judgements, just observation about the results of a global economy that takes advantage of the cheapest labor available.

Would say, however, that most fly shops sell Umpqua flies which are tied overseas and tied with very good materials.

I tie my own flies and only purchase flies tied by local tiers in destination shops.

[Steven]

Do others agree that, if not for foreign competition, locally tied flies would be much more expensive?

If not for foreign competition, everything would be more expensive. That's been Econ 1 dating back to the days of David Ricardo.

[Buddy Sanders]

What Steven said.

No doubt about it.

I would wager that the best fly tier in the world is probably a middle aged southeast Asian woman who ties thousands of flies a week. I know they have the most technically skilled deer hair spinners I've ever seen (my apologies to all the 'famous' US deer hair guys, but these women are flat out amazing).



Buddy

[Panman]

To add to Buddy's comment. Some time back I read an article that said an Asian woman was an expert on tying one fly. I believe it was a copper John. She was well known among the local tyers and she made more money doing this than doctors did in her country.

Tim

[fritz]

i have had an up-close look of an array of flies sold in a Gander Mountain store. Upon close examination, the quality of the tie is excellent. the flies I examined were clearly marked made in Thailand. these countries have successfully adopted the approach of specialized labor meaning there are probably a few tiers who only specialize in tying certain types of flies to maintain a certain level of consistent quality

[Longs for Cutts]

Keep in mind those over sea's flies are tied with the cheapest materials as possible and with slave labor.

Even though I'm a commercial tier, I need to note that this is simply incorrect, at least for the major companies producing flies primarily in southeast Asia rather than Africa or China. Fly tying is skilled labor in a part of the world where unskilled labor sweatshop jobs (i.e. shoe factory) are the norm for most people, particularly women. It takes time to train someone to tie flies, so the fly companies invest much more in their employees than you'd think. I know MFC has childcare, etc. available for their employees at their factories, and the pay is dramatically higher than in unskilled labor factory settings. It's a win-win for American consumers and the women doing the tying. The main losers are American commercial tiers like me who have to sell my flies wholesale at $13.50/dz to compete. The only way it works for me is because I do most of my tying while sitting in the store during the winter XC ski rental season.

As to materials, there's a reason Umpqua bought Metz and is the largest Tiemco distributor... Also why MFC and others are getting into the wholesale materials game --they're using their own stuff as well as selling it.

[sagefisher]

In the past I have purchased some flies from a company in Kenya. Originally, all of their tiers were taught by the Brits when they had control of the land and the tiers I talked to were excellent tyers. They used materials that they imported from the USA and the UK and I have caught many fish on them. Likewise, I have purchased many flies that were tied in the US and they were also excellent and catch fish. If you buy from a quality company they should be good.

Larry ---sagefisher---