Hi, Folks!
I’m Ron from the Hook & Hackle Company and sincerely wish to thank the good folks, i.e. – subscribers, for the continued support that you’ve shown to us!! (There’s a special offer link at the end of this note.)
As most of you know, we strive to give the best value in fly fishing, fly tying and rod building found anywhere, and work our hardest to do so!! It’s not always an easy task, but we do the best we can to provide great service too . . . along with the great prices. Russ, Terry, Eric and I are there to take your calls, typically, between 8:30am and 3:30pm, EST.
Our philosophy has always been, and still is, that folks shouldn?t have to spend a lot of money in order to enjoy fly fishing. Not too long ago, it was a sport mainly for the wealthy ? but we believe a person should be able to get on the water for a reasonable cost. And that is why we offer our own brand of fly line, hooks, tippet, etc., all made of the finest materials we can find, at a more reasonable price that you?d have to pay if it had ?someone else?s? name on it.
There are a couple of trends that I’m seeing. First, quality feathers get more and more difficult to find in a timely fashion – some blame the Avian bird flu, some blame demand and some blame the growers. Whatever the case may be, we recommend that folks order, from us or from other companies, and be patient. Most growers will eventually harvest the feathers you want, but cannot predict the quality/quantity until actual harvest. Also, if you’re tying in limited sizes, don’t hesitate to try dry fly saddles instead of some capes. Dry fly saddles have come a long way in the past 10 years and are worth taking a look at. (For the record, we now carry our “own” brand of 1/2 capes in the most popular colors – and the price is right and the capes are available. Also, vendors that have not provided consistent delivery for our customers will be ‘dropped’ from next year’s catalog as we, too, are frustrated when we don’t get delivery!!)
Concerning other feathers, like partridge, and also fur and hair, fewer and fewer companies are making and dying these materials for the fly tyers like you and me. We, as well as other fly shops, sometimes have a difficult time obtaining these materials, but please know that we are dedicated to finding new and better sources constantly. For instance, many of our hair, fur and "non genetic’ feather products are now from Nature’s Spirit. We are extremely pleased with their materials and urge you to try some of them – I especially like their elk, deer, partridge and bucktails. (Their turkey biots are also a very popular new product that we started carrying.)
I don’t do this as often as I should, but I took a couple of hours today to visit the “big box” stores to see what they’re selling in terms of fly gear. Since a large part of our business is fly rod building components, I took particular note of the finished rods for sale. Although we are glad that you can buy a finished fly rod at a reasonable price, we were amazed at the wide range of quality – especially the quality of some rather pricey gear. As you’ve probably figured out, the Hook & Hackle solution is to build your own fly rod and put your own name on it – rather than the name of some company. We believe that you’ll fish better – certainly with more confidence – with a quality rod you?ve built yourself!!
So here’s the deal for FAOL readers. For the remainder of today, April 1 – and through tomorrow, April 2 at midnight, you can buy one of our remaining introductory series of Tradition Rod Building Kits for 15% off of the regular price. This is the first time we’ve offered such a low price and will do so only for the folks who see this message on FAOL. 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/hookhack/departments.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/.
Again, we at Hook & Hackle send our sincerest thanks to all of you!!
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.
