Fly Shack - Any input?

bjb27_99

bjb27_99

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Feb 24, 2011
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I got a catalog in the mail from the Fly Shack (www.flyshack.com). They look like they have a decent selection and the prices seem very reasonable. Anyone have any input on the quality of the flies? I want to make sure I'm not buying total junk. Thanks.

Brian
 
I've ordered from them and the flies are good. I ordered a reel from them once and had a problem with it. I called and they credited my paypal account even before they got it back from me.

Also good are theflystop.com, tontocreekflies.com, and bigyflyco.com.
 
Never bought flies from them, but the owners are really nice people.

I've always received good service and products from them. They have some really inexpensive tying tools, and they're surprisingly good quality.

Easily one of my favorite on-line suppliers. They are a real fly shop, as well.
 
Good to know. I appreciate the info. Thanks again.
 
I used to buy from them before I tied. I was very pleased with their fly quality and prices.
 
I haven't bought flies but I have purchased fly tying materials and hooks. They have hooks at a good price and the service is great.
 
Buy ALL my flies from FlyShack and FlyStop and the service and quality of the products are excellent from both.
 
I met one of the the owners at one of the shows and had a long talk with him about the flys he sells and the state of the business of fly tying. He really seemed to be dedicated to providing quality and value to his customers. The flys are mass produced (like most flys are today), but the quality is quite good. I looked at a lot of the flys he had for sale and couldn't find a significant flaw. I tie all my own, but would by from Fly Shack if I needed to buy flys.
 
I purchased a decently big order from them this spring and at first they appeared to be very well tied flies but after I hit the water they quickly fell apart. I don't know if it was just a bad batch or what considering all of the good reviews on this thread but I just thought I should put my opinion up. After a couple of casts the hackle started slipping as if they were never hitched properly or glued into place. I was not pleased with my order at all. A good friend of mine placed an order when I did and he had the same issues.
 
I live a little over an hour from the Fly Shack. I went there this spring to buy 30 or 40 flies they have listed on their website. The person working there told me he could not fill my order because they closed in an hour and he had to fill more internet orders. I brought a friend with me who was just starting to get into fly fishing. He was looking for waders, vests, wasing shoes, nets and some other misc gear. As soon as the employee told me he could not fill my walk in order we both turned right around and left. I have gone there before to purchase flies and they did not have a problem filling my order. The flies are not the greatest. They have a lot of glue in the eyelets. Their prices are not the best on the web anymore either. I try to do business with the local fly shops, but this is one I will not patronize again. I wrote the owner of the store a letter the next day and never heard back from him. I guess if they are not interested in doing walk in business then they should not have a retail store available. I guess they wanted to make there $100.00 internet orders that evening instead of our possible $400.00 to $700.00 purchases. As we all know customer service is tought these days, but it is toughter to retain and gain customers with the attitude they had and the way I was treated when I was there.
 
I met the fly shack guys too - I used to buy flies and they were fine.

 
One of the owners (I think he was the owner) of Fly Shack gave me a sample box of their flies for free while we were both stringing up on the Salmon River a couple of years ago. Nice touch and good business strategy. Seemed like a nice guy too.
 
I ordered a bunch of flies from there last year and thought they were all pretty good quality. Order was delivered quick and on time. No problems what so ever.
 
I pick up a bunch of flies from them each year at the FF show.

Prices are very good. Quality is subpar. Oh, they look fine and work well, they just unravel quickly for me. Guess I'm echoing Learms here.

For the price, though, that's expected, and may not be a deal changer. You can play that game. A "good" fly may cost 3x as much and last 3x as long. Cost is the same either way. Unless you commonly lose flies due to snags and such, not due to unraveling. Then you'd be better off with getting quantity for your money, and fly shack does that well.

Personally I prefer higher quality as then I have to carry less flies and spend less time changing them, but I don't pretend that it's actually cheaper that way, nor that I catch more fish because of it. I'm also the type that will climb a tree or stick my whole arm in 33 degree water to retrieve a fly, so I don't lose that many that aren't worn out.
 
I think this is pretty much the norm with the budget online vendors. I purchase from Flystop, but note pretty much the same thing as the others here. Flies look good initially, and catch fish just fine, they just aren’t as durable. As pcray notes, at approximately $0.75/fly as opposed to $2.00 or so for a higher end shop tied fly, this is to be expected to some degree. I generally buy my bulk patterns from Flystop…flies I go through a lot of over the course of the year…standard EHC Caddis, Wulff’s, Adams Parachutes. I’ll pop for the good flies for patterns I only intend to carry a few of, or only may be fishing for a short window of time each year…specific hatches for example.

For what I’m paying for them, I’m happy with their performance. On a good day Brookie fishing I’ll probably go through 2 or 3 flies that unravel and become unfishable…but since this is indicative of a good day fishing and the fly getting hit a lot, I don’t seem to care. You can actually fish a really beat up/unraveling fly for quite a while for Brookies and they’ll still hit it just fine. Fish an unraveling fly over Browns rising to a hatch and you’ll get ignored drift after drift. I keep a separate small “Brookie” box that I retire some of my more raggedy looking flies from my other boxes into to get some more life out of them.
 
I've purchased in mega bulk from these guys (shack, stop, etc). If I do a 10-12 mile float and I'm nymphing from the boat, There's a good chance you'll lose a pile of flies. Between snags, flies coming undun and fish mangling them, I know I've gone through 15+ flies in a day. If I'm up fishing for 4 days, that's a lot of flies and the local shops are selling them at $2.25 - $2.75 each! I'd go broke buying flies.

I think I've posted somewhere before...... for nymphs and streamers I'll buy from the mass producers. Don't expect the fly to last very long though. For a couple of caddis patterns or attractor flies, they're also OK. If you look at the bodies on the mayfly patterns, the bodies are too thick and represent a much larger insect than you'd expect from that hook size. Bass, bluegills, brookies.....absolutely buy their flies. If you are looking to match a cripple #22 Pseudo, they really don't have something that's an accurate representation so you might have to tie or hit a brick an mortar shop in town.
 
I bought some stuff from them at the show last year. Seemed like nice people . I agree you do get what you pay for.
 
Good flies, just got a bunch earlier this month.
 
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