COMMERCIAL FLY TYING SERVICE

I enjoy flyfishing more than any other outdoor activity that I have participated in at anytime in my life. I love being close to water especially when I get the wonderful opportunity to observe a favorite hatch in progress. I am always captivated and forever haunted by the silhouette of a large snout, dorsal fin or tip of a tail as a massive trout gorges on hapless aquatic insects on, in or near the surface during low light periods. These huge trout usually provide this marvelous dry fly opportunity while feeding in strategically advantageous areas during cloudy, blustery days or, at last light while the stream surface is still illuminated by the last rays of a setting sun.

Fishing to large difficult trout during heavy insect activity at these specific times is what I personally enjoy most in fly-fishing. These situations challenge an angler’s patience, technique, accuracy and fly patterns to the limit. I am always the most comfortable when I can enjoy the familiar feeling of having a fly rod firmly positioned in the palm of my hand at the ready to present a favorite fly pattern to a surface feeding fish.

As much as I enjoy fly-fishing and catching trout I am equally enthused with the study of the trout’s environment and the aquatic/terrestrial insects they feed on. Observing, studying and understanding the life cycles of the insects that trout feed heavily on will improve an anglers success rates especially during heavy hatches and difficult conditions. Studying and researching the vulnerable stages and points in between these stages that affect the trout’s feeding cycles has consumed many enjoyable hours for me in the last 25 years. These enjoyable hours have been spent observing /photographing trout and insects in their natural environment, research at home involving book work and countless hours at the tying vise.

There is no more enjoyable point in tying time than the instant a fly tyer closes off a whip finish on a new pattern. These patterns may just solve a difficult situation that has personally frustrated an individual when fishing to a specific fish, hatch or point in a hatch. These new ideas may appear to come from your own theories and experiences: it is more likely however that an outside influence from the past is at least partially responsible for a great deal of our accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with enjoying accomplishments without the display of arrogance.

Accomplished anglers such as Doug Swisher, Carl Richards, Rene Harrop, Mike Lawson, Gary Lafontaine, Craig Mathews, Gary Borger, Dave Whitlock and Jack Dennis have been major influences in the development of the modern anglers skills. Personally I think no two-anglers/fly tiers have affected both my fly tying and fly-fishing advancement and earned my utmost respect more than Doug Swisher and Rene Harrrop. I have had the pleasure of taking a casting school with Doug Swisher, worn out all six of his fly-fishing videos, have been certified as a casting instructor by him, have purchased product from and have fished with Doug Swisher on a few occasions and have had business dealings with the Harrop’s for years. So I feel that I can safely speak very highly of both these individuals with respect and sincerity. Both of these individuals have directly influenced my understanding of aquatic insects and their life cycles.

These two tremendously accomplished individuals have thoughtfully shared so much with all of us. They both understand deeply and have openly shared how vulnerabilities within the aquatic insect’s life cycles affect how when and where large trout feed on the surface with our angling generation. These two anglers have been the major force in the growth and mind-set of my philosophies connecting with both my approach to fly-fishing and direction in tying style.

Doug Swisher has been the single most important figure in fly-fishing for me his knowledge, ability, and philosophy is unmatched, these abilities correlate well with his modesty, charismatic personality and delightful teaching ability. The way I cast, manipulate and control a fly line, present a fly, approach a hatch, tie my flies and apply stream strategies is directly attributable to Doug Swisher’s methods of fly fishing and teaching. I personally think we as anglers owe these talented anglers a great deal of gratitude for their time, efforts and expertise which has provided us the opportunity to enjoy fly-fishing at a level that otherwise wouldn't be possible.

Fly tying is graced with such great history proliferating from the eastern Catskills in the early 1940’s and migrating west. Great names such as Harry & Elsie Darbee and Walt & Winnie Dette in the Eastern States developing and selling flies to interested anglers. Names like Dennis Black in the Western States who changed the road map of off shore commercial tying into a world of quality, dependability and competitive pricing for the wholesale/retail fly market. Troy Bachman who later started a wholesale production fly tying business called Frontier Flies provided another source of flies for the retail fly shop business. Mike Lawson and the Harrop family have been commercial tyers for the retail market in the west since the early 1970’s. Mike Lawson has some very informative videos that were marketed through Jack Dennis these videos are delightfully instructive and very entertaining for fly tyers of all levels.

The Harrop family is one of the truly great western family tying operations in the history of the fly tying world. Both Rene’s and Bonnie’s tough hands speak volumes about the hard work and abuse they have taken over many years of hard commercial use at the fly tying vise. Their commitment to quality, durability and reliability may only be surpassed by the beauty and effectiveness of their patterns. Patterns with stability, proper proportion and balance, integrated into them, when they are to be fished on the surface of the water during heavy hatches will out perform poorly tied flies. The expense incurred to purchase House of Harrop flies is an investment that is always warranted by the success and satisfaction an angler will experience when fishing them. The value and pleasure an angler will experience using House of Harrop flies will always outweigh, the benefit the Harrop’s derive in revenue for their extremely long hard hours of deep concentration and efforts spent at the fly tying vise.

Commercial tying will always be extremely hard on the eyes and unrelenting backbreaking work. It can only be truly mastered and accomplished by those that have the deepest passion and commitment that comes from a deep devotion and a labour of love for all things in fly-fishing. The Harrop family even goes the extra distance by tying fresh flies for every customer’s order. So their customers receive the special treatment above and beyond choosing a bin fly that may have been sitting for who knows how long. These freshly tied flies are made available to their customers at a fair market value. This type of customer appreciates quality, durability and the success that these flies provide: this remains the most value oriented way for the knowledgeable angler to purchase flies. Purchasing flies from the Harrop family or any other reputable supplier of quality flies will catch more and larger trout.

This purchasing practice will also save money in the long run due to the durability and performance of a well-tied fly. Fly fisherman who buy the less expensive flies are not necessarily getting their best value for their money. Anglers who purchase quality flies from a reputable source will usually have the added opportunity of gaining valuable insight on how, when and where to fish these patterns effectively. Usually when you buy less expensive fly patterns from a chain store your advancement in the sport and your fishing success will suffer due to a variety of reasons. The staff in these stores will not be specifically focused on flyfishing resulting in a situation which is not helpful, due to the fact that owners/staff of chain stores are not as focused, knowledgeable and supportive as at a source strictly dedicated to flyfishing.

In our shop we try to offer the customer some options regarding price point and manufacturer level. However as cost of fly patterns drop the customer must realize compromises in pattern balance, durability and performance drop off. We have sourced Umpqua Feather Merchants to supply our shop patterns; their fly patterns are tied off shore at a reasonable price and still maintain a very acceptable level of quality and durability. This manufacturer can cover most of our customer’s needs to match hatches effectively in this area. However there are still some situations where we cannot source effective fly patterns for large selective trout during a specific hatch or point in a hatch. So we offer the discriminating consumer custom tied flies that will be fresh off the vise, durable, and more efficient than bin flies.

The modern angler requires fly patterns, which very closely represent or duplicate the most important stages of the prevalent aquatic insects, which are present on the streams they fish. Especially if they intend to match the hatch and target the larger more selective trout when they fish. These are the facts for the contemporary angler who fishes on the modern day popular streams that endure heavy angling pressure. With current fishery policies of catch and release, more accomplished anglers, improved fly patterns, and larger more selective trout many of these factors have combined to produce demanding conditions that require special fly patterns.

This information and all these factors should be included in the selection process the next time you purchase any fly patterns. This is not to preclude the other skills involved when fishing for highly selective trout, such as observing light direction, wind direction, approach, angle of presentation, casting skills, line control and proper leader construction. Bringing all these skills together while using quality fly patterns which are durable and efficient in the proper manner in the appropriate situation will make an anglers day or evening a lot less frustrating and a lot more rewarding.

PRICING LEVELS OF FLY PATTERNS

Some current market value examples of where the breakdown in pricing/performance occurs at are shown below. The more avid angler should select the fly patterns shown in examples three and four.

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