Bit of a Rant

[byhaugh1]

Actually, it's not a real rant. But sort of.
I tied a couple patterns for a couple shops years ago. Nothing serious. Didn't tie enough to make any money, really. But I took pride in making something folks wanted to buy.

We live in a global marketplace, and I think that is a good thing. It is the reason we can buy many things cheaply because they are made in countries with very low wages. A shining example of that are the flies sold in the US. I am quite sure that over 75% of the flies sold in the US are imported. That is why flies are relatively cheap. I know that $2.00 to $3.00 a fly sounds expensive at the shops, but consider this:
Back in the 30's Franz Pott was selling his "mite" flies for about 35 Cents. Now, granted, these were the most expensive flies back then, but folks bought all he could make. Now, if you brought those 35 cent flies to today's price with inflation compounding all those 80 years, his flies would probably selling for over $10!!!!

I have talked to famous fly tiers who are hired by Umpqua and other companies to go to China and other oversea locations to teach the young girls how to tie new patterns. They describe the situation as a big quansit hut(sp?) building with rows of young girls at tying stations working like crazy all day tying certain patterns. That is why the flies sold in the US are so cheap.

Now, I take advantage of this type of thing every day when I buy stuff made overseas. And, I think it is inevitable and probably a good thing.

Most tiers in the US get about $1 for each fly they tie. Except for the fastest tiers, that is probably only $10 per hour when you allow for material costs. Not much more than the minimum wage.......

What does bother me about this is the following:
All the patterns for flies come from non-overseas tiers. From the amateurs and remaining professional tiers who are tying for personal enjoyment or earning a few extra bucks by tying flies. The overseas tiers then copy these patterns and produce them for probably 10 cents each and sell them to Orvis, Umpqua,etc.
This part of the equation does bother me. Seems there should be some sort of royalty paid to the little guy who "invents" a new pattern. Some companies do pay a limited number of royalties. However, it is ordinarily to "Big-name tiers".

Anyway, that's my sort of rant.

Have a good day!!!!!

P.S. I focus on the US, but it really includes all the Western Countries


--------------------
email

[dabhoy]

The thing is all those cheap flies you are on about are usually of poor quality and on poor hooks. As for copying patterns there is no way people are going to get flies patented and I believe that it has been tried.
There are always going to be people making copies of products, and some will take offense at it if they are copying something of quality such a a law vice which was brought up recently but wont take the same stance when it comes to something as smal as a fly.

[byhaugh1]

Originally Posted by dabhoy

The thing is all those cheap flies you are on about are usually of poor quality and on poor hooks. As for copying patterns there is no way people are going to get flies patented and I believe that it has been tried.
There are always going to be people making copies of products, and some will take offense at it if they are copying something of quality such a a law vice which was brought up recently but wont take the same stance when it comes to something as smal as a fly.

No, the flies that Orvis and other big sporting goods companies sell are quality. It is just that they buy them from countries with the lowest labor costs on the planet and then sell them for over $2 each.......

[Hardyreels]

Although I understand the point here I have been tying my flies since 1969 and because of this I have no problems with the market place. The cost of or the origination point of commercial flies has never mattered to me so I have lived in an ignorant bliss.

[arkle]

The flies sold by Orvis & several other big name houses are now tied for them, rather than being tied in-house as they used to be & often to their spec by large tying firms such as Fulling Mill. There are many 1000's of smaller, but volume tying houses out there as well.

Often these firms will quote $2/3 a dozen to supply flies, however they want a minimum number to make it worth their while. That is cheaper than most of us can buy the materials for these days. Mind you, they buy hooks by the million etc. I read somewhere that F.Mill buys chenille in carpet sized rolls, let alone all the other stuff.

Over the last 20years the quality of these volume flies, has, on the whole improved significantly. That's not to say there's still a lot of rubbish product out there. Don't think for 1 second that you're going to get a well tied, durable fly for a few pence, as it's probably gone through 3 or more stages in the supply chain before it reaches you.