[Derek 365]

Does anyone know of how to start earning money by tying flies?

I suspect the cheaper companys like 'select-a-fly' and 'fly-mail' import from Asia/Africa , but i really haven't a clue .

[Peter McCallum]

Learn to tie S**t hot Classic Salmon Flies like Davie McPhail or maybe super realistic trout food as per Steve Thornton and sell them for loadsamoney in the states.

Seriously, to compete with the sweatshops you have to churn out large quantities of highish value flies to make any cash. Ask Magnus he had a go for a while.

I once tied some clyde styles for a mate of my brother-in-law, charged him 25p/fly (hooks cost me bout 10p). My b.i.l. asked if I was serious cos he could buy them for 15p in the shops - I said he should buy them cos I would lose money at that price

Peter

[Hamish Young]

Yes - don't do it  Been there myself and I do have the T shirt

Find something to specialise in and be very, very good at it. Frodin 'turbo disc' salmon tubes might be one lucrative source for example. You need to set out on your own and sell to fisheries/river beats etc etc
Most, but not all, shops will not deal with a fly dresser unless it's for something specialist.

[gunner100]

Derek,

You are absolutely right, these companies have their flies tied up by rather poorly paid workers in the Thirld World. There is no way that I would be able to compete with their prices of from 15p - 20p a fly and make any sort of a living in the UK. I would have to tie 30 flies an hour to make £6, then take off the price  of materials. The cheapest hooks I have bought were 2.2p each buying by the 1000. Then there is thread, wire, floss etc.

There is a niche market if you are really good, using the very best materials and have got yourself established as a tyer of some renown. Then you might get £1 per trout fly but you will not be tying 30 flies per hour.  Salmon flies will realise even more but whether anyone in the UK could ever make a decent living is doubtful.

I just enjoy tying flees for my own use and my friends.

Tight lines,

Lyall

[Mike Barrio]

Great feedback so far and I agree totally ......... the UK market is full of "cheap" flies, a high volume of which come from places like Kenya.

Yes, there is possibly a "niche" market for true premium quality flies, but actually selling these could be tricky ........ as you would have to find a clear way of showing your potential customers that your flies are not like all the others on the market.

Personally, as an angler, I would rather pay £1 for a first class trout fly that is good to look at, will fill me with confidence and will not fall apart ......... much better than say 50p for the usual quality that we are used to.

Best wishes
Mike Barrio

[Rob Brownfield]

I tie Pike flies for folk, but I certainly do not make a living from it! I charge anywhere between £1.50 and £3.00 per fly depending on the work that goes into it...but if I look at the time it takes I probably make about £5 an hour!!..lol Take off materials and the price of size 5/0 hooks and you see you really dont make a lot.

I used to tie flies for Somers some 20 years ago..before the cheap imports..but I would be tying every spare minute of the day and still had to work full time to survive..lol

[Sandy Nelson]

Well Derek

Like the others i had my time for trying this, i used to tie micro flies for certain shops to supplement my college days.
It was impossible to compete with commercial flies,but they dont really make size 18's down, so a niche was there to be filled. After a while people ask you to make flies for them(usually ones they cant buy) the real difference is they dont fall to bits. So 50p a fly is good value when it lasts 10 times longer than a 20p fly.
There is still no commercial value in doing this as the cost of decent hooks and materials eat up a lot of the cost and as the guys say if you work it out at an hourly rate you need to churn out 20 flies an hour to scrape over the minimum wage.If you take pride in what you tie then 20 flies an hour can be very frustrating

The super realistic flies are where the money lies, but they are works of art and take ages to make, its more like model making than flytying.
Classic salmon flies too as Peter says, but thats a real artform too.

These days i have to confess, i still love tying flies (after 23 years) but it is spiders, simple dries and nymphs that make me smile, getting a waterhen bloa to look just right is very satisfying .

Sandy

[Tam Greenock]

l tie some of my own, got a couple of deadly buzzer patterns that have never let me down and a couple of shuttlecock emergers that are quite deadly as well

[Derek 365]

Hello all ,
              thanks for all your comments guys :  , it was just having seen what's available in the local shops , on the net and at fisheries i've always felt that i could produce better quailty flies , but then again if i'm tying 20/30 a hour quality is sure to decrease  : .
               I think it's a case of get out there and try to persude fishery/shop owners to either stock my flies or let myself sell them direct to angler by the waterside .