04-02-2009, 03:42 PM
They are different. I have spent many years working in fly shops and have seen flies from about every distributor on the planet. Reputable companies have flies that are tied overseas but the are of much higher quality. They use Whiting Hackle, Tiemco hooks, CDC, biot bodies, tungsten beads, etc... Companies like Umpqua, Montana Fly, Solitude, Rainys, and Idylwilde have strict quality control and spend lots of time and money sending american pros overseas to train them.
Other companies like those out of Kenya, are not tied with the same materials and quality (btw, Umpqua was the standard that ALL the kenyan manufacturers compared there flies to even though they weren't ever the same). Believe me, I had many of them send me lots of samples. Dries are tied with indian hackle capes instead of genetic such as Whiting. Usually eagle claw hooks. Plastic beads painted gold or silver. Very few insect specific imitations (baetis, PMDs, Tricos, Green Drakes, Flavilineas, etc..). No CDC or micro fibbets on the flies. (just hackle tails). No bodies made of stripped quills or turkey biots. Half hitches instead of whip finish. Dries are ALWAYS hackled too large. Rabbit dubbing instead of synthetic superfine on small dries. Palmered flies lacking a counter wrap of wire. I could go on and on.
The reason that you pay less for your flies at Sportsmans than Cabelas or the local shops is because they are NOT the same quality of flies. For an example if you are looking for some BWO dries you might find 2 or 3 different patterns at sportsmans (poor quality, though it has gotten better over the years.) If you go into Fish Tech or Western Rivers you might find 15-20 different bwo dun patterns.
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Other companies like those out of Kenya, are not tied with the same materials and quality (btw, Umpqua was the standard that ALL the kenyan manufacturers compared there flies to even though they weren't ever the same). Believe me, I had many of them send me lots of samples. Dries are tied with indian hackle capes instead of genetic such as Whiting. Usually eagle claw hooks. Plastic beads painted gold or silver. Very few insect specific imitations (baetis, PMDs, Tricos, Green Drakes, Flavilineas, etc..). No CDC or micro fibbets on the flies. (just hackle tails). No bodies made of stripped quills or turkey biots. Half hitches instead of whip finish. Dries are ALWAYS hackled too large. Rabbit dubbing instead of synthetic superfine on small dries. Palmered flies lacking a counter wrap of wire. I could go on and on.
The reason that you pay less for your flies at Sportsmans than Cabelas or the local shops is because they are NOT the same quality of flies. For an example if you are looking for some BWO dries you might find 2 or 3 different patterns at sportsmans (poor quality, though it has gotten better over the years.) If you go into Fish Tech or Western Rivers you might find 15-20 different bwo dun patterns.
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