Where is a good place to buy decent quality flies?

[skeeter bite]

I'm new here, new to fly fishing for trout as well. I thought I'd start out buying my flies if I can locate a reliable source that sells a decent quality product. I may end up tying my own eventually but that's another skill I don't have at the moment, not to mention all the equipment and supplies.

I figured in this day of internet everything there must be a place to get pretty good flies and at the same time avoid the poor quality ones that I'd guess are also out there. So, if some of you have experience buying flies some place that you feel sells a good product I'd sure appreciate it if you'd share that info with me. Thanks...

 

[wildtrout2]

I have been getting most of my flies from The Fly Stop for a number of years now. They're pretty good quality and reasonably priced.

I neglected to mention, you'll receive your order by mail in about 3-4 days.

 

[skeeter bite]

Thank you.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Big Y Fly Company for me. Excellent selection, prices, quality, and service.

 

[JGR]

I buy flies from Big Y Fly Company too. Their flies are decent and priced so low that I'm losing motivation to tie my own.

 

[Clams]

Lively Legz Fly Fishing

Livelylegz is a fly shop that specializes in flies designed to catch more fish. We also carry other fly fishing needs that will add enjoyment and success.

livelylegz.com

Pennsylvania guys who make and sell really good stuff

 

[pcray1231]

I've gotten the Fly Stop before. Very good prices, flies are cheap and don't last, but the price is fantastic.

I ordered from Ryan (RisenFly) last year, no complaints. Decent flies at decent prices. They do online orders, simple and quick.

I will always rave about Fly Fishers Paradise in State College. Not cheap, but they are the best quality flies I've used, they last a long time. I go there for the stuff that takes a beating, like brookie flies, where you want them to last 30 or 40 fish before unravelling. Also LOVE their cut wing thorax ties. They are also very good with online orders.

 

[jeffroey]

Big Y for me as well. They ship fast, never get the order wrong, discount (budget) flies are right up my alley, and they have a rewards program that gives you cash back after you order a bunch.

Along with Big Y, I stumbled across a local tyer on EBay, ordered a few things from them, and was really impressed by the quality. Strike Fly Company .com in Lancaster, PA. Not nearly the selection as Big Y (but really, who CAN compete with their selection?) but worth giving strikeflycompany a look.

 

[troutbert]

Flyfishers Paradise, a fly shop in State College, PA.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I will always rave about Fly Fishers Paradise in State College.....Also LOVE their cut wing thorax ties.

+1

Support local shops when you can. We all think ourselves clever for finding deals online (and we are) until our local shop goes out of business. When you buy a handful of flies at a local fly shop, and ask a few questions, you will get far more info/value than the flies you purchased.

 

[sandflyx]

North Central pa fly shops.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I buy a lot of stuff off Facebook, Fly Fishing; Buy, Sell, Trade. Tons of highly skilled folks on their willing to whip you up a custom batch of whatever you need. I find the fact that I can contact the seller personally makes it much easier to go complete the transaction and you can add in details about the specific flies you may otherwise not be able to do with a larger online seller.

I'll drop a few names and add some details about these sellers;
Spas Aleksov (Bulgarian tier). Does excellent nymphs that cost $1.25 per unit. Very affordable and you get a nice tight tie that won't fall apart on you. He uses quality barbless high carbon jig hooks and tungsten beads, often implementing over-sized beads to increase the sink rate massively. If you nymph the Tully during periods of high water his N54 (he goes by model number) does very well at getting through that fast green water and keeping you on the bottom. He offers a few different count boxes that start at a 77 count box.

Matt Peck. A local PA tier that ties good flies. He uses more old school materials such as brass beads and barbed hooks, but buy fishing PA he knows what flies will most likely be implemented. I like him for PT's worms, eggs, and greenie weenies. He also does dries and one of his sulfur patterns (size 18) took a gorgeous 18 inch brown at my last outing at the Little Lehigh. It was the only fish caught that day. I usually like to get my "gaudy" stuff from him.

Mike Towers. A Canadian steelheader. He ties flies for chrome, so cold and fast water. His flies, at least the ones I got were all 5.5mm tungsten beads, so not really applicable to the waters in SEPA unless they water levels go way up. I will say these flies do sink quite rapidly (as expected) and put a deep bend in the rod when casting. I will be taking his flies with me when I head up to Erie for steelhead in Nov and probably will use them the majority of the time. They cost close to $2 a piece but have excellent build quality. I really like the color coordinated beads on the eggs he does.

 

[Mrangler]

Precision fly shop, mt. Holly, Lancaster. They advertise on this forum. Great shop, excellent flies for the money.

 

[BruceC2C]

1. Local Fly Shops
2. Orvis
3. Fulling Mill
4. Sierra ( they sell Umpqua , MFC & others)

 

[DaveKile]

Precision fly shop, mt. Holly, Lancaster. They advertise on this forum. Great shop, excellent flies for the money.

I'm with @Mrangler please try out our sponsor on the site Precision Fly Shop. They have several locations in the region and an online shop. I have called in for flies to have them sent to me. It worked out great.

10% off if you use the code PAFLYFISH10 at https://www.precisionflyandtackle.com/fly-shop/

Plus you are then supporting Paflyfish as well.

 

[TimMurphy]

Ligas Discount Flies Boulder Colorado.

 

[BruceC2C]

Precision fly shop, mt. Holly, Lancaster. They advertise on this forum. Great shop, excellent flies for the money.

Ownership & staff at Precision is superb, as well

 

[falcon]

Good to know about the discount. I have used Precision before. Good shop.

 

[1fish]

I would buy nymphs and streamers from the discount fly shops, but for your dries, I would look for better quality flies from fly shops, or local tyers.

Not that it would be of help to you, but in western Montana there is a local sporting goods chain store called Bob Wards, that sells decent quality flies at $10/dozen.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Some additions I forgot to add in from my post (#12) in this thread. These are also from Facebook market place found through the "Fly Fishing; Buy, Sell, Trade" site.

Andrew Surtees. Best bargain in the lot for sure. I've bought flies off of him at around 37 cents a piece. The flies aren't the best quality but I have had no issues with them falling apart or having the hooks break. He frequently posts boxes of 200+ flies. He sells all nymphs, most are tied on brass beads and all of them are barbed. I have used his "Pyramid Lakes" box to catch a lot of bluegill.

Ethan Weitz. A Colorado native custom tier. The exact opposite of the seller mentioned above in terms of his flies. Very high quality and pricey, some flies come out to $2.50 a piece. They are gorgeous flies, some of the most artistic flies I have bought. I think with this seller dry flies are his specialty, and if you get a dry fly pack from him it would be great for the small streams in PA where a dry/dropper is typically employed. All of his flies are extremely well crafted and use high quality components. If money is no option, Ethan is your guy.