I show up at my local fly shop the day before I’m supposed to go on my fly fishing trip and ask anyone who looks like they work there, “I’m goin’ fishin’ on the Catchemall river!  What flies do you recommend?”

A sales associate turns around and for a split second, there’s an eerily familiar sparkle in his eye.  Similar to the kind you see when a used-car salesman is about to close the sale.  “OH! The Catchemall river?  Well, you’ll need some of these baby-blue, semi-transparent, triple tungsten beadhead, rhino nymphs with rainbow tinsel in size 16, 18 and 20!  I tied ‘em myself.  They’re a real hum dinger! Caught several twenty-three inchers on that river on the first drift the other day!”

“Well, I’ll take nine of those please, three of each size”, I proclaim rather confidently without even asking the price.

“Great!  Will that be all for you?”, he asks.

“Yup!”, I reply with a healthy smile.

“That’ll be thrity-eight ninety-seven.”

*GULP*….My smile slowly turns into a frown.   I don’t say a word.  I’m both shocked at how much I’m going to spend for nine flies that I’ll probably loose in the first hour of fishing and I’m too darn proud turn away the flies at the counter ‘cuz I don’t want to inconvenience the gentlemen that sold ‘em to me.

Sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong.  I think we should do everything we can to support our local fly fishing stores but I think you can save a few bucks by purchasing some of the basics elsewhere.  And spend the real money on that bamboo fly fishing rod that you’ve been drooling over.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into the Brea Sport’s Chalet and found a small but effective selection of wet and dry flies, prepackaged and ready to go.  They’re made by Pacific Fly Group and they averaged about $1.00 – $1.50 each.  I bought two 10-packs of Assorted Color – Crystal Zebra Nymphs for $10 each.  20 flys for $20 bucks. And no used-car salesmen.   Now you’re talking.

So where do you pick up flies on a budget? Post it in the comments below!

Tight Lines!

~BB

Tags: 1.00, budget, budget minded, deal, dry flies, dry fly, fishing, flies, Fly, Fly Tying, fly's, fun, funny, Nymphs, pacific coast, Places to fish, Stores, trout, trout bum, Wild Trout