I have tied A LOT of flies this summer and could not be more appreciative of all of the purchases. I've completed some custom orders and sold a lot of flies in the online store but one order stands out. A friend of mine contacted me and asked me to complete couple of identical orders. He said that he was going out west to fish with some guides that he had fished with before and wanted to give them a special gift. I believe that his exact words were, "Tie up whatever you fish with and what works for you. I want to give them a little taste of the Midwest."
The idea of tying flies for guides, taking some Midwest out west, and being asked to play such a special part in my friend's experience felt pretty darn good. Before our conversation was over, I was already excited to start putting something together. My friend asked me to put each order in a fly box as well. At this point, I started to go trough my list of fly box options. That thinking lead me to wonder and the ask my friend, "How big of an order are we talking here?" My friend replied, "I don't know. Whatever $300 will get me."
$300 DOLLARS? MY FRIEND WANTED $300 DOLLARS WORTH OF FLIES?!?!
At this point, my head started swimming because I tend to sell about $300 dollars worth of flies over the course of 2-3 months most of the time! I then started to run through a series of obstacles that this order had just created. How many flies was that going to be? What flies would I include in the order? What kind of box was going to fit this order? How long was this going to take?
Eventually, I found a solution for each challenge and the order got done with a couple of days to spare in regards to my deadline. I was happy to have completed the biggest order and also receive the biggest single payday that I have ever received of my fly tying career. (I say career but it's more of a side hustle as I am not quitting my teaching career to become a commercial fly tyer). Most importantly, my friend was happy with what I had made and was excited to gift the flies to his guides.
As we started to part ways, I told him that I would love to take him fishing sometime after his trip out west. He liked that idea and asked me, "Do you fish all of these flies?" I said, "Yep. I fish every single one of them. I have also caught fish on every pattern that you see because I only sell flies that have worked for me!" His response was, "Well they look great. Can you tie another order up for me and I can get them from you after I get back from my fishing trip?" I told him that I could absolutely do that, and then ran home and hopped back on the fly tying bench!
If you find yourself in need of some flies, feel free to check out my Etsy store. If you need a custom order completed, feel free to email me! I would be happy to send some flies your way and be a part of your fly fishing journey!
Email: showmeflyguy@gmail.com
Online fly shop: https://theshowmeflyguy.etsy.com