It’s like turning on the living room light to find your dog frozen into immobility as he rearranges that warm dent on your sofa cushion. It’s that same shocked expression that’ll bring a smile to your face as you kick his butt off the soft and fluffy …
There’ll be shock and amazement aplenty when all those fly tiers realize the folks pimping Whiting saddle hackle to women for hair extensions is their local fly shop.
Naturally, Whiting promised their first priority will always be fly tiers and fly shops – and the faddish teenyboppers that wanna-look-like-Miley-Cyrus can all go without (meaning they can lightfinger Poppa’s stash) .
So the fly shops pump their fist along with their customers, as it’s a boy’s life and “no gurls allowed …” – even though them counter-men adore all that taught flesh giggling their way through the upstairs dander.
Now that their supply is assured by Whiting, they’re onto eBay by the bucketload, selling dyed Grizzly hair extensions by the fistful. The Whiting shipment received and hustled into the back room where it’s dismembered into little 5 feather packets and sold for $10 – $15 each on ebay…
… giggle …
…while you mean old men have to do without.
What’s not so smart is most of them are selling under the shop account, and was I the Whiting Hackle Company I might want to be bring a couple of those vendors up short, as I have enough troubles keeping the fly tying market in feathers without some sharp SOB hoarding all the good saddles in the back room – claiming them damn girls bought it all ..
Just click the Nomad Anglers picture above to see what they’re telling their customers …
The only reason I’m not completely incensed is because the selfsame idea crossed both our temporal lobe about five minutes ago, and you’re suddenly wishing you’d paid more attention to my articles on dyeing.
… and for those shops poised to unload onto the marketplace, don’t use words like “Cree” or “Furnace” to describe your hackle, hair dressers don’t use words like that, dummy.
Nor is it surprising that I’d find Orvis selling hair extensions to the gals. The seller above appears to be the Traverse City, Michigan Orvis store, called “Streamside Orvis.”
With Opening Day just over a month away, I’d accuse these shops of really poor timing at the minimum. Nothing like a shortage of hackle just when the customer base seeks it most.
Knob…old son, when are you gonna figure out that all that knowledge and experience that you have gained over the years doesn’t pay Metz Necks bills. You spent your wad, now sexy, slinky is gonna spend hers.
Gurls wearing cdc yet? No? Pffff….
I’m a no-hackle guy myself. Switched to cdc years ago.
sounds like a good time to unload all of my grizzly saddles that have been collecting dust….
Good thing Del’s Merkin (look it up on Wikipedia) uses wool, which is widely available.
I guess you can’t blame a guy for trying to make a buck, but I can’t help but be really pissed about this. I never liked that orvis shop that you mentioned. I always thought they treated me like I was a warmwater heathan. I guess I have a reason now to not go into their shop. Northern Angler is a better shop anyways.
If I was a regular at the shop and had been told all the Coachman brown had vanished with the last batch of gals, I’d be livid.
Telling the customers how you defended the last bronze blue dun saddle with your life, but failed under a hail of green apple bubble gum – is a breach of trust.
I am compiling a list of known flyshop that are selling their customer down the drain.
I’m mostly a streamer guy so I don’t use the long hackles that often. The occasional bugger and maybe a hackle wing feather or two on occasion. If those little skanks start putting schlappen on their heads I will have to take up a new pastime that will likely end up with me in the slammer. “Hey! Anyone wanna go to he Justin Beiber show tonight and pluck tying materials outta teenage girls hair? Probably cheaper than the cost of admission in the long run. Gonna be lots of hot schlappen there.” Not good.
Well, I guess its time to get out the old type writer, do some investigative reporting, and send some flame mail.
Heathens. Selling out the customer base for a quick buck. I know times are tough but really? Maybe they should’ve thought about how owning a fly shop wasn’t gonna be financially easy before hand.
I’ve switched to tying mostly comparaduns and sparkle duns now.
Saving my capes and necks as a retirement nest egg. I hope this fashion trend continues so that I can retire early!
Keith, I’m not sure I’m with you on this one. Can you blame shops for taking advantage of a new market? I could understand being upset with Whiting if they were selling their hackle behind the backs of shops (after making the commitment they did), but the shops made no such statement.
Now you know how that little old lady feels when she goes to the craft store shortly after you were there and all of the good yarn has been wiped out…
No, I cannot blame the shops, unless they say one thing to their customers at the counter, and then unload the goods on ebay for 10X the price.
… and yes, I do believe there is more to commerce and the fishermen-shop relationship that has nothing to do with the %$#&% dollar.
Us fishermen see it that way when we SUPPORT THE LOCAL SHOP EVEN THOUGH THE ITEM IS CHEAPER ON THE INTERNET, so I would expect my shop to treat me with as much courtesy.
If they don’t – well, it’s cheaper on the Internet anyways.
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Hey guy’s, take a deep breath and chill out. It all boils down to eggs. There is a new demand for the feathers for sure. You can get mad or use something else. These shop owners that were ahead of the curve like the Nomands are the smart ones. They are in business to make money first! They didn’t create the demand. Now back to the eggs. In 18 months there will be so many feathers around that you will have all you want for alot less than you are paying today. It takes about 18 months for the Rosters to get to Whiting quality. If you are using more than 1 saddle a year then you a selling your flies or you suck at casting? So you are selling some? You are making a profit? Get off the backs of the fly shops and chill out. They’l be back soon.
Before you go bashing shops that are taking advantage of supply and demand economics I think you need to get some facts straight.
Call any fly shop in the country right now and try to find a saddle.
Good luck… The girls already bought them in bulk at regulary retail prices months ago!
If you want a Hot Pink Saddle let me know I have been selling fly tying stuff for over 12 years and have never been asked for this color or any of the other colors girls have used in hair but grizzly!
Act like Whiting farms is a saint….
They sold most of there stock to the fashion industry at retail prices direct! Keough also has had huge orders from the fashion industry.
ECON 101 supply demand
There is still plenty of pro, silver, gold and platinum capes available!
Let me know bow many you’d like to order before you decide to bash small businesses like Streamside Orvis and Nomad Anglers!
I bashed the shop because their blog blamed the shortage on little girls, and what the staff was actually doing was blowing the hackle out on ebay at 10 times the price.
We’re not talking Econ 101, we’re lying to our customers – there is a big goddamn difference.
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