Craft store savings vs fly shop quality

[Brian Brown75 0]

I get my googly eyes and my ostrich herl at the craft store

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Got to admit I shop the craft stores for items the fly shop(s) don't carry. Plus I am lucky for now in that I have a Hobby Lobby, Micheal's and Jo Anne fabrics all within walking distance! On the other hand... I always support my local fly shop.

 

Steelie

[kbarton 0]

I don't agree at all. Craft store feathers are largely limited to a couple of bright colored boa's - most lack any selection, and they are second quality feathers.

 

Consider that the fly tying industry is mighty small - and if you add up most of the sales it probably doesn't equal the gross of a Michael's or Joann's ... As such, few items are made for the fly tying industry per se - most are made for other industries - and someone found a dual usage.

 

All of the yarns and synthetic furs are 1/10 the price of a fly shop - whose tiny 3 yard cards aren't worth the money. Antron, Polypropylene, Z-lon, and all the pearlescent and iridescent materials are from other hobbies or industries, and can be purchased in larger quantities and cheaper prices elsewhere.

 

Rabbits aren't slaughtered for fly tiers, they're killed for rabbit meat - and Hareline buys rabbit skins from the same supplier the glove makers use - nothing is special about the fur.

 

I do believe in supporting the local shop - and buy my genetic chicken necks (which are grown for fly tiers) from them - but skip buying copper wire, floss, yarn, rabbit fur, mohair, rubberlegs, bead chain, and animal fur - as I can buy from better sources, get a larger selection, and pay less to boot.

 

These are tough economic times - and I'll pocket the difference and pay my mortgage instead.

 

When you find the "source" for a material, like Ice Dub, you begin to think differently, considering you can buy a pound for $45, and they sell 1/8 ounce for $3.00.

 

I'm with the craft stores - I'll support the fly shop with the large dollar items like rods, lines, and reels - but just because it came from a shop doesn't mean it's better quality - nor does it mean it's free of moth eggs. Considering the "harsh" chemicals I use to quarantine ALL NEW PURCHASES - I don't care what the feathers smell like when removed from the bag, they'll smell a lot worse after they've be nuked...

 

[flyline64 0]

I agree with the initial post here--craft store feathers are generally not of high quality.

 

However, plenty in craft stores, particularly synthetics, are good quality (often identical to what fly shops sell) in large quantities at low prices.

 

One example: EZ Shape Sparkle body, which sells for $4 a bottle in fly shops, appears to be nothing more than Polymark brand fabric paint with sparkle, which sells for about 79 cents in craft stores. If you want to pay 400% more for the same thing, you certainly can. I won't.

 

(The EZ Shape comes in more colors with sparkle than the Polymark. There are many more "flat" Polymark colors, without sparkle.)

 

Here's a website selling 8 of the Polymark sparkle colors (at .99 per bottle)

 

polymark sparkle

[JSzymczyk 0]

I agree for the most part with what's already been said. There's not a decent Fly Shop within a day's drive of me, so my local shop is J.Stockard. They have honest prices and the best customer service I've ever encountered in 30 years of buying fly stuff.

 

I've seen some of the IDENTICAL materials in fly shops as what I've seen in craft stores, but for 5 or 6 times the price. Sheet foam is the obvious one. Quite often you can score good shades of olives, tans, browns, etc for almost nothing compared to fly shop foam. The brighter, goofier colors also sometimes work great.

 

Hackle is a no-brainer. You're not going to get dry-fly or even decent wet fly hackle from Hobby-Lobby.

 

 

[Harold Ray 0]

I stick by what I have said about flyshops. I love them, whenever I get to visit one and anytime I'm online. I don't love craft shops. I have looked through a few, and possibly it me, but I don't find the things I want there. Yes, I've found the paint; a craft shop is where I buy mine, but when it comes to other things I want, I come up greatly wanting. In a good flyshop, I generally find what I want in the colors I desire and at prices I can accept. All of us are different; I'll keep going to the flyshops, and you all go on the craft stores. We'll all get what we want.

 

Ray

[DHise 0]

 

One feather I will buy at craft stores, primarily because I can't find them in fly shops, are exotic Pheasant Tail feathers. I've never seen a fly shop that carried Lady Amherst or Golden Pheasant tail feathers, but most craft stores with a fake-flower department will have these. I like the golden pheasant for a more mottled PT, and the Lady Amherst comes died blood red for a killer "blood midge" PT.

 

True for most shops. Although, I stock lady amherst and golden pheasant tails (and sometimes full skins). I like the craft stores 'cause there are sometimes good looking women walking around. Then, I run into one of you guys and.... :ripped:

 

 

[smalltownfisherman 0]

I agree with everyone that says fly shops have much better materials, because I for one have learned to NEVER buy marabou from craft stores.

 

But I do buy ostrich herl and craft foam from craft stores.

[fishingfly 0]

I used to own a shop as a sideline from my regular profession and after retiring. I had to get rid of it because it consumed so much time that fishing time was almost non-existent. I have lots of friends that are shop owners or employees and I can tell you its almost a community service to continue in this economy to operate a shop. Every sale is vital, so when you buy elsewhere, remember that you are putting that shop owner one more step closer to just saying "why bother". Its nice to say that you spend $500 to buy the "important" stuff there and "only" a $100 or so at craft stores or through the mail order houses to save a few dollars on other items. I agree with this practice on some obvious items like beads and foam. We never carried these in the store because it wasn't worth it, unless we had a specialized bead or foam. The craft fur in the Craft stores could never match the stuff we got from our suppliers. It was just plain anemic and the colors were bizarre (at least for fresh water fish). We used to have two customers who would come into our store and try to send people off to these other sources to make their purchases. One used to even haunt tying expos and clean up the floors and tables afterwords for abandonded material bits and fallen hooks. He tied flies from all of these items and stored them in Altoid boxes that friends saved for him. As he became more accomplished he started to see the value in maybe spending a little money on quality and it showed in the output of his fly quality. Of course, when I closed the shop ( which was mostly for covenience, and not economy, although the dollar per hour return was going down even though sales were up) people showed up that I hadn't seen for years or don't remember seeing at all and lamented how sad it was to see us close and how bad it was going to be not to have a shop around. The local big box sporting goods store was closing down the last month of our close out and they were never the real cause for any difficulty. So I am glad to see people here see the value in supporting the local fly shop, providing of course that you recieve professional, helpful, and valued service.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

my point exactly...sometimes you have to "pay a little more" to keep the heritage alive...nicely put.

[Toxic 0]

These hard times are not only for the fly shop, I look else where to save money. I don't want anybody to go out of business but tying flies is a want not a need.

[Jeremism30 0]

I buy only a few selective at a craft store, and I would still buy them there. Foam and small glass beads (seeds) are two things. The only feathers I would buy would be a non-dyed turkey feather. That's about the only feathers worth buying there.

[flymaker1 0]

First off let me say that I am guilty, yep I've done it, bought tying materials at a craft store. Why? Did I want o save money? Sure, did I need or want the item(s) I bought? Yep. The thing you really have ask yourself is this, do you really need that super-mega pack of foam in 30 different colors? You know the one it measures 12x18, costs around $8.00, are you going to use all that stuff at once? I also think about our local shop, all be it not a very well stocked one. If there is something you want or need, they can get it for you. I have since started rethinking my attitude toward craft stores, I do alot of window shopping, then I support my local shop or another that I have been to.

[Futzer 0]

DHise wrote......True for most shops. Although, I stock lady amherst and golden pheasant tails (and sometimes full skins). I like the craft stores 'cause there are sometimes good looking women walking around. Then, I run into one of you guys and....

 

 

Dave, please don't get asked to leave the local Joann's for stalking the hotties again. J/King

 

Cheers, Jeff

[Arkansas Mike 0]

I'd rather avoid the fuss (and the people) and order my materials on-line. However, my 67 year-old Mom is always picking me up "tying stuff" at a second-hand store which she volunteers. Most of it is useless (don't tell her I said that), but she has, on occasion, found me some useful items. Just last week she ran across a huge bundle of a March Brownish colored raffia. I doubt if J. Stockard minds. They get plenty of my $.