I read this man's blog everyday, and today I found something I'd like to share with you.
What do you think?
The Cost of A Fly
By James Marsh
I received a very interesting comment from a Perfect Fly customer yesterday, that I
first completely misunderstood. The customer was commenting that when anglers
think about the price they are paying for flies, they should think in terms of how
many fish the particular fly caught, or the cost of flies per fish caught. I passed
that off as if he was referring to the durability of the fly, or how many times the same
fly would catch a trout without it tearing up.
I also thought he didn't have much of a clue about how to go about selecting flies. I
falsely assumed he was just another angler that was relying strictly on luck, or he
wouldn't have made the comment he made. After all, the number of fish caught by
any one of our Perfect Flies would depend on how well he matched the most
available food that the trout had to eat at the particular time he was fishing, not the
durability of a particular fly he just happened to try at any given point that worked.
Our flies are specific imitations of insects, not generic flies that are designed to try
to imitate several different insects. I wasn't about to try to get off into that subject
with him because I though that may be a little over his head. After all, he was being
very nice and trying to compliment the flies he had previously purchased from us. I
couldn't very well insult him by saying that I was glad he caught some fish but it was
obvious he didn't know what he was doing.
I was still thinking he was referring to the durability of the flies. I also know that some
of our flies aren't the most durable flies in the World. Some are more durable than
others but although they all are durable enough, none of them are designed with
that as the top priority. The first and foremost priority is that they imitate
insects or other trout food they are intended to imitate well enough to
catch the fish feeding on that food.
I have always thought that most anglers who spend hundreds of dollars on fly rods,
lines, reels and other gear, and maybe even hundreds or more on travel, etc.,
wasn't the ones that tried to save a few cents on the cost of a fly. Most anglers are
more concerned about how effective the fly is in catching trout than how many they
can catch on the same fly. I would think a fly that failed to catch a trout, but that last
all day without tearing up, couldn't possibly be considered a good fly.
Although this was running through my mind, I wasn't about to insult a customer who
was trying to compliment our flies. However, I must not be very good at hiding my
true feelings. Suddenly, it dawned on the gentlemen that I was misunderstanding
what he was trying to point out. He explained he wasn't referring to the durability of
the flies at all. He stated they were durable enough to last reasonably well enough
but that he was referring to the fact that most anglers don't consider the price they
pay for flies in terms of how much they cost as a whole per fish caught.
He explained that most angler's fly boxes are full of flies that have never caught a
single trout. He continued pointing out that some of the flies in their boxes are never
even used. He mentioned that they are usually just selected to be the lucky fly; the
one that worked last year or yesterday; the one in the most recent fly fishing
magazine; the one the fly shop said was hot; or the one an angler thought was a
very good looking fly.
He pointed out that if a fly cost $5.00 and caught ten trout (50 cents per trout), it
cost less per trout caught than a fly that cost $1.00 and caught one trout ($1.00 per
trout). He simply meant that he rather pay a higher price for the flies (meaning in
our case from $1.95 to $2.25 per fly) for flies that are very effective in catching
trout, than to pay $.50 per fly for flies that weren't that effective in catching trout. He
continued by saying that anyone was better off paying $5.00 each for a couple of
flies ($10.00) that ended up catching ten trout than a $1.00 each for ten flies
($10.00) that ended up catching a couple of trout.
In other words, he was strictly complimenting the effectiveness of our Perfect Flies. I
guess I need to keep from assuming so much and listen to what my customers have
to say more carefully. I've really never though about the cost of flies in that same
manner. Have you?
What do you think?
The Cost of A Fly
By James Marsh
I received a very interesting comment from a Perfect Fly customer yesterday, that I
first completely misunderstood. The customer was commenting that when anglers
think about the price they are paying for flies, they should think in terms of how
many fish the particular fly caught, or the cost of flies per fish caught. I passed
that off as if he was referring to the durability of the fly, or how many times the same
fly would catch a trout without it tearing up.
I also thought he didn't have much of a clue about how to go about selecting flies. I
falsely assumed he was just another angler that was relying strictly on luck, or he
wouldn't have made the comment he made. After all, the number of fish caught by
any one of our Perfect Flies would depend on how well he matched the most
available food that the trout had to eat at the particular time he was fishing, not the
durability of a particular fly he just happened to try at any given point that worked.
Our flies are specific imitations of insects, not generic flies that are designed to try
to imitate several different insects. I wasn't about to try to get off into that subject
with him because I though that may be a little over his head. After all, he was being
very nice and trying to compliment the flies he had previously purchased from us. I
couldn't very well insult him by saying that I was glad he caught some fish but it was
obvious he didn't know what he was doing.
I was still thinking he was referring to the durability of the flies. I also know that some
of our flies aren't the most durable flies in the World. Some are more durable than
others but although they all are durable enough, none of them are designed with
that as the top priority. The first and foremost priority is that they imitate
insects or other trout food they are intended to imitate well enough to
catch the fish feeding on that food.
I have always thought that most anglers who spend hundreds of dollars on fly rods,
lines, reels and other gear, and maybe even hundreds or more on travel, etc.,
wasn't the ones that tried to save a few cents on the cost of a fly. Most anglers are
more concerned about how effective the fly is in catching trout than how many they
can catch on the same fly. I would think a fly that failed to catch a trout, but that last
all day without tearing up, couldn't possibly be considered a good fly.
Although this was running through my mind, I wasn't about to insult a customer who
was trying to compliment our flies. However, I must not be very good at hiding my
true feelings. Suddenly, it dawned on the gentlemen that I was misunderstanding
what he was trying to point out. He explained he wasn't referring to the durability of
the flies at all. He stated they were durable enough to last reasonably well enough
but that he was referring to the fact that most anglers don't consider the price they
pay for flies in terms of how much they cost as a whole per fish caught.
He explained that most angler's fly boxes are full of flies that have never caught a
single trout. He continued pointing out that some of the flies in their boxes are never
even used. He mentioned that they are usually just selected to be the lucky fly; the
one that worked last year or yesterday; the one in the most recent fly fishing
magazine; the one the fly shop said was hot; or the one an angler thought was a
very good looking fly.
He pointed out that if a fly cost $5.00 and caught ten trout (50 cents per trout), it
cost less per trout caught than a fly that cost $1.00 and caught one trout ($1.00 per
trout). He simply meant that he rather pay a higher price for the flies (meaning in
our case from $1.95 to $2.25 per fly) for flies that are very effective in catching
trout, than to pay $.50 per fly for flies that weren't that effective in catching trout. He
continued by saying that anyone was better off paying $5.00 each for a couple of
flies ($10.00) that ended up catching ten trout than a $1.00 each for ten flies
($10.00) that ended up catching a couple of trout.
In other words, he was strictly complimenting the effectiveness of our Perfect Flies. I
guess I need to keep from assuming so much and listen to what my customers have
to say more carefully. I've really never though about the cost of flies in that same
manner. Have you?