Do Shadow sell to the public / consumers? |
Shadow Flies is a global wholesaler of flies only. We have distributors in many countries around the world. Please contact us for a distributor near you. |
Do Shadow have an online e-commerce website? |
Because we only sell wholesale, we do not have an e-commerce website. |
How many tyers do Shadow have? |
Shadow boasts 100 tyers with a combined experience of 1,500 years! |
Do Shadow use high quality materials? |
Shadow sources materials and hooks from around the globe. But a great fly can only be tied with the finest materials and hooks. Shadow sources the most excellent hackle from Whittings, Umpqua …….etc |
What hooks do Shadow use? |
All of our hooks are top brands. We use Ahrex, Fishing Matters (Partridge), Daiichi, VMC, Gamakatsu, Mustad amongst many other top-quality hooks. At any one time we have over 4,000,000 hooks! |
Delivery times? |
Delivery times depend on the pattern type and quantities. We can tie most quantities within 90 days. |
How much stock of materials and hooks does Shadow hold? |
Having been in business for 15 years, we have over $400,000 of materials and hooks on site. |
Where do Shadow source their materials? |
We purchase materials from the UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland, France, Japan and other countries. |
Are you flies tied by hand? |
Our 100 tyers hand tie every fly. Thailand is the globes leading country in hand crafts thus one of the reasons we tie our flies in Thailand. Our tyers have small and precise hands that affords them the ability to tie either a simple trout pattern or complex salmon pattern. |
What is the process of tying a fly? |
A fly goes through many stages of production. The process starts in our stock room. Our stock room collects all necessary hooks and materials and prepares them for the tyer. This is an exact job in that the tyers have to get the right amount of materials and hackle so they can tie the corresponding amount of flies. Angry tyers without the right materials and hooks. Some flies may require dyed materials. We have our own dying department that dyes the required materials. Our intention and design is to reproduce the same colour year in and year out. Meaning a fly with a certain yellow in 2010 needs to be the same yellow in 2023. Our clients demand consistency, and we deliver on that. It is a magical process to replicate colours. We also have a spray department for flies that need spraying. Once the tyer has tied the fly, next stage is glue. We can tie a great fly but if the glue process is not good then we have ruined the work of our dedicated tyers! Once the flies can have passed through glue the next process is Quality Control. Every single fly goes through QC without exception. Our flies are measured and adjusted so we can be sure all flies are consistent. Then the flies journey continues to our packing department. It is here that each fly is packed. This includes boxes of multiple flies for PostFly and Decathlon. Finally, the last stage is shipping. Our flies are meticulously prepared to be shipped to our clients. The perfect fly has many processes until it is in the hands of our clients! |
How many flies does Shadow tie? |
We are a small workshop versus our competitors who are factories. We only tie 198,000 flies a month. Our flies are curated and bespoke. |
How many flies does a tyer tie each month? |
The answer to this question is dependent on the pattern. A trout tyer can tie 350 dozen (4,200 a month) whilst a salmon tyer will tie 130 dozen (1,560 units a month). The trout tyer is tying very simple patterns. As many of our tyers have been tying for over 20 years, they have tied almost all salmon and trout patterns. |
How much tied stock does Shadow hold on site? |
At any given time, we hold $170,000 of tied flies in stock. This allows our clients to have a quick turn around by selecting what we have in stock. |
How many years have Shadow been tying flies? |
Shadow has been tying flies for 15 years. One of the oldest fly-tying workshops in the world. |
Why Thailand? |
Thailand is the worlds capital for handcrafted products. Thailand has been weaving silk for over 2,000 years. The Thai Government set up a program in 1992 to attract businesses to Thailand. The Thai Government was particularly looking for foreign companies who employed experienced handicraft Thai’s. Also, companies that imported and exported on a regular basis. This drove dozens of fly-tying companies to Thailand. By 2015 Thailand was tying 100,000 dozen flies a month. |