Prices Can Keep Teens From Fishing

You don’t hear the words “sticker shock” much any more. The phrase was coined when automakers added hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to the prices of their new cars every year. Price stickers shocked would-be buyers.

Maybe the constant increases eventually numbed new-car buyers.

To fishers, the words “sticker shock” are real. They’re amazed to see the prices of equipment they need. The prices not only are high for ordinary working stiffs; they’re in the ozone for kids just starting to fish.

This is the time of year when the big mail order companies, such as Cabela’s, L.L. Bean, Orvis and Bass Pro Shops, contribute to mail carriers’ back problems by mailing millions of new catalogs. So far, I’ve received more than 20, and that’s only the beginning.

It’s also the time of year when fly fishers sit down at their tying vises and replenish their depleted stocks. When I made a list of what materials I needed, I visited a couple of fly shops and then consulted several catalogs.

Chironomid pupa and larva bead head patterns are among the first patterns that I’ll tie. To my surprise, the fly shops and the catalogs had boosted the price of tungsten beads by at least 25 percent. The beads now cost 25 cents each, compared to a little less than 20 cents a year ago.

Most retailers sell packages of tungsten beads for about $5, but there are only 20 in a package. Last year $5 could get a fly tier 25 beads.

So why not tie all my patterns with brass beads, which are much cheaper? Tungsten is nearly as heavy as lead; furthermore, a tungsten bead is smaller in diameter for its weight than a brass bead. A pattern tied with a tungsten bead sinks considerably faster than one tied with a brass bead and it stays near the bottom, a big advantage. In fact, by using tungsten bead patterns, I increased my catches dramatically last year.

A No. 16 pupa pattern tied with a -inch tungsten bead will sink twice as fast as a pattern tied with an eighth-inch brass bead. Furthermore, the size of the tungsten bead will be in proportion to the size of the pupa.

As all fly tiers know, top grade hooks are expensive. The best chemically or laser-sharpened hooks sell for about 25 cents each. The steel is tempered, strengthening the hooks so they won’t break.

I could use hooks that were standard a few years ago. I’ve still got more than 20,000 in the room where I tie flies. However, I’ve got to sharpen each one before tying a fly and the hooks are brittle. Or I could buy fly patterns at a store that imports flies from China. Some are well tied, but a buyer must do a lot of sorting for the best tied patterns. The problem with Chinese hooks is that they’re even more brittle than those imported from Norway a few years ago. I wouldn’t trust an Adams tied on a No. 14 hook. A 12-inch rainbow might break it.

Incidentally, Mustad of Norway, once the major hook importer to the United States, had to upgrade its hooks to meet the competition of the Japanese manufacturers, who, nearly all fly tiers agree, make the best hooks in the world. Mustad still produces the same kind of hooks it made 50 years ago, but it also produces high quality chemically sharpened hooks at prices slightly lower than the Japanese hooks.

With tungsten beads and high quality hooks costing about 25 cents each, a tier starts with an investment of 50 cents per fly pattern. Add to that the cost of fly tying material, some of which is much more expensive than it was a few years ago. Fortunately, tiers who are hunters or who have friends who are hunters can get a lot of tying material free.

When I started tying flies, I figured each cost about 5 cents. Anyone who ties flies today with top grade hooks and materials invests 30 to 60 cents in a pattern.

It’s tough for a young person to become a fly fisher today, particularly if he or she wants good quality equipment, such as a quality graphite rod, fairly good fly reel, fly line, waders, fly fishing vest and fly patterns.

Catalogs list top-of-the-line graphite rods at $450 to $600, adequate fly reels for $50 to $75 and top reels at $250, and a fly line at $40 to $70.

Fortunately for spin and bait fishers, there are still plenty of reasonably priced rods and reels available for a young angler to get started. Some of the rods and reels are junk, but much of it is surprisingly good, especially the rods.

Top quality spinning and bait casting reels are as expensive as the top quality fly reels. For example, top-of-the-line spinning reels of one company are priced at $460 to $660; its best casting reels are $330 to $360.

Although plastics are relatively cheap, plugs are expensive, usually priced at $3 to more than $6 each.

I’ll tie 12 to 15 dozen flies this winter. My investment will be at least $100. I’m lucky. I’ve got the equipment to tie flies. But what about the teenagers trying to become fly tiers and fly fishers?