I mean, are fly fishing’s manufacturers so moribund that they’d fade in comparison to (a perceived) younger bunch of companies in Outdoor Retailer? And if that’s the secret dark fear festering at the heart of all this, isn’t it maybe a signal for some of fly fishing’s companies to, you know, get on the ball?

The fly fishing industry is not a big one and resources aren’t exactly abundant, but when observed through the lens of a marketing professional with 23+ years of experience, it appears that – in many cases – the industry outgrew itself in the 90s and early 2000s, and is now facing competitive pressures that many of its companies aren’t quite capable of facing.

We’ll see.

Thanks again for weighing in.

Megan: Plus, I dig guys in fly fish gear. Come on over. There’s a much better chick to guy ratio at our gig.

In addition to being an outdoor babe, Megan’s a real closer too.

What really, are the cons to joining us at the Salt Palace in August? You could loose your identity? How is that possible? I’m pretty sure that waders and felt-soled boots aren’t for mountaineering. Not to mention you would probably be grouped in the same area. Plus, I dig guys in fly fish gear. Come on over. There’s a much better chick to guy ratio at our gig.

However, I just wonder why people agonize over the sport ‘dying’.
People (mostly male?) have always liked fishing, and always will. Fly fishing, by it’s very nature, will probably only ever be a small segment, and like everything, will always fluctuate.
Why is that a problem? Why the need for ‘growth’?

Yes, I understand it (should) keep prices lower and encourages innovation (always a wonderful thing) but…from a completely selfish point of view, do I want to see more people on rivers and lakes who are there only because some rad new advert and gear suggest they do so?
Not really.

I prefer people, especially the young, to do things because their heart tells them so, not because they got suckered into even more consumerism by advertising.

My mate’s kids – a girl aged 15, and a young boy aged 5, just LOVE going fishing. They like being with dad, being outdoors, and the thrill of catching the fish. If they continue with it, then fine, but if not…that’s fine as well.

There are plenty of young people entering, and enjoying the sport – just check out a few of the websites, but maybe this sport will always be one that has an older membership that others. If so, is that a problem?

Or, maybe it’s just me – I really like fly fishing, it’s one of the reasons I am buying a place in Tasmania or New Zealand (I’m an Aussie), but I don’t breathe it…it’s just fishing.

PS. my comment about ‘fighting a war’ was a knee-jerk thing. I just don’t like comparing business or sport to war, and understand it wasn’t meant that way. It’s a personal thing.

Enter Nevada Bob’s, Las Vegas Discount and other off-course retailers. When manufacturers opened “off-course” sales in search of higher volumes, on-course pro shops (all really just small retailers) were faced with a dilemma much like we are seeing today in fly fishing. This was before the internet, but the effects were the same. Find a way to compete with large retailers and their larger buying power and tolerance for lower margins, OR go out of business. Frankly, many did NOT make the adjustment and went out of business or simply dropped retail all together – leveraging the unique “value-add” that customers were willing to pay for. In this case, their expertise through lessons and the convenience of purchasing balls, gloves and other last minute accessories at the shop that their customers needed to engage in the activity. (can’t help but think leader, tippet, clippers, flies and souvenir hats). I think the comparison is clear for fly fishing. Adapt to the reality or perish.

The effect on the golf industry at that time was expansion – of participants from a different demographic (age and income level) and of sales volume from these new entrants. This demand was fulfilled through a different mix of retail channels which evolved to meet the preferences of these customers – primarily price, broad selection and wide geographic availability (convenience).

I can tell you that pro shops were basically pissed at manufacturers during this transition. Tough decisions were made by the manufacturers, breaking with years of “tradition”. 30 year 50-60 something reps with cushy territories and little requirements to expand the business were replaced by young, hungry, energetic reps with a sales quota. New people enjoyed the game in large numbers and caught the “equipment” bug – replacing drivers and putters with reckless abandon trying to shave a few more strokes off their handicap. And most telling – you were just as likely to see a young guy in a tank top wearing a camouflage truckers cap carrying a 16 oz. Budweiser tallboy shooting 115 as you were a nattily clad 50 year old nipping on Famous Grouse from a hip flask breaking 80. The older dude already had all his stuff, the young guy was still clamoring for more.

What’s the point? The point is that the healing elixir is expansion. With expansion comes growth. For fly fishing this may mean breaking the mold to accommodate new entrants a passing of the torch to the younger demographic (or at least younger in heart and mind) who are already showing their desire to wrest control and lead innovation (note the Drake, Buster, Moldy Chum and many others).

Just as golf re-invented itself in the broader context of sports, perhaps it high time that fly fishing do the same. The younger vanguard of fly fishing is just as likely to backpack to a remote cuttthroat lake, hop on their mountain bike to access steelhead on the “D” or snowboard in the AM and catch a midge hatch in the afternoon so why not capitalize on the cross-over potential of this growth segment by joining with the outdoor industry show?

Ignoring what seems apparent from history for the sake of arrogance just may well leave fly fishing fighting a war on two fronts without enough resources to win either.

Suburban Aggie

anglerscovey: Hey all you armchair fly junkies.
DO THE MATH
FFR = 150 to 200 companies
OR has space for 27 companies

I’ll do the math – you do your reading; Kenji said 27 paddlesports companies left OR, not that there were only 27 spaces left.

I think it’s a little difficult to equate exposing the sport to all sorts of other outdoor dealers and outdoor junkies with “folding our cards.” It’s not hard to argue that kind of insular attitude has left fly fishing the Galapagos Island of outdoor sports; rich & interesting, but only within our own little walled kingdom.

The bigger question is how do you grow the sport and keep our identity, not how do we fold our cards and count our losses.
anglerscovey

This is not meant as an argument, but I wonder why people are always going on about their sport ‘growing’.
You know, I don’t really give a toss about it ‘growing’.
I mean, why? More gear? More people?
I honestly don’t care if more people get into the sport, or leave it.
It’s just fishing, that’s all.
As for identity, what identity?
It’s just fishing, that’s all; a very, very nice way to spend time in beautiful surroundings.

Now explain how this would be good for the fly fishing industry?
The bigger question is how do you grow the sport and keep our identity, not how do we fold our cards and count our losses.
You have to play to game to win.