# Contract tying (or trying to make a buck as a fly designer....)



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Saw something on another thread about "original flies" coupled with royalties so I thought I'd share my experiences in that area... Yes, you can make money doing it (but I once heard a royalty tyer say that he took his family out to dinner on that first royalty check - it was MacDonalds -and the new money did cover the cost - barely...). At any rate here's how it works. There are a few companies around that produce flies in quantity overseas and are always looking for something new that catches fish and might actually sell in fly shops. These companies invite commercial tyers to submit original patterns each year that they'll look over and decide whether they're original enough to be worth a shot. The outfit I work for is Umpqua Feather Merchants and I've been with them since the late eighties. Funny thing, I only got the opportunity because their best known saltwater tier (Chico Fernandez) had left them... I was invited to submit some of my tarpon patterns and a few months later I was offered a contract by them. The offer comes with the requirement that you tie up some of them, write up a recipe to follow along with an accurate list of the actual materials needed to start producing them overseas. Way back then Umpqua was the leader in the field (and may still be for all I know) and once you sign on you agree not to tie for any other fly companies.... They take your samples and send them overseas to their "factories" where they'll tie up samples that will come back to you for approval. Those overseas production facilities are big buildings where a bunch of women tie flies all day long (and are well able to support their families doing it since in the Orient living costs are a lot smaller than they are here....). When you get those first samples back and approve them you get a contract from the parent company and you begin receiving royalties quarterly based on the wholesale price of the actual flies sold to shops around the world... If the pattern sells well you'll get those small royalties forever - if that pattern doesn't sell they drop it yesterday and you lose that particular royalty.... Every year Umpqua invites tyers everywhere to submit new patterns (can you imagine the volume of those submissions if you're looking at both freshwater and saltwater bugs?) for possible contracts. I sometimes go years before they accept something from me... and more than once one of my patterns was accepted but dropped a few years later when it didn't sell well enough....

As you can guess if you come up with something like the first Clouser or the original Lefty's Deceiver you might actually make good money as a contract tyer. If like me you're mostly in the tarpon pattern business the royalties will be modest at best... All that's needed for any tyer (young or old) to get into the game is for them to contact the company they want to work for and ask for their guidelines for new submissions.... Good luck to all of you since the competition is fierce -but if you have a few new ideas and a pattern that works, you might be pleasantly surprised....


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## pjordan (Jun 12, 2015)

Thank you sir, very good info. Might be fun to try, I appreciate the heads up.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

Cap, I read the other post you refer to. Actually, none of this ever occurred to me as it relates to flies; pretty interesting. I figured pretty much all patterns fell under public domain. I wonder how well Umpqua polices the market for copies of your original flies. 

I also wonder if you were to copyright the image (as opposed to patenting) the fly itself if that would provide you with better control over your "branded" creations and provide you with wider marketability within the industry.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

I have never tied flies. Well that's not entirely accurate,lol. I tied one "creation" of my own at a buddies house before we went to the Seychelles so I could say I caught a bonefish on a fly I tied. So I have a ton of experience getting flies tied by "commercial tiers." And two friends are currently tiers for two shops and Cabelas. In talking to them over beers here is my take on this.

1. Guys tie flies because they enjoy it and for their own use. Maybe a few for friends. Sit around in the evening after the kids are in bed and have a cocktail and tie up a dozen or two. Relaxing and they save a couple of bucks over buying flies.
2. Guys tie flies to make a few extra bucks to give them some fishing money. But more than the actual return on the flies its for the discount on other gear that the shops give them that makes it worthwhile.
3. Guys get gung ho thinking they are going to make a living tying flies.

Group 1 guys are happy campers.
Group 2 guys are very happy campers IF they can squeeze in all their commercial tying in the dead of winter.
Group 3 guys are way busy busting their butts and they are in the poor house. And pretty soon they move back down to Group 1 or 2.


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