wrote...
If you want the best flies go to:

http://www.troutflies.com

It's a business owned by a good guy who frequents this board, and there are
frequently sale priced flies for $1 and sometimes less - free shipping.

Harry does sell some damn nice looking flies and would be my recommendation
when buying top quality flies. I'd rather buy flies from Harry than a fly shop
if I could, but usually end up buying them on a spur of the moment instead of
in advance. Even so, for flies less than a buck, which was what I thought the
poster was after, I would go with Blue Fly Cafe. Harry's flies do look better
and seem to use better materials.

Take a parachute Adams for example.

http://www.blueflycafe.com/index.asp...rch&pid=452668
versus
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I32352B66

You can really tell the difference between the two places when you view other
flies. For example, compare the humpies on troutflies.com versus Blue Fly
Cafe. Harry's flies just look much better and appear to use better materials.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G47312B66
versus
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J35312B66

Harry's flies appear to have more hackle, meaning they will float better in
heavier water, have better proportions and appear to take that extra step in
their construction. Harry's Royal Humpy also appears to use moose hair for a
tail which means that the fly will float much better than the BFC fly that uses
a hackle tail. I don't know whether it is just the picture or what, but the
BFC Royal Humpy doesn't appear to have much in the way of a back on the fly
either (read a shortcut and trying to do things on the cheap). Speaking from
experience, Harry's flies seem to be more consistent. I have a few flies from
both places and Harry's flies all look more similar to each other than those
from BFC. Better tiers maybe?

The question to the consumer is it worth twice the price. To *me* it is, but
to somebody trying to buy flies for half as much it may not be. I have sample
flies from Harry and Blue Fly Cafe and I can say this without any second
thoughts: Harry's flies are tied better and use better materials. BUT, they
are also more expensive. The consumer will let the chips fall where they may
and can make their own decisions.

Personally, I think a guy could do well buying from both. Get good flies from
Harry and then supplement the basics with the cheap flies from BFC. I lost a
lot of parachute adams when fishing will Lou on a small stream and would have
HATED paying $1.40-$1.75 per fly lost. A few that I did lose from Parks' fly
shop in Gardiner really ****ed me off because they fell apart after a fish or
two before they even had a chance to get lost and cost $1.75 or so each. A
$0.65 fly OTOH isn't as much of a pain to lose. If I were fishing for
selective trout on a river where I wasn't losing a lot of flies, well, Harry
does have some kick ass flies that may well justify the extra cost for better
looking and better performing flies. As a fly tier, I use some of the pics
from Harry's website for demo purposes. I can't say that for BFC if that means
anything.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)