To be fair about this, I am going to suspend my thoughts about the folks that work for FlyMen, as I believe them to be the nicest people in all of fly tying (sorry Loon Outdoors, you guys are great too).  However it will be impossible to write this without sounding bias without doing so.

Fly Tying is a passion in our household. As I write this, Brita is sitting at the desk whipping up some sort of masterpiece that I just can not keep up with. Both of the kids are intrigued by the creations we make, even Trout the cat likes to watch the flies dance in the swim tank. There is not an item in the house that does not glisten in the right light from a stray piece of Angel Hair or Lite-Brite that has flown off the table, or three tying desk. When a toy breaks the kids ask for Zap a Gap instead of duct tape. Our lives are pretty well sewn together with GSP thread and hackle feathers.

A few baitfish headed to Henry’s Lake

I have to be honest, I did not know the company behind the Fish Skull, I had no idea who invented that cool swim tank I had seen at shows and on social media. I certainly didn’t know they would change the way I tie my favorite guide flies.  The merging of Brita’s and my fly tying (the biggest commitment I had ever made), she said “Justin, you have to contact Flymen Fishing Company, they are great to work with.”  So I said, “Who the hell is that?” and did a bit of research…. which unveiled the most interesting company in fly tying…

North Carolina?  What does North Carolina know about fly tying?  Certainly at the time enough to make Fish Skulls, Fish Mask, and a unique plethora of Shanks.  Plus have super cool marketing that I was intrigued by.  Most importantly to me was they were smart enough to work with some of the most innovative tiers on the planet.  So I naturally wanted to join the team.

Seatrout caught with a Fish Masked Flatwing

I have worked with many companies over the years, and let me tell you, most of them do not want to hear they could do something better.  These guys actually care about their product.  They care about the people using their product, and they listen when you have anything good, bad, or otherwise to say about their products.  I have not experienced this with many other companies.  This shows in their products, the Fishmask (My personal favorite product) went through a transition from a hard unforgiving plastic to flexible rubbery plastic that can withstand being bounced off the side of my boat by clients or pushed over the eye of a hook that might be slightly larger than recommended. The Faux Bucktail is the greatest Synthetic hair fiber on the market, because they listen to the guys that test the products and they truly want to make the best products to work with.

Fish Mask making perfect heads every time.

Here’s to a company that is putting it on the line, putting more fish in my net than any other, and making me proud to show off my flies. Thanks Guys! It’s been a couple years now, and I hope for many more to come!