Best retail flies?

[Ron Snyder]

I want to buy the best flies I can get my hands on so that I have good examples to work from when I start tying this winter. Where do you recommend I look? It seems the flies I see in the gallery are much better looking than the crap at my one local retailer (Jackson Flies @ $.99 ea.) Is Orvis any better than Cabellas, or is Umpqua good, or are they all cruddy? Are there any shops in the Seattle area that carry premium flies? Any online stores that are top notch? Thanks in advance.

[FLGator]

For steelhead flies it's tough to beat Gerald Bartsch (qualityflies.com)

[fredaevans]

Depends upon the size of the fly; that said, I've never been disappointed by Hills discount flies out of Yakama, Washington.

Edit: just noticed Jim Hill advertises on this board; good place to 'drop the dime.'

Fred

[Old Man]

Go to your local Library and go to the fishing section. They usually have one or two books on flies. This way you don't have to buy the flies. Just look at the pictures, and try to match them up.

Jim

[Les Johnson]

The vast majority of trout, steelhead and saltwater flies found in fly-fishing stores these days are imported. Some regional patterns are tied by local tiers as the import dealers only deal with huge amounts of flies, which makes sense.
Several companies import flies, some atually own fly-tying operations in China or Maylasia. While these flies had some quality control problems years ago, almost all of them presently being sold through fly-fishing stores are well dimensioned and dressed on quality hooks with the best materials.
Cheers,
Les Johnson

[riseform]

For the recent Clouser swap, I needed to buy some "official" dubbing for the crayfish pattern. I used the opportunity to buy one fly of each pattern I was tying to compare with my usual tie. I have to say, the two flies I received were total garbage. I wasn't expecting them to be tied by Bob, but the quality was so poor I was surprised he'd sell them under his name. In this particular case, photos from a book would be a better guide since they're going to photograph their best samples.

[Tim Cottage]

A.K. Best

Found here http://www.southcreekltd.com/