Fly fishing reels

[Willie]

I have no experience on these type of reels. I also want to bring some of them in. What must I look for and what is it what the people will need from these reels specifications and so on. Thanks

[E.T.]

What brand? Fong Kong?
Fresh and Salt?
Give me some info and I might be able to give you a few pointers.

[Willie]

Thank E.T. ok brands there are hundreds of brands. That is why I ask I want to bring in a few but I do not know at what specification I must look at. I will go for Salt and Fresh water. I attached a photo here than you can see what I am talking about

[E.T.]

Willie I am going to shoot straight from the hip here. So please don't take offense.
I will tell it how it is. Hope thats okay for you.

1. Doing a brand like Abel, Orvis, Sage, Wychwood, Tibor, Ross, etc. is a good option as you will have the back up from the manufacturer. The thing is most of those brands are already represented here in SA.

2. Going the China route is not bad, but most of those reels have 1006789666666 different variations of the same reel.

3. Designing a reel and having it made in China is not bad either. This reel will be new for a week and thereafter you will see  1006789666666 variations of the same reel.

4. Bringing in reels from China is not bad as most people does it anyway as cost of production increases everyday.

5. Who do you want to target as Stealth and Xplorer are already in the market to cater for the entry level customer up till mid priced range.

6. If you advertise that you are an agent, make sure you have stock as most people are annoyed by the fact that you have to pay up front and wait 3-6 weeks before the reel they ordered arrives. This chases clients away.

7. If you go the China route you must make sure that the product will not fail you. I would buy samples, and have them vigorously tested over here. If something goes wrong, will they back it up? Will you get replacement parts like , Drag, Handle, Reel Foot, Drag Knob, Bearings, etc.

8. Ordering from China you must order a said minimum of each reel. This can hurt you if you sit with non moving stock.

9. Are you going to sell online or are you thinking of actually selling your products to tackle stores? Online is great. Tackle Dealers not so great, as most of them would want you to supply them on a consignment basis.

10. Pushing a brand that is not yet represented takes time and a lot of effort/ money even if this brand is fantastic like Waterworks Lamson for instance. The local agent used to have stock and you could buy from him directly at discounted prices. I guess it never really took off as tackle stores want it on consignment basis. Now you can still order through him, but you pay upfront and wait for the next order to come in again. Sadly this Premium brand will disappear in the not so distant future.

11. Building your own brand through China, Korea, etc. can work. This is going to take time and effort/money and you will probably sponsor events just like Xplorer and Stealth did and is still doing, to get your name out there.


The best advice I can honestly give you is that both a premium brand and a brand that comes from the East can work. Its up to you to decide what you want to bring in. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing is what is going to push sales. You can bring in a few reels from The East(Not talking about Boksburg), see how they move and build it from there just like the two local fly brands did. You can also build an agency on the same principle.


If you are looking at selling something for the Salt you have only a few options that is tried and tested.
1. Tibor
2. Galvan
3. Abel
4. Shilton - Local Reel Manufacturer and is just as good as anything out there.
5. Nautilus


From China


http://leichichina.en.made-in-china.com/product-group/PboxEUzVIQRv/fly-fishing-reel-catalog-1.html


List of suppliers
http://www.diytrade.com/china/pl/0-k-c-1/fly_reel.html


So what reels must you keep in order to push sales???
Freshwater 5/6wt and 8/9wt
Saltwater 9/10wt, 11/12wt


Starting off with these would help you get it off the ground.
If anything is unclear or you have something to ask, ask it here and I will answer to the best of my ability or send me a mail.


Good Luck

[E.T.]

I would also like to add that there are premium brands out there that gets their reels made in the East.
Orvis, Hardy, Sage, etc. just to name a few.
Orvis CFO used to be great when it was made in England. Now it gets made in China.
Bought a brand new Orvis CFO 1 earlier this year. Second day on the Bushmans the handle fell off. Now that annoyed the living HIV out of me. I sent the reel back and got myself the Wychwood RS. Now the handle would have been replaced by the agents, I just didn't want the China reel I paid R2500 for anymore.

[E.T.]

In short, you can sell any reel as long as its reliable, value for money and the service is great and here I am also referring to after sales service/ claims/ warranties.


I hope I made some sense here?

[Willie]

E.T thank you very much for your advice. Many of the points I you mentioned I have looked at already and yes there is many bridges still to cross. I bought a Tica reel about 4 years ago and I am very pleased with it. I have used it on every trip I have been down to the coast and because it was not so expensive it do not get the same treatment as my other reels which is a big mistake. But not servicing it for 4 years it still works well and are not giving me any problems. At the moment I can not afford to buy the Shimanos and Diawa's anymore so when I needed a reel I went to get a Tica again but no one had stock. The company that used to bring them in is no longer with us. The end result was that I managed to get hold of Tica in Taiwan and with talk and negotiations with them decided to bring in a few of their reels. They also have what seems to be nice Fly reels but I do not know what the specs should be as I told you. Once I know what to look for I will bring a few in of them as well. Many people will disagree with me and rightly so because these are not in the same class as the Shimano's but they are also not in the same price range range so I am targeting the people who do want a reliable good reel at an affordable price. I was at Dullstroom the other day and nearly fell on my back when I saw the prices of these fly reels so there must be something out there for the person that can not afford them but that would love to do fly fishing.
Again thank you for your feedback much appreciated.

[John F]

Great advice E.T.!!! 

 

[E.T.]

 I am familiar with Tica. They have two models, the one is similar to the Daiwa Lochmor and the other resembles the Shimano Biocraft. Do you now see my comment about one reel having 1003456789765432345 variations?

Do not use Dullstroom as a measure. You can't even take a breath of fresh air up there without it costing you money.



The Tica will retail more or less the same as the Stealth and Xplorer reels. It's relatively unknown in S.A. and it's more or less in the same class as Sensation.
Probably not a bad start, but I honestly feel that there are better reels out there that you can start off with.

[E.T.]

This brand is not represented over here. Good solid reels and they have their own line of fly rods too....


http://www.coltonfly.com/


If you like bling bling.....
http://www.cheekyflyfishing.com/reels


Bauer Fly Reels....
http://www.bauerflyreel.com/reels.html


Mako for Saltwater....
http://www.makoreels.com/ 
Crazy ass expensive, but look closely and you will know why.


Taylor Reels...
http://www.taylorreels.com/one.html#
Clearly made in The East, this guy just had his logo put on it over there.
Nothing wrong with it. Find the right reel and brand it with your logo. Samples, Test, Samples, Get it right.


Look at this....
http://www.scierra.com/reels/
Do you see a Stealth/Xplorer line of reels in them?


List of fly reel manufacturers....
http://flyreelmania.free.fr/


Here you can view the suppliers and their products.
Here you should find exactly what you are looking for.


For saltwater do a search on google....Type in IGFA Record Catches or something like that and you will see what pops up. I discussed this on that thread called "Lets talk about fly reels" can't remember what page though. There is a reason why certain reels cost more than others.


Best

[Willie]

E.T. thank you for all your advice and help. I am sure it will be in order to give 

[E.T.]

Only a pleasure Willie, I wish you all the best getting it off the ground.

[Willie]

  we can only try