LOUISVILLE, CO — Forty-five years ago, Umpqua Feather Merchants opened its doors to anglers and shops in search of high-quality flies and unmatched variety. Now it’s wrapping its anniversary celebration around a good cause, collaborating with Trout Unlimited and the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska to raise $45,000 to help conserve and restore key salmon and…
The extraordinary ordeal of Troy Bachmann Up until a few months ago, Derek Bachmann had a closet full of fly rods, one of the perks of a lifetime spent in service of his family’s business, The Fly Fishing Shop, located in Welches, Oregon, not far from the Sandy River. Now he’s down to four. “I’ve…
Ken Morrish spent two months staring at a grasshopper he’d pinned to a block of wood. He alternated holding first the real thing and then his fly pattern against the light. His decision: The only way to duplicate a hopper’s unusual shape was with foam.
Idylwilde Flies last week filed a lawsuit against Umpqua Feather Merchants—the company that recently purchased and started selling in-limbo Idylwilde product from production facilities in the Philippines. Via its social media channels and blog, Idylwilde owner Zach Mertens announced that, “…Idylwilde legally filed for its right to claim the flies from Umpqua and Mirabel….” He…
The fly-tying company that lost—and blogged—it all On the morning of May 19, 2013, Idylwilde Flies founder Zach Mertens stared into his computer screen, digesting the bizarre circumstances that had sent his business spiraling. He then began punching paragraphs into the keyboard with the kind of blunt transparency unexpected of a company president and owner…