Fishing flies to penetrate European, Asian markets

90 per cent artificial flies supplied to USA:

Hiran H. Senewiratne

Lanka Fishing Flies Ltd, a Sri Lankan based company which claims to be the largest producer of artificial fishing flies to the US market is exploring the possibility of penetrating the European and Asian markets.

“Fly-fishing,” is a popular sport in the United States and we supply 90 per cent of artificial fishing flies to the USA market,” its Managing Director Suresh de Mel told Daily News Business.

He said they export all products under the Umpqua brand and are proud to be the exclusive North American distributor for Tiemco hooks. For twenty years Tiemco has been the world’s most respected designer and manufacturer of hooks designed exclusively for fly-fishing.

He said that the fly fishing sport is gaining popularity rapidly in Europe and Asia. Therefore, they are now in the process of expanding into other regions as well. The advantage of this business is that it does not need a heavy investment and depends only on human resources.

Utilizing the most advanced production methods, such as chemically sharpening and the most exacting quality controls, Tiemco hooks continue to be the industry leader in strength, quality and innovative hook design, de Mel said.

De Mel said he has three factories with a workforce of 300 employees and exports more than half a million fishing flies to the USA. Therefore, the company’s annual revenue is US $ one million per year.

The primary focus at each of these factories is producing the best fishing flies possible, constructed with the best materials. From the beginning, the quantity of flies produced was secondary to the quality and excellence of each fly pattern.

“These high standards were assured by the personal involvement of the fly designers themselves and with the ever-increasing skills, imagination and creativity of the Umpqua production fly tiers. Today, you will find no flies more skilfully tied than those available from Umpqua Feather Merchants,” he said.

The idea was mooted by our founder, Dennis Black in 1972. As a fast and professional fly-tier, Dennis was known for his skills and speed in producing hundreds of dozens of flies each year for the larger mail order houses.

However, he was also quick to realize how fast the demand for excellent flies would outstrip the abilities of cottage industry types run by him.

He said that Dennis established the first of what would eventually be five separate fly-tying factories, first in India, then in Sri Lanka and finally in Thailand.