![montauk monster montauk monster](https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/028/744/774/large/irene-nogueron-g-8-montauk-monster.jpg)
Today's high-volume fly shops do pretty well considering 99% of them don't pre-measure materials prior to commencing production. They were sparsely tied works of art, each fly of a given size was identical to the next. Walt brought German precision & his mechanical engineering skill to the operation & great attention to proportion & detail was evident in every fly they produced.
![montauk monster montauk monster](https://imgl.krone.at/scaled/1042746/vf5bb71/schema_org_16_9.jpg)
When you combine this sizing step with immense skill, such as the Dette Method, & countless hours of repetitive movement & high motor memory, standardization of size & silhouette is achieved. The Dette's operation was not only capable of fully stocking fly bins in an extraordinarily busy tourist town "mom & pop" shop ( literally sold from their living room in their house which was converted into their Fly Shop) but they also filled substantial orders from their fly catalog. All materials were meticulously sized before production tying began. This is primarily because of one critical step that Walt implemented. Walt was able to create a method of standardization and production fly tying on a small scale that was rivaled only by the House of Harrop.Įvery single fly in every single bin was literally identical. Their bins were chock-full during season. In the region I grew up the primary Fly Shop was run by Walt & Winnie Dette. This is due to lack of standardization from fly tier to fly tier and the concept is perpetuated due to volume. With smaller flies, tolerances are generally good among accepted lots the ladies turn in, but they may vary significantly from tier to tier - even though each tier turns in lots of flies that are nearly identical. Side Fact: Flies & Materials both, as categories, provide 800 to 900 Basis Points - making selling them almost as profitable as selling a cup of coffee. (then ship them bulk to their fulfillment D/C & mark them up tremendously)
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They can teach a group of seamstress various patterns, provide them with materials & pay 3 to 5 cents apiece for the labor. Orvis sources flies primarily from Kenya, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & other countries with strong hand made textiles presence. I grew up in Roscoe, NY & assure you that history would contradict what commercial piece rate enterprises are displaying in retail fly bins today.