Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
Region Fly Fishing sells rods, reels, lines, tippet and flies built to premium specifications but priced well below the established brands. Region spent roughly two years testing manufacturer samples before branding anything, settling on Japanese carbon blanks, tungsten-beaded flies, and a guide replacement program that ships a new rod within a week.
Mark is a petroleum engineer of more than 20 years and a lifelong fly fisher who co-founded Region Fly Fishing, a direct-to-consumer rod, reel, line and fly brand.
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What is Region Fly Fishing?
Region Fly Fishing is a Houston-based tackle company selling fly rods, reels, fly lines, tippet, leaders and flies, plus a separate tenkara line. The stated goal at Region is to cover everything an angler needs for both fresh and salt water, so the customer only has to add water. Region reached market after roughly two years of sampling and revision with overseas manufacturers.
How did a dare turn into a fly fishing company?
Region Fly Fishing started when the co-founder's business partner, who had just sold a cigar company, went shopping in fly shops before a Bahamas trip and was appalled at the prices. The partner bet he could find comparable quality for far less, and the terms of the dare were that if the samples passed muster, the two would start the company together. Flies came first, and the unbranded rod samples that followed tested at roughly 80 to 90 percent of the premium rods the co-founder had been fishing.
What goes into a Region fly rod blank?
Region fly rods are built on Japanese carbon with specialty resins supplied by the manufacturer. The co-founder, an engineer by training, argues the carbon-versus-graphite argument is mostly marketing: both are carbon-based, and the modulus and the resin are where the performance actually comes from. Developing the rods took an iterative loop of samples, feedback and retesting spread over about two years, and the same material goes into both the traditional fly rods and the tenkara rods.
Why does a small fly company invest in macro photography?
Product photography became one of Region Fly Fishing's largest early expenses, because a customer buying a size 22 midge online has nothing to judge but the image. Region bought camera equipment, built its own photo booth, and spent months learning macro technique before the fly images looked lifelike. Photographing rods turned out to be a completely separate problem the company was still working through at the time of the interview.
What is tenkara and who is it for?
Tenkara is a telescoping rod with a fixed line attached at the tip, usually a furled line tapered like a fly line, followed by a short piece of tippet and a fly, with no reel involved. A tenkara rod collapses to roughly 18 to 24 inches and extends to 12 to 14 feet, so an angler can be fishing within a minute of reaching the water instead of assembling a rod and building a leader. Region positions tenkara as a tool fit for small streams, ponds and high mountain lakes, and as a sub-$100 gateway into fly fishing rather than a rival to it.
How does a rod repair program keep guides loyal?
Slow warranty repairs cost guides money, because a broken rod is a rod that cannot be handed to the next client. Region Fly Fishing ships guides a replacement rod within about a week on the honor system, and offers retail customers a repair or replacement turnaround of about two weeks. Region's ambassador and guide program also supplies the full product line free, with an affiliate arrangement for guides who sell.
What is the hardest part of launching a fly tackle brand?
Region Fly Fishing put roughly 98 percent of its early resources into working with manufacturers on product quality, which left selling and brand awareness as the unfinished half of the business. Paid social advertising has produced less for Region than word of mouth from guides and ambassadors. The co-founder also names a discipline problem common to two creative partners: chasing new product ideas until they hit a roadblock and get shelved.
Key takeaways
- Region Fly Fishing manufactured roughly 20,000 flies in the months after launching sales in September, sold by the dozen with free shipping so customers can build their own size assortments.
- A tenkara outfit collapses to 18 to 24 inches, extends to 12 to 14 feet, and gets an angler fishing in about a minute, which makes it a practical small-stream and high-lake tool.
- Region's first production reel is a 5- to 7-weight large-arbor CNC-machined model with a composite drag, left unsealed to hold the freshwater price down; the saltwater reels in development get sealed carbon drags.
- Guides in Region's program get a replacement rod within roughly a week on the honor system, and retail customers are quoted about two weeks for repair or replacement.
- When comparing budget flies, check the hardware: Region specifies signature-series hooks and tungsten beads rather than brass.
- A tenkara outfit can be assembled for under $100, which makes it a cheaper entry point to fly fishing than a rod, reel and line package.
