A tale of two fly rods
North Fork Composites' Gary Loomis announced this week he's rejected private equity advances, and launched $100 Golden Tickets good for North Fork blanks to help the company grow. The company he founded and sold, G.Loomis? It now charges over $1,500 for its Asquith rods.
Flow Staters,
The financialization of American life feels like it's reaching its apex. Private equity firms are eating their own tails. And everyday folks like you and me are starting to take notice.
This week, I cried uncle after enough metaphorical busted knuckles and made some calls to get my dishwasher fixed. The repairman who came out was part of a consortium of dozens of home services brands, under an umbrella company, owned by, you guessed it: Private equity.
This same consolidation of the American economy by private equity that's happening everywhere is happening in fly fishing. I've written about the fly fishing industry drinking from the poisoned chalice of private equity before, but today I wanted to share a more positive story, albeit one with some deep irony.
Reader and rod-builder John shared this tip: A premium manufacturer is trying to stand against the private equity consolidation trend. And its story exposes a great irony and conflict at the heart not just fly fishing, but the choices we make as consumers.
This week famed rod-maker Gary Loomis (founder and former owner of G.Loomis) announced North Fork Composites, his current rod-making company, is selling a $100 Golden Ticket. The ticket is essentially a Forever Stamp, entitling the bearer to any blank in the NFC arsenal. These blanks ordinarily cost anything from $150-500.
"This note is motivated by a recent visit by a private equity firm," Loomis wrote in the announcement. "We were told that the fishing tackle industry is currently in a cycle of consolidation, and we can't beat them, so we should join them."
Loomis evoked the spirit of Dylan Thomas, quoting "Do not go gentle into that good night...Rage, rage against the dying of the light," in his announcement of the Golden Ticket plan.
What the $100 Golden Ticket gets you
NFC makes graphite fishing rod blanks, and they're among the best in the business. It designs and manufactures everything in the USA, here in Woodland, Washington, based on techniques Loomis first devised based on the aerospace industry decades ago.
The blank is the soul of the fly rod: it's the tapered tube that bends back and forth and casts the line. Attach a fly line to the tip, you have a tenkara rod, essentially. Add some guides and a reel seat, and you have what you see on the wall at the fly shop.
High-quality blanks let folks with craft knowhow and the ability to follow a few steps build their own rods, far below fly shop retail. Just glue on a reel seat, wrap your guides, finish the rod with thinned epoxy, and place and shape the cork handle. (It's probably a little harder, but not by much.)
North Fork Composites' blanks are the gold standard for DIY rod makers, beloved for precise engineering and innovative materials. But their value-focused pricing leaves little room for Loomis to deliver on the improvements customers want.
"The reality is that U.S. rod manufacturing is brutally hard," Loomis writes. "We compete directly with imported products where labor, materials, and overhead are a fraction of the cost. In recent years, many well-known brands and manufacturers, especially in the fishing space have been consolidated by private equity. Manufacturing is moved offshore (if it wasn’t already), or manufacturers just cease to exist."
If rod makers and faithful stock up on Golden Tickets now, he argues, they can play them out over the years. North Fork gets capital, and stays aligned with its values. Sounds like a win-win to me. And we all can see a beacon of an idea of how to make our economy work for the little guy.
A lot of people ask me, "What's the most expensive fly rod?" I usually hem and haw about antique bamboo, and then give an answer that it's somewhere in the grand-plus range, depending on what you're chasing, and then hastily make sure I'm not currently holding an expensive rod myself.
I like nice fly rods. I own several, and think, for dedicated casters and anglers, they deliver a finer fishing experience. But there's a massive irony and contradiction in the NFC Golden Ticket story: G.Loomis, which Gary founded, then sold to tackle behemoth Shimano in the late '90s, recently unveiled the newest iteration of its Asquith line of fly rods. The Asquiths retail at over $1,500, a price that's making even the dons of the fly fishing media-industrial complex feel "conflicted".
Heads turned when the Asquith broke the $1k barrier in 2017. But now there is an even more stark comparison. For the price of one Asquith, you can buy 15 Golden Tickets for NFC blanks. And those North Fork blanks were designed and engineered at the direction of Loomis himself, the person whose rod design and manufacturing prowess built the brand equity baked into that high-priced rod. I can't think of a bigger contrast. Stacking the two like this makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
When the cake is $1, and it's $15 with icing and "Happy Birthday Sarah" written on it, something's off. I can understand how the goal in pricing the rod is to a) set a ceiling, and then b) convince everyone in the potential buyer pool it meets that standard. But at a certain point pricing can become divorced from reality.
It's hard to believe the blank in the Asquith is that much better-performing than those currently designed by Loomis. Or the hardware and thumb-sized chunk of wood in the reel seat is that expensive to make. Have we all lost so much mechanical aptitude that it's worth paying a firm $1,400+ to put the hardware on a blank?
Most of us are able to see through the noise. We understand the majority of a retail price goes to overhead, and marketing, shareholder returns at at $10B company, rather than raw materials and helping a technician buy braces for their kid and having something in their 401(k) at the end of the year at a mom-and-pop company.
I know the Asquith and the NFC Golden Ticket examples live in completely separate universes of pricing benchmarks, for different audiences. I have yet to meet a billionaire who builds their own rods. But as they're essentially pricing the same good, they expose the distortions and fictions of the market.
I'm sure there is some sort of esoteric econometric rebuttal here. (A rod in the hand is worth fifteen in the bush?) I welcome you to contribute it in the comments. I'm just a simple man who knows a day's work at the Federal minimum wage will buy you a case of beer and two large pizzas, or 1/27th of an Asquith, or just over half an NFC Golden Ticket.
Building a fly rod from a blank is far from rocket science. But understanding how to make Made in the USA work today, with everything stacked against you, requires the kind of street smarts and grit you can't get from an MBA.
Maybe buy a couple of Golden Tickets and make it a project to learn to build your own fly rods this year? More broadly, vote with your dollars, spend them wisely, and support people that make stuff in your community and region.
Maupin Meetup registration is open!
It may be winter, but the salmonfly hatch and all the beauty of late spring in the high desert will be upon us soon. Join CFS May 28-31 in Maupin, Oregon, for some classic big bug fishing and the TroutFest celebration.
ICYMI: Trout ain't tarpon
Sure, the silver kings might not even be on the same angling planet as rainbows, but here are tarpon tips, tricks, and concepts distilled from legend Andy Mill that can be applied to any fishing situation.
Leaders ➰
Ten(ish) fly links to get your week started on the fishy foot (fin)?
Mindset 🧘♂️
This remembrance of GOAT angling author Gary LaFontaine from Greg Thomas at House of Fly is exceptional. There isn't a fly designer who was more influential on 20th century fly fishing than GLF. And to hear his generous spirit was true to the person on the page makes me cherish his work even more. (House of Fly)
Environment ⛰️
Julian Brave Noisecat details the centuries-old rhythms and relationships that define dip net fishing through a history of culture around Farwell Canyon in British Columbia. This is fishing as a lifeway, as a practice of civilization. (Places Journal)
Tools 🎣
🎥 More from B.C.: In Pursuit from Cold Current Studios draws back the curtain on the glory shots of steelhead and how they neglect to show "all the missed grabs, lost fish, and fishless days." After a F3T filled with hooting and high-fives, a recognition of this time unheralded is a welcome tonic, making this our favorite film this week. (YouTube)
Finding places to fish can be one of the most daunting parts about getting started fly fishing. In this episode of Katie Burgert's excellent Fish Untamed podcast, she interviews Zig Peacock about his approach scouting high mountain lakes in Utah. Peacock's digital toolset is not unlike the array of resources I use: deep research, informed by OSINT techniques, coupled with a lot of relationship-building. Tune in and learn how to uncover hidden gems before you even leave the house. (Fish Untamed)
Technique 🤺
🎥 Zebra midges are one of my go-to nymphs. They are easy to tie, imitate a bunch of stuff, and are effective in still and sparkling water. Watch this video from Ventures Fly Co., grab their cheat sheet, and then go tie some up. (YouTube)
If you’re steelhead-curious and in the PDX area, sign up for one of ODFW’s Steelhead 101 workshops in the coming weekends. The two-day offering has one classroom day and one field day, and even though it’s likely content primarily for gear anglers, the advice on timing runs and reading water can definitely apply to fly fishing. (MyODFW)
Conservation 🌲
Here’s a great stat from the Native Fish Society: “Every $1 million invested in restoration creates 15–24 jobs & 90% of the funds invested stay in-state.” (Native Fish Society)
Community 🏘️
Opera Montana is celebrating the 50th anniversary of A River Runs Through It this September by producing an adaptation of the classic tale, with music from award-winning composer Zach Redler and a libretto by Matt Foss and Kelley Rourke. A preview will be held May 20th in Brooklyn, NY, and the opera will premier in Bozeman in late September, also be performed in Missoula in October, and eventually available for more folks to watch on PBS. (Midcurrent)
Somehow I missed that Randy Dersham released a documentary last year about the McKenzie River style of drift boat, titled, appropriately, “Oregon’s Boat.” Dersham is a wooden boat guru, whose name I first started coming across when I started restoring my own McKenzie drift boat. Dig in for some classic whitewater footage. (OregonsBoat)
That's it that's all! Current Flow State is a weekly newsletter from me, Nick Parish.
What's the most you've ever spent on a fly rod? Tell me on Bluesky 🦋, Instagram 📸, YouTube 🎥, or the Fishcord 💬.
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