Pegging the Market of Fly Dealers

AT has recently experienced an onslaught of requests for information on how many specialty fly dealers there are in this country. We don’t know why.

But we thought we’d throw the stock answer we’ve been giving out there for anyone to see. If you disagree with this, let us know and we’ll take that into consideration.

Not counting the number of hardware stores and gas stations that might happen to sell something fly-related, and not counting all-fishing big boxes, we estimate that there are between 400 and 500 specialty fly retailers in North America. One of the three leading brands in this market reported to us a total of 400 dealers, estimating 90 percent market penetration. Orvis, of course, has its own retail stores which boosts that specialty number closer to 500.

Not nearly as many as there were 10 years ago. What will the number be in 2025?