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Is there a market for women’s fly fishing gear?
“A few months back I was looking at fly-fishing gear with thoughts of purchasing some new equipment for my wife, such that she would no longer have to use my hand-me-downs. While there was some selection I was rather disappointed with the options, most of which appeared to be “shrink it and pink it” versions of the men’s version. Feeling adventurous I decided to investigate if a company could be formed to focus exclusively on womens fly fishing gear.”
An interesting article on a study–conducted by Dan Corbett using social-media sites–regarding women’s-fly fishing gear found its way to my inbox this week. It is now believed that women make up between 20-25% of fly anglers, and a number of companies are trying to figure out how to tap into (or expand) that side of their business. Corbett created an online survey which asked various questions about female-specific fly fishing equipment and dispersed it to various women’s fly-fishing clubs, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and anyone else he stumbled across who might be a female angler. In an attempt to feel out the women’s fly-fishing business and determine if there is room for a new women’s gear company, Dan also directly contacted five independent fly shops to get their take on the women’s business.
Dan saw some positive trends in his survey results, and the majority of the women echoed the same sentiments:
“Largely disappointed with the current options available to them, women are extremely eager to have better fitting equipment, particularly waders; even better, they are willing to spend an ample amount of money to purchase new gear.”
However, expanding the wader size offering for women is both a daunting and expensive task. Here’s a snippet on the results of his interviews with the fly shops:
“. . .the shops feel that only 10-15% of their customers are women. More importantly, the shops sell 5-8 sets of womens-specific waders a year, and none of them felt the need to add another product line. Without the support of the independent fly shops, who sell well over 50% of fly fishing goods, the success of a new company would be extremely unlikely.”
I personally think it’s unfair for women’s fishing gear sales to be judged when you don’t have much (if anything) to offer. How can I buy women’s gear if the size that fits me and the features I’m looking for don’t exist in your shop?
Last winter I made a huge investment in new waders and rubber-soled boots. I tried out the Orvis offering- the boots were way too big and the feet on the waders were huge. On a whim, I decided to try ordering a pair of Simms Headwaters boots online. It took 5 months for the boots to finally show up, arriving just before the season opened. While I was waiting for the boots, I decided to search for women’s gear at the Somerset fly fishing show. I found one dealer with Simms women’s Headwaters waders and boots and luckily they had my size in both. I used the waders to try on the boots I was waiting for and both of them actually fit. Since I was so pumped to find waders with feet I didn’t have to fold over, I dropped another $400 (yikes!).
The waders aren’t perfect – they require a whole lot of wiggling to pull them on since they’re a little snug in the hip and rear. And while the technology offered in the wader is awesome (3-layer GORE-TEX with extra reinforcement in the legs), the real reason I was willing to cough up the dough was because I’d no longer have to suffer through extra material scrunched up in my boot.
To see the rest of Dan’s conclusions and some interesting results from his survey, check out the article “Women’s Fly Fishing Gear; Not Quite an Adventure in Entrepreneurship” on his blog Climbtrees.
This post is also up on OrvisNews as a discussion piece and has received some interesting responses from both men and women. If you’re interested in seeing their feedback, please check it out on their site!
