The Essential Fly Reviews

4.8 Rating 2,251 Reviews

97 %

of reviewers recommend The Essential Fly

4.8

Based on 2,251 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 90%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	98%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.9 out of 5

About The Essential Fly:

Specialists in Fly Fishing with salmon, trout flies, and flies for lots of other species. We sell Fly Fishing Tackle and gear and a huge range of Fly Tying Materials and Tools - The Essential Fly is a leading supplier of gear for fly fishermen, rainbow & brown trout flies, salmon flies and flies for every species from our massive selection. Fly tying materials and tools to satisfy every fly tyers needs. With tackle from Greys to Wychwood, from fly rods to waders, luggage and all of the accessories you will need.

We have won awards for customer service and believe in value and quality. Check our reviews from thousands of customers all around the world. Having delivered to over 50 countries from homes to fishing lodges for that last minute requirement.

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The Essential Fly 5 star review on 16th February 2025

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Excellent service, kept updated with stock availability, wasn't even charged for postage when my original order dropped below the threshold for free delivery. Highly recommended.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 day ago

“Very good selection of items and good value.”

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Posted 1 day ago

“Great fast efficient service.”

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Posted 3 days ago

“Even though the flies I ordered were out of stock, you guys still got the to me before my holiday. Thanks”

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Posted 4 days ago

“Ordered 4 items, got 1. This meant I paid full postage which made the single item expensive. Site says free shipping over £30 for fly tying materials and flies. My total was £31+. A very disappointing experience.”

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Posted 1 week ago

Hi Mr Stafford and thank you for your recent order. We would like to take this opportunity to expand on the situation please if we may regarding your order. We see you placed your order on 6th June and took advantage of our 10% off offer, which is great, thank you. The CDC feathers and beads you ordered were all special order items (as shown on the site and at check out) and our customer services team called you to advise you of a delay in sourcing these as they were special order and we were reliant on the UK distributor for them. She also explained that you would receive email notification for all updates. The notes we have show you were comfortable with this. Its important to say that CDC is currently challenging to source unfortunately. We were very sorry that unfortunately they were out of stock with the distributor (bar 1 size of cdc) so you were refunded for the unavailable products and we sent over to you the 1 pack of CDC that we could get in for you. We really did our very best to source the CDC for you but sadly to no avail we are sorry. You would have received full email notifications about all the changes and if not, please do check your spam folder to be on the safe side. At the time you placed your order we did not have a free shipping offer available. This was only launched on 13th June. If in the future, you would like to check the availability of any rare or special order items in advance, please do not hesitate to call us on the phone and we will do our best to find out more for you ahead of placing an order. We will always do our best for you. With very best wishes Team TEF

Posted 5 days ago

“It's easy to find the Flies you want on the website. And you get a very fast service and the Flies are great”

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Posted 1 week ago

“The flies I've purchased from TEF have always been good quality. However, ther'e stated delivery times are a little ambitioius. For example, when I made an oredr on a Tuesday, TEF stated they would be delivered within two days (on the Thursday). In fact, I didn't received the order until Saturday, when I was already off somewhere on a fishing trip. Delivery delays (thank you Royal Mail) are beyond the control of TEF, but it would be good if purchaser's knew that there may well be a delivery delays which are beyond their control, rather than guaranteeing delivery.”

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Posted 2 weeks ago

“Quick service, good communication. One item out of stock so refunded immediately.”

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Posted 2 weeks ago

“Impressed by the flies especially the dries which was boxed to protect the hackles. Thank you for your great service”

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Posted 3 weeks ago

“Great service. Many thanks”

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Posted 3 weeks ago

“Great, excellent quality”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

“Very happy with my item. Well made . Thank you .”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

“Excellent quality flies at a very good price. Very well tied using great quality materials and excellent hooks. I have caught lots of trout this season using the flies I have bought from Essential Fly.”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

“Speedy delivery and great quality flies.l have used essential fly before and know from experience even after catching 5 or 6 fish the flies are still in good condition.”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

“Bought items were as ordered arriving promptly and safe. Will use again”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

“Terrible service and every time I try to provide feedback, unsurprisingly the email just bounces back.”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

Hello! We are so sorry to see your message. Our emails are monitored every day so we are not sure why your emails are bouncing back? We are customerservices@theessentialfly.com or we are available on the phone Monday to Friday office hours 01757 333003 if ever you need any assistance. From your review here we cannot see precisely any details about an order or query but we are more than happy to help you. Perhaps you ordered special order items? Please do let us know more details and we will attend to this asap for you. With very best wishes Team TEF

Posted 4 weeks ago

“Although the quality of the fly tying seems to be good. They didn’t have all the flys that I had chosen and therefore had to refund me. It also took a long time for the package to be dispatched.”

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Posted 4 weeks ago

Hi and thank you very much for your recent order and review. We carry massive stocks of flies and other fly fishing/tying goods. However for some items, we bring them in specially for customers and we can see that one of the items you ordered (Calendonian flies Green Peter Sedge) was a special order. Unfortunately on this occasion, the distributor did not have them in hence us refunding them we are sorry. This caused the delay for which we apologise. We do hope that your remaining flies are ones that will bring you much success and pleasure! Best wishes Team TEF

Posted 4 weeks ago

“Great flies ready if I go to Scotland,”

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Posted 1 month ago

“Ordered a few things from Essential Fly all arrived in good time and a pleasure to buy things from and use good quality gear”

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Posted 1 month ago

“Excellent flys”

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Posted 1 month ago

The Essential Fly is rated 4.8 based on 2,251 reviews