The Essential Fly Reviews

4.8 Rating 2,217 Reviews

97 %

of reviewers recommend The Essential Fly

4.8

Based on 2,217 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Within 5 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 91%
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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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

“Very helpful advice on getting the basics for a first time fly fisher. Andy put together a basket of gear after a phone consult. Very happy with the quality and price and customer service. Would definitely use again and recommend to others.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Good quick service in the current situation flies were larger than anticipated but hook sizes do vary. Will give them another try in the future.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Fast delivery caught my first rainbow trout on cdc emerger hope rest of my fly Collection catch me plenty more fish happy days Charlie”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Very well tied flies and a speedy delivery service. Highly recommended.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“I have always been impressed by The Essential Fly's service and speed of delivery. Sadly, not this time. Not once, but twice, my order of two 50m spools of 3.5lb 6X Fluorocarbon tippet material (not cheap) was confused. First with 6lb (instead of 6X), and then with 4.5lb BS. I have kept both (mistakes), rather than compounding the error. Attention to detail in this trade is key......”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Excellent service for delivery and price. One of the items I ordered was the Mustad snap hooks and have the following comments. The hooks were easy to tie on however because of the fine tippet material it was easy for the hook to come off because of the gap at the ring. In addition I found it difficult to attach a fly or to remove it afterwards. There was a serious risk of getting a fly hook embedded in your fingers. It may get better with practice but at this moment in time I cannot recommend the snap hooks without a word of caution.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Excellent service and great products.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Excellent in every way-loved the fact that all flies were sent individually identified!”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Excellent products. Helpful and knowledgeable staff. Website a little clunky”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Excellent service and fast delivery quality gear would highly recommend”

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Posted 4 years ago

“A first class service with excellent fly fishing products”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Unfortunately the flies I ordered arrived a day after a fishing trip I organised but I must say the flies are of high quality and will definitely order from the essential fly in the future”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Disappointed ist not the service of your own organisation but the art of delivery. You chose the DHL Express, that disappointed me for the second time. On the agreed day I was at home all the time but they never called me. Instead they urged me to visit their office to pick it up. Do not deliver me anything through DHL Express!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

We thank you for your recent order Mr Kamizuru. We are sorry that you are disappointed with DHL's courier service. We ship worldwide every day and to be honest DHL normally provide an excellent service. Unfortunately here it appears that a local office has provided a less that satisfactory service. Unfortunately this is out of our control. As mentioned to you on email, we can use the Royal Mail service as an alternative. However for the large item you ordered, Royal Mail cannot accept this as it is too large for them. Equally the mail service can take a lot longer than an express courier service - especially at this time when mail services are swamped and parcels are taking much longer than normal to arrive. However we do hope you are enjoying your purchase and for any future purchases you may wish to make, please do check in with us for any assistance via customerservices@theessentialfly.com. Thank you Team TEF

Posted 4 years ago

“Top quality service and goods there are many suppliers out there For fly fishing items but I now only use Essential Fly As service is so quick and five star.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Very helpful, friendly, and professional advice, really quick Dali very. Cheers 😃”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Recently made a purchase of flys and was delighted with the product and service making an order was made easy and simply and flys were very well made best I’ve seen in ages order was at my door in a week over sea so was well pleased will definitely do business again all the best tomas (Ireland).”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Delivery not so quick as items out of stock and one item cancelled as it does not appear they can obtain despite offering for sale. Always difficult buying online when you can't see the product and feathers perhaps a bit smaller than I'd hoped. When selling online, descriptions need to provide fullest info possible. Essential fly not alone in this issue and I have found online shopping for fly tying materials to be very hit and miss between expectation from description given and actual product received.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Hello and thank you for your review. We are sorry that you have not found our service on this occasion to your satisfaction. However, as explained by our customer services team on their email to you, for this order there were extenuating circumstances. The majority of the items you ordered were special order items ie we bring them in especially for you. This SPO status is shown clearly on each product and also in the check out. It is also explained in the terms and conditions. We do carry a large stock of fly tying materials but this special order system is available as an extra service which a lot of our customers find very helpful. We ordered them in from Veniard as they are the suppliers of the products. Veniard had only just opened up having closed down completely for lockdown. They had a massive amount of back orders and were unfortunately slower at dispatching orders than normal due to high volumes and limited resources due to the Covid19 restrictions. When Veniard sent us your order, they did not have available all the Fulling Mill hooks. We are sorry about this, sincerely. But unfortunately this was out of our control. We do try our very best for our customers and especially during the pandemic with all the restrictions and demand. We genuinely hope we will be able to help you with any future tying requirements and invite you to get in touch directly if you would like to check on any product availability or general information. With kind regards Team TEF

Posted 4 years ago

“Very prompt delivery excellent customer service and product”

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Posted 4 years ago

“great service,nice reel but no reel bag and no instructions on how to change from l hand to r hand,but i was able to work it out,will be fishing today to try out the reel.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“The best dealer In the uK for all your fly tying and fly fishing needs. Excellent customer service. I would Highly recommend them to all anglers”

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Posted 4 years ago

The Essential Fly is rated 4.8 based on 2,217 reviews