About Us

The Donegal Fly Fishing Company was formed in 2001 for the sole purpose of reintroducing high-quality fishing flies to the retail fly-fishing sector. The original idea came from a recognition that the quality of fishing flies available in stores over the past 20 years had declined dramatically due to outsourcing to non-fishing production companies and the omni-presence of substitute products in the manufacture of the fishing flies in order to make them cheaper to produce.  

This resulted in a great fall-off in quality, style, colour, proportion and general appearance in fishing flies for a number of years, a fact that has remained true to this day with many producers. The Donegal concept was to return fly-tying to its roots by instilling the traditions and ethics which had formed the bedrock of the craft for many generations. This necessitated long and careful study of pattern recipes, sourcing of natural materials, careful re-tying of master patterns and the education of a workforce capable and willing to reproduce this "new" quality on a consistent basis.  

Having achieved this during the pilot phase of the project, Donegal Fly Fishing began wholesaling flies into the Irish marketplace in 2001, achieving market dominance in this sector very quickly. In 2004, it was decided to expand our pattern ranges and styles in order to cater for the U.K. market. Today, we have over 250 stockists throughout Ireland and Britain , mainly in the retail tackle sector and a select few fisheries and fishing lodges.  

"The one great ingredient in successful fly-fishing is patience. The man whose fly is always on the water has the best chance. There is always a chance of a fish or two, no matter how hopeless it looks. You never know what may happen in fly-fishing." - Francis Francis

Our design team continues to expand as quickly as our pattern ranges. It was noted early on that if we were going to sell a high quality product that we should avail of all the expertise available to us - namely the people at the top echelons of the sport who were willing to share their expertise for the good of the products and ultimately the people that would buy and use them - the humble fly fisherman !

Our custom-built facility located in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht is home to hundreds of thousands of fishing flies on any given day, from where they are distributed on a daily basis throughout our territory. Design and improvement is an ongoing task, and customer feedback is very important in this respect, helping us to improve our patterns and products all the time. We both value and encourage your feedback, please email us at feeback@donegalfly.com.

Our Commitment