50 Years: A River Runs Through It - The 90's
Umpqua has built an empire in our industry, and it started with an A Frame Cabin on the banks of the North Umpqua River. Based on all accounts, it should not have happened. It was such an improbable story you could have never come up with most of it. Doing things that no one had ever done before, and yet, it happened.
In the process, Umpqua changed the way the fly fishing industry was able to scale and grow through the production and delivery of fly tackle and the highest quality flies, designed by Royalty Tyers. Umpqua is built on a legacy of innovation and has encouraged innovation at pivotal moments.
This is the Umpqua Story told by some of the people who were witness to the events.
A River Runs Through It - The 90's
Still from A River Runs Through It
“The movie, it was just incredible what it did for fly fishing. Everybody wanted to go fly fishing and there was a huge surge in sales that went along with that. The movie made it clear why they call it a fly shop, that full bins and a good inventory of quality flies sent people out fishing. Umpqua helped make that possible during that boom.” Barry Beck remembers 1992, with Brad Pitt’s casting cane in Montana triggering fly sales in Central Pennsylvania (and everywhere else!)
It was not just the movie that was getting people out fishing, but it was also the advancements in fly tackle and flies. The synthetic material revolution had taken hold. Umpqua had also introduced the first CDC feathers to the US, (Dennis was introduced to CDC by Toshi Shimoda, then President of Tiemco, while on the river). Metz Feathers had been purchased by Umpqua, and bead head nymphs were just being introduced. What a time to be an angler!
CDC Ant from Ken Shimazaki
“Dennis was back from his overseas travels. He walked into my studio with a matchbox and inside it was gold beads from Theo Bakelaar in the Netherlands,” says Dave Hall. “Dennis said these are going to change the world of fly fishing.”
America was not quite ready for the gold bead at the time, but all it took was one time out with the gold bead and opinions changed. “I was tying at the Federation of Fly Fisher’s conclave in West Yellowstone and I’m sitting there tying flies and this guy comes in with a gold-painted head. And I thought ... there’s a guy that has his act together. He gave me a couple of those gold beads and I looked at those and looked back at him and I said, ‘what fish in his right mind would eat this?’ And look today at what has happened,” Mike Lawson reflecting on how the bead nymph changed the direction of our sport at just the time when there was a massive influx of new anglers picking up fly rods and learning how to catch fish.
Signature Tyer Theo Bakelaar
“The gold bead changed fly fishing immensely. Beyond what anyone could have imagined. Suddenly shops could take somebody onto the water, tie on a gold bead nymph, and instead of spending years or weeks practicing casting they could just let the line drift down below them and lob an indicator upstream and catch fish within minutes. And then it went CRAZY!” says Dave Hall.
It was not just a gold bead but looking at other options for bead innovation that would make patterns more effective on the water. “John Barr opened the door for me to show my flies to Bruce Olson and the Umpqua team at the dealer tackle show. We went in the back, and I showed them my boxes, they ended up taking my whole Mercury Series of flies. It was a dream of mine to be a part of the Umpqua family. When you stop and think about all the renowned fly tyers, to be a part of that team of professionals was a lifelong dream of mine.” Pat Dorsey fondly remembers how he got his start with Umpqua in the late 90’s.
“In the summer of 97 I showed up in Glide for my big interview with Umpqua. Bruce Olson met me in the parking lot with the gruff greeting of 'Did you bring your waders…. well, put 'em on!', I knew at that moment I had found my home at Umpqua”, recalls Jeff Fryhover, current Umpqua President and CEO.
Umpqua founder Dennis Black with current President and CEO Jeff Fryhover
As the world was introduced to Google in 1998, Dennis Black sold Umpqua, marking the closing of one chapter and the beginning of the next.
Check back next month for Umpqua in the 2000's!