Solitude Fly Company was founded in 1995 by Ray Chang and John Bonk.

Entering Year 29. Shopping for hearing aids these past few weeks (John, not Ray); the hips and knees ache; my back goes out more than I do, and I have three sets of eyeglasses.  To make matters worse, my golf game has gone south as I can’t see where my ball goes off the tee. My new playing partner is 86 years old and has 20/20 vision. I hit the ball, can’t follow it, but he does with his eagle eyesight. The problem is when we are halfway down the fairway, I ask him if he saw where my ball went. He usually replies “yes, I did.” Inquiring where my ball might be, he replies “I can’t remember!” Such is life in the golden years.

Speaking of the golden years, next year Solitude will be 30 years old. Amazing. That’s a long time and with the passing of time, time passes and time flies! Anyway, the fly fishing industry is in better shape than me, healthy and strong. Thankfully, young and old fly fishermen just wanna fly fish and are still out there casting Solitude flies on their favorite lake, river, stream and shark infested waters. And we are all thankful for that too!

So here we are still busy taking care of business and our loyal customers. Take a look at the creative, fish catching, flies we at Solitude Fly Company are strutting out for your perusal for next year— 39 new patterns, an assortment of drys, tungsten jigs and nymphs, streamers, terrestrials, and steelhead patterns. We are excited and hope you will be too about our new Squatter dry fly, trico spinners, Tungsten Daddy Caddis nymphs, Fox Cleopatra streamers, all in assorted sizes and colors - quality flies tied with the finest materials. And Solitude continues to maintain the highest delivery standard within the industry. At least that is what we have been told. And that has been our mission statement from day one way back in 1995.

All new patterns are highlighted in the catalog with our nifty red logo. What these new patterns have in common is that they catch fishermen and fish.

And take a look at our hot line of premium Solitude Carbon Fiber Nets,  the Pro Carbon Net, the Stream Bank Carbon Net, the Hog, San Juan, and the Madison. These incredible light and tough nets are constructed with a core of carbon fiber/fiberglass composite materials, have a rubberized nonslip handle, and are extremely strong and durable. All are made with our proprietary clear view rubber “MeasureNet®” netting which does not harm the fish and prevents hooks from getting stuck in the net. Check out these sexy beauties on page 87. 

Again, as in the last 28 years, we thank you for your business. And if you are a new fly shop owner, give us a try. As old as we are, and believe us we are getting old, we haven’t forgotten that it is YOU, the fly shop mogul who’s our boss and number one customer, regardless if you are a big or small mogul.

As always, we continue to welcome your comments and ideas (and business!) in order to serve you better. Until next year, time flies so stay healthy!

How did we meet? How did Solitude get started?

Ray attended a fly casting seminar where John was one of the instructors for the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers. One hundred students and John gets Ray. The rest is history. Ray lives in South Pasadena, John lives in South Pasadena. Ray joins the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers and for the next two years goes to Mammoth fly fishing with John. First fishing trip, Ray goes into the fly store and John tells him he needs four of these flies in three sizes (large, medium and small), two of those flies in two colors each, another six of these funny looking flies, that big yellow one over there looks like a killer, and six of those tiny flies, leaders, tippet, blah, blah, blah. The guy behind the fly counter gleefully tells Ray he owes him $80.49. Ray passes out. John pays for it on his credit card.

Next stop, Hot Creek. Old John is putting on his waders and consuming his third beer. The younger, unsupervised Ray runs off to the stream and opens his new fly box with all his small, new furry toys. Well, of course, the wind blows all of Ray's flies into the stream and for a brief moment in the sunshine, it is Christmas in July for the trout. No more flies, all gone. Ray passes out. When he comes to, he says, "This fly fishing is expensive. I can make some money in this business." We head back to the fly shop for more flies for Ray and more beer for John. The rest is history.

Now here we are, twelve years later. While there are many large fly dealers in the business, we at Solitude are a small, but growing, company who will never make the Fortune 500, but have been blessed with an opportunity to participate and share with you what we all love, the sport of fly fishing. We are known and pride ourselves for providing our customers with quality flies, clothing and accessories at competitive prices and fast and friendly service.

When you call Solitude, Ray will answer the phone. John is out fishing, remember? And then there is our dedicated, hard working staff...Bettina (Ray's wife), Michelle, Mitsu, and Xiomara.

Why fish? Why chase trout, steelhead and salmon with Solitude flies? The late Robert Traver sums it up best:

"I fish because I love to, because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun."

Again, as in the last 22 years, we thank you for your business. And if you are a new fly shop owner, give us a try. As old as we are, and believe us we are getting old, we haven’t forgotten that it is YOU, the fly shop mogul who’s our boss and number one customer, regardless if you are a big or small mogul. As always, we continue to welcome your comments and ideas (and business!) in order to serve you better. Until next year, great health and financial prosperity to all.

Finally, a few classic words re: the passage of time: “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden John, Ray, Bettina, Myles and Kyle

Solitude Fly Company