On the fly

Dan Valdez refers to himself as an “obsessive fisherman.” By his estimates, he’ll head out with his boat anywhere from 150 to 200 days a year, most years. In 2010, things slowed down as he had the first of several spinal surgeries, which left him partially disabled and without the use of his hands for a brief time. As a method of recovery and physical therapy, he began making his own fly-fishing lures. Valdez found after he had recovered enough to start fishing again that other people loved them—and soon his fishing friends were asking if he could make them all types of lures for all kinds of fish. Eventually, Valdez started advertising his lures and realized he had the workings of a business. Last month, he officially opened Draggin’ Flies out of his home workshop, where he makes his lures for mail order. Check out his Facebook page, Draggin’ Flies by Dan, to learn more or inquire about custom flies.

How did you learn to make your own lures?

The first two or three years I didn’t do anything but shad flies for shad-fishing season, but then people started asking, “Do you build this?” or “Do you build that?” And in this day and age, with the internet, you can figure out how anything is built. I sort of took a lot of other people’s ideas and put my own twist on everything.

How is business so far?

I’m only in the first few weeks, but I’ve been selling a whole lot more flies than I had even imagined. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t spend on my bench making flies in three weeks, and I haven’t even really started yet. I don’t even have a website. My goal was to sell 40 a week; right now, I’m selling closer to 150 or 200 a week. It’s kinda crazy to me. I thought I would still be getting the word out.

How long do the lures last?

It depends on the species of fish you’re catching. Something like a sockeye salmon is super aggressive and toothy, so they can beat up a fly after a couple days of good fishing. But some of these flies [for other fish] will last you a long time. They’re not supposed to last forever—they’re made of fabric and feathers. The point is if they attract fish. I had one guy come to me and say, “Hey, I bought this fly from you, and after one day it was ruined.” I asked, “What happened?” and he said he had caught 19 fish with it in one day … so the fact that it got beat up is OK in my mind. Depending on [the fly], some go for $4.50, and so far I’ve sold some custom stuff upwards of $12 a fly.