FAQ-Shipping Info

How long does it take to ship an order? 99% of orders will ship within one business day.  If we are having a sale, especially a popular sale, shipping times may extend to 3 or more days for Standard and Free Standard shipping options.  Any form of expedited shipping will still ship within one business day.  If we are having a sale and you need your items quickly, please choose an expedited service.

How long does it take to receive an order? With USPS Ground Advantage, the delivery time will vary, but here is a typical delivery window:

Oregon or Washington - 1-2 days.

Rocky Mountains/Southwest US/California - 2-4 days.

Midwest/Southeast US - 3-5 days

Eastern Seaboard - 4-6 days

What service do you use to ship?  Standard orders will almost always ship via USPS.  The only exceptions are for large or heavy (over 2 lb) items.  Flies, leaders, tippets, most fly boxes, tools, and fly tying materials will almost always ship via USPS Ground Advantage.

Where do you ship to? We ship to all US locations and several countries outside of the US.  

International shipping rates and times will vary, and we can make no guarantees on delivery or any additional duties/tariffs that you will be responsible for.  We typically send international orders via UPS or Fedex, but the service depends on our costs. The service will match the price that you paid. We do not make any profit on shipping costs.

Are there any shipping restrictions? We will ship all standard orders via USPS. Please use a PO Box if that is how you receive mail. If your package is returned due to an insufficient addresses, you may be required to cover additional postage to be resent to the correct address, or charged a restocking fee if a refund is requested instead.

What about Free Expedited Shipping? Orders with Free Expedited shipping will be moved to the top of the stack and sent by USPS Ground Advantage unless it is oversized or heavy.  Fly rods, waders, packs and other similar items will typically ship via UPS or Fedex.  

Overnight, 2-Day or 3-Day Shipping:  Fedex does guarantee overnight delivery.  We will refund your shipping costs if an overnight package does not arrive in time.  We have an 11:00 am cutoff for Overnight, 2-Day or 3-Day packages.  Large orders can take several hours to pack, and carriers pick up as early as 2:00 pm.  FedEx/UPS 2-day and 3-Day service is not guaranteed, but they do have a 99% on-time delivery rate.  

Shipping Insurance, Lost or Stolen Packages:  We offer insurance for your order.  For $2 per order, you can insure your package against loss, theft, incorrect addresses or damage. 

We have had an alarming increase in customers claiming that their package did not arrive. No matter the cause, we have seen an increase from about one a month to several times per day in just a couple of years.

This is insurance for us as well so that we do not have to increase fly prices to cover folks claiming lost packages. 

If you do not insure your package, then will not be able to replace it in the case of loss, theft or damage.

Insurance does not guarantee a reshipment. We do require direct signatures on some items, which would negate a claim of a lost package if your signature is attached...

Where are your flies tied?  Our Big Y Brand flies are tied proudly in Kenya.  Our tiers work for us, using the materials we approve and tie our flies to our standards. 

Some of our tiers have been with us for 20 years.  We have relationships with these folks. We have seen our tiers have children and be able to send them to nice schools because of the flies that you all buy from us.  We talk to them often and consider our tiers to be part of the Big Y Fly Co family.  

Here are where other branded flies are being tied:

• Fulling Mill-Kenya
• Orvis-Kenya
• Solitude-China
• Umpqua-Thailand, Sri Lanka, India
• Rainy's-Thailand
• Rio-Phillipines, Sri Lanka

Where are your rods/reels made? Our Big Y Brand rods and reels are made in the same factories as our other favorite rods/reels, but we will protect our brands by not mentioning specific manufacturers' names.

Our rods and reels are manufactured by a South Korean company. We design and test new gear here in Oregon before putting into production.

We do use some Chinese facilities along with everyone else in the flyfishing industry. Our gear comes from the same factories and uses the same standards as most of the other gear that we (and everyone else) sells.

What if not all my flies are is stock?

We do not substitute sizes, colors or patterns if we are out of stock. We are counting flies constantly and try to keep up on inventory. We will refund you for any flies that we are out of. We do not backorder flies or any other small items.

What if I received the wrong fly? Anytime you receive the wrong pattern, size or color, it was unintentional. We apologize for the error. In order to keep prices low, we ask that you wait until your next order to request a replacement of the missing pattern. Shipping costs are prohibitively expensive and are the number one factor in fly pricing. (We don't want to raise prices).

If its crucial to your next trip, we will send the correct ones out if we have them. Please keep in mind the previous statement about the price of shipping if you can possibly wait until your next order.

How do you sell flies for so cheap?

The short answer is Big Y Fly Co Inc sells so many, and our entire company strives to be a model of efficiency. From the way we source our materials to the way our advertising is mostly done through word of mouth. Every aspect of our company is focused on keeping costs down without sacrificing quality.

We tie our own flies, and sell countless dozens to wholesalers, who mark them up before selling them to retailers who mark them up again. These are the same flies you will find in shops across the country.

By purchasing through Big Y Fly Co Inc. you are bypassing this chain of distribution by passing the additional mark-ups.

Can I place an order over the phone?

We prefer you place the order online to help streamline the process, if you run into problems, please call us at 1-866-660-5758.

Do you accept wholesale orders?

We sell to numerous fly shops, resorts, guides, and sporting goods stores. We offer a B2B site where you can purchase many (but not all) products with additional discounts. You can apply for the B2B access here

How will my order be packed?

Your flies will be packed according to type into labeled containers. Hackled dry flies are in crushproof containers, and the rest are in reusable zip locks.

No more than 24 flies per container, and usually quite less, depending on the order.

We make it as easy as possible to unpack your orders and re-stock your fly boxes. The order is shipped in either a bubble mailer or box.

Where are you located?  We are located in Hood River, OR.  This is the heart of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.  We fish the Hood River for winter steelhead, the Deschutes River for summer steelhead and native, wild Rainbow Trout, and the Columbia River for bass and salmon.  This is a wonderful place to fish as we have tons of different options for species, styles, locations and season.

The shop is located at 620 Columbia Street in Hood River, OR.  This is next to the world-famous Full Sail Brewery and across the street from the popular Saturday Farmers Market (summer).  

What are your store hours?  We are open for in-store traffic from 7:00-5:00 every day.  

How many folks work at Big Y Fly Co?  On any given day, we have 3-7 folks here packing orders, managing the website, helping customers and answering phones.  We have dozens of tiers in Kenya that are part of our team as well.

What types of fishing are you able to help with?  We are die-hard steelhead and trout anglers.  The Columbia River Gorge is the heart of 2-handed steelhead fishing. 

We are also next to one of the last great wild trout rivers, the Deschutes.  We also fish tons of lakes for trout, the Columbia for smallmouth bass, carp, coho and chinook salmon, as well as 6 or more other local rivers that shall remain unnamed.

We also have several employees here that are saltwater junkies that can help you with bonefish, tarpon, snook, permit, etc...

Do you have a guide service? We do not have guides working out of the shop. Due to the nature of our rotating, seasonal fisheries across two states, we choose to use independent guides that can be booked directly by the consumer. There are several guides listed in our travel section that we use and like.

This gives you the best options to explore the variety of fisheries that are in the area

What is your return / refund policy?

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please use the link listed below to create an RMA. (Return Authorization).

We realize purchasing over the internet involves trust, and we thank you for trusting us enough to place an order, and will do anything in our power to retain the trust you place in us.

All items purchased at Big Y may be returned within 30 days for a refund. Some items may incur a restocking fee. All items must be returned in the original, undamaged packaging.

Mailing labels or tape may not be affixed to the original product packaging.

For rods and reel issues please see our warranty page.

For other brands, please contact the manufacturer for repairs or warranty questions outside of the 30 day window.

Click here to start a Return

What is your Warranty/Repair Policy? You can see specifics for warranty and repairs here.

What items may incur a restocking fee?

We are happy to take back a returned item. However, there are items that we need to charge restocking fees. This would not be included if you are returning an item due to a defect.

These items that may incur a restocking fee include, but are not limited to:

Reels with backing.

Fly Lines that have been removed from the original spool.

Waders or boots that have been worn.

Any item that is sent back with tape or a mailing label on the box.

Any items returned in less than brand new condition.

Discontinued/Clearance items. (discretionary)

The restocking fee will vary in order to cover any costs that we put into the order.

The price of dacron backing is $5-$15

The cost of a new box to be sent from the manufacturer can be $5-$25

Some items may be returned to you if we are unable to restock them.