Meet Chris Hagelin | Angler and Fly Tyer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Hagelin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I absolutely love fly fishing. It takes me to beautiful, peaceful places in the mountains along rivers, creeks and alpine lakes. It is a mixture of art and science and an endeavor of constant learning. While fly fishing, your focus and concentration is so intense it becomes a form of meditation that heals mind and body.

At first, I started tying my own flies because I enjoy making things with my own hands and its so much more satisfying to catch a trout with your own creation; something that you made that fooled them into thinking your fly was a tasty snack.

My grandfather was a fly angler and tied his own flies. I am lucky to have dozens of his flies, some of which were tied in the 1940s. So you can also say that fly-tying is in my DNA.

As soon as I began tying my own flies, I started selling them to my friends and fishing companions. As it turns out, my flies work. They catch fish. So I decided that my hobby could be a fun little business as I get closer to retiring. I came up with a company name based off of an old nickname and my son, who is a graphic designer, came up with a logo. Friends and fishing buddies told me that they would buy shirts with my logo and that’s how the Shagworthy Fly Company was born.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In my real life, I work as a transportation planner for a local municipality, totally disconnected from this business.

Since I hope to retire in a few years, I decided that I would really love to have something that I enjoy doing that will also make me a little bit of money, or at least pay for my tying materials for my own flies and fishing trips.

The biggest challenge I am facing right now is deciding how much I really want to invest, in terms of time and money, and if I want this to remain just a fun hobby business or if I want to really go for it and create a lifestyle brand with more intense marketing, a variety of products, and a goal of actual income,

Since I have a few years before I actually retire, I am really just testing the waters and gauging the amount of time and money I want to invest with the potential return on that investment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, we would certainly head up to the mountains for some fishing, probably hitting the South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon. One of the most beautiful places to fish in the Rocky Mountains and filled with big but very picky brown and rainbow trout. Without a doubt we would first stop to pick up some breakfast burritos from Locos Hermanos in Louisville. By far the best burritos around with my go-to being the Big Poppa. After a long day of fishing we would head back to Louisville and head to Lulu’s for some brisket or ribs and cold beverages! And if its a Friday night in the summer we would hit the Louisville Street Faire for some good music in my hometown.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It’s hard to really make any money from tying flies. While you can cover the costs of materials, its almost impossible to cover your time. So my shoutout would be to my son, Nate, who creates my logos and branding so that I can also sell shirts and other products from bumperstickers to drink koozies. Without a cool logo and branding, its hard to be successful in this niche market.

Website: https://www.shagworthyflycompany.com

Instagram: @peacecruiser

Image Credits
All pics by me expect for pic of two guys in the boat… that is Tiff Heinritz.