By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Mimicking waterbugs, caddisflies and other delicious creatures, Owen Edgar has helped people catch fish with his handmade fishing flies for the past three years. In the summer, Edgar can complete custom 150-piece kits for customers in a month, but that timeline extends to three months when he’s in school, as in, Ophir Middle School—Edgar is 13 years old.
During COVID, Edgar gingerly made flies in his free time and began selling them at the Big Sky Farmers Market in 2021. As Edgar started to see money flowing in from sales, he strictly used profits for business expenses. With the remaining profits he earned over three years, Edgar wrote a $1232 check to Warriors & Quiet Waters in September 2024. The nonprofit gives post-9/11 combat veterans meaningful experiences and community in nature, bringing veterans to beloved outdoor spaces in southwest Montana for activities like fly-fishing and hunting.
Brian Gilman, WQW’s chief executive officer, met Edgar at the WQW office when Edgar and his father reached out about wanting to donate. Gilman described Edgar’s actions as “incredibly admirable” over the phone with EBS.
“Owen being able to bring us his donation makes a big difference,” Gilman said. He described how the $1,232 sum helped the organization meet its budget needs. In the future, Gilman hopes to continue working with Edgar at events in Big Sky and “highlight the great work of this young man” by telling Edgar’s story and sharing his craft.
Edgar was eight years old when he received a fly-tying kit for Christmas. Less than two years after that gift in 2018, a pandemic left people to their devices, or in Edgar’s case, fishing crafts.
“During COVID it was kind of like a nice way to just do stuff and it kind of passed the time,” Edgar said. When his mom gave him the green light to open a stall at the farmers market, Edgar prepared for the first year of business. Customers could buy one fly for $3 or two for $5, but Edgar explained that was just the start. The next year, he sold flies for fishing, and for Christmas trees in the form of ornaments.
Edgar described improvements to his stand at the market as well, including a white tent. As the name of his business, The Fly Box, got around he began to work on large custom orders including a 114-piece set and currently a 150-piece bundle.
At the end of his third year selling, Edgar decided to support a nonprofit cause. He admired Warriors & Quiet Waters’ efforts and thought his fly-tying business meshed well with their mission.
“I think that Montana is so pretty and giving people a chance to come out here and fish is just like a really good cause, and I want to support that,” Edgar said. On top of donations, Edgar also pays his dues in resort tax.
Since, Edgar has been working on increasingly complex flies.
“You can make a fly in 30 seconds and it can be super-duper simple, but also I make flies that have like three hooks on them and they take an hour to make for just one fly, and they’re just generally more challenging,” Edgar told EBS.
His latest challenge is an articulated streamer, a larger fly with at least two hooks. In his mind, catching fish on a fly like that is most rewarding.
Next summer, Edgar will launch new products like earrings, and fishing flies encased in resin to serve as paperweights and coasters at the farmers market. Of course, his handmade flies will be available too.
