One of fly fishing’s most recognizable names is officially calling Montrose home.
Mayfly Outdoors announced Tuesday that it has relocated Renzetti’s manufacturing operations from Titusville, Florida, to the company’s Colorado Outdoors campus, bringing production of the high-end fly-tying vises and tools alongside fellow heritage brands Ross Reels and Abel Reels.
The relocation comes nearly two years after Mayfly Outdoors acquired Renzetti in August 2024. The company said manufacturing equipment arrived at the Montrose facility earlier this month, with the transition expected to be complete by Aug. 1.
For Mayfly Outdoors CEO Jeff Wagner, consolidating operations in Montrose became the logical next step after evaluating the costs and efficiencies of operating multiple facilities.
“We hadn’t originally planned on moving Renzetti’s production to Colorado, but a close look at the full operation made it clear as we are seeing increasing costs to aluminum, electrical, and running multiple facilities,” Wagner said in a statement. “Having Renzetti’s machines alongside our engineering, quality, and anodizing teams in Montrose, plus the benefit of enhanced Swiss machining for Ross and Abel, made a compelling case.”
Despite the relocation, the company emphasized that customers should notice little change beyond where the products are made.
According to Shelby Rossi, marketing director for Mayfly Outdoors, bringing Renzetti’s manufacturing to Montrose will not alter the brand’s commitment to quality or craftsmanship.
“It’s not going to limit any standards or quality or commitment,” Rossi said. “We’ve joined families for a while now. In the fly-fishing community, Renzetti is a very established brand. We’ve learned from them, they’ve learned from us.”
Founded by Andy Renzetti in Pennsylvania in 1972, the company began in a one-car garage making fly-tying hand tools before developing the Presentation 3000, what the company describes as the world’s first true rotary fly-tying vise.
The design helped establish Renzetti as one of fly fishing’s premier manufacturers, and the company eventually expanded into a dedicated manufacturing facility before relocating to Titusville, Florida, where it operated for more than 30 years.
Renzetti became part of the Mayfly Outdoors family in 2024.
Several of the original machines used to manufacture Renzetti’s signature vises made the journey from Florida to Colorado and are now operating inside Mayfly Outdoors facility.
Members of the Renzetti production team also relocated, bringing with them decades of hands-on knowledge, technique and craftsmanship that have defined the brand since its founding.
Leadership also will remain familiar. Nick Way will continue serving as Renzetti’s brand manager, while Leighton Harp will remain head of operations. Product specifications, pricing and dealer terms are unchanged, and founders Andy and Lily Renzetti, along with their son Andrew, will continue to live in Florida.
For Rossi, the move represents more than a manufacturing consolidation.
“It’s just so cool that Montrose has become this hub for fly fishing,” she said. “This move and adding Renzetti to the family really reinforces that. It’s become a fly-fishing capital, and it’s cool that we get to support that and support tourism here.”
She said bringing another legacy brand under the same roof reflects the culture Mayfly Outdoors has built.
“It’s all run on passion,” Rossi said. “Having these heritage brands together makes it really special.”
Ed LeViness, owner of Ed’s Fly Shop in Montrose, said the relocation is another sign of the city’s growing importance in the fly-fishing industry.
“It’s definitely a cool move, bringing another fly-fishing brand to Montrose,” LeViness said. “We feel this is the fly-fishing capital of Colorado. This is just a good place for it.”
LeViness said the move also has practical benefits for local fly shops.
“It’ll be nice, actually, for us because we can just run over there and grab those vises or parts instead of having them shipped in,” he said. “It’ll save us money.”
The relocation is just the latest development in Mayfly Outdoors’ long-term investment in Montrose.
After acquiring Montrose-based Ross Reels from Orvis in 2013, the company announced plans the following year to establish its headquarters in Montrose and consolidate additional fly-fishing brands here.
Mayfly later relocated manufacturing operations for Abel Reels to Montrose, broke ground on its headquarters as the first building at the Colorado Outdoors development, and moved into its 41,000-square-foot headquarters at 1101 Mayfly Drive in 2019 as the project’s anchor tenant.
In 2023, Mayfly Outdoors also acquired Dyna-King, another manufacturer of high-end fly-tying vises.
With Renzetti now manufacturing alongside Ross Reels and Abel Reels at its Montrose campus, Mayfly Outdoors has further concentrated some of the fly-fishing industry’s best-known brands in Montrose.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
