Purpose of Fly Fishing Apps
Fly fishing apps, like hunting and hiking apps are meant to serve a specific purpose. That purpose can be varied depending on the producer of the app. The trend within Outdoor apps like hunting and fishing, is to help you explore much more easily and with less hassle. Here we will touch on several of these apps and compare them to the intended purpose of the FlyFishFinder app.
Fishing Apps
This has been an emerging industry over the past couple of years. Names like DIY Fly Fishing, Trout Routes, onWater and even Fishbrain are all gaining notoriety within the industry. They all put their own twist on the purpose of their apps, and Fishbrain isn’t known to be an effective fly fishing app. Fly Fishing is a unique sport of its own, and anglers in this sport prefer things a certain way. As fly anglers ourselves we understand that these places we fish are sacred, and protecting their integrity is vital. At FlyFishFinder we place great importance on this fact. We simply provide as many options to anglers as we can, and allow for them to make decisions on where they opt to fish.
We know that Trout Routes is trout only focused, and has in depth mapping to help anglers explore public water and find great places to fish. onWater placed emphasis on helping anglers who do float trips navigate water easily with hazards and various put-ins around the area. With the FlyFishFinder app, you will be gaining access to premium maps with several thousand hours put in researching and updating data, as well as creating proprietary data spanning all 50 states. Currently we release all states, but denote which ones are considered ‘complete’ within the app itself. We are a multi-species app spanning both cold water and warm water fisheries, and touching on Saltwater as well. The app does not specifically map saltwater access per say, but the secret sauce of the app lies within the engaged Angler Community.
Differentiators for the FFF Fly Fishing App
Fly fishing apps all have their pros and cons, as with anything in life. Here we will expand upon a few key differentiators within the design and execution of the FlyFishFinder app. By the way, there is a browser version of the app as well as iOS and Android versions. The mobile versions of the app are the most complete at this stage, and the browser version will be getting some major enhancements and updates in the near future. We are a very small team that has been completely self financed to date so making updates and addressing all the business needs at once is just not possible unfortunately.
Key Features
Multi Species – as mentioned the FlyFishFinder app is multi-species focused, and even denotes the prominent species available at the stream level. Not all 250,000 streams have details for species, nor do all the 20,000+ existing trout streams but over time we will continue to work to add to the database. This information on specific fish is only from accredited resources. Bass, Musky, Steelhead, Carp and other types of fish are all rapidly expanding in fly fishing and we don’t want to be exclusive to just trout fishing.
Community – the key differentiator setting the app apart is the inbuilt community. All Pro members have the ability for unlimited in-app messaging. Of the handful of fly fishing apps, we are the industry’s only app offering you a chance to join the community. Why is this a necessity? These apps will grow somewhat stale over time as there are only so many places we could map for you, but the people that you can interact with and share your fishing experiences with, will ultimately keep you engaged long haul. The best fly anglers we know have also built the biggest networks, and fish all over the US because of this network. You can find the same experiences through the FFF app, gain local insights when trip planning, fish with new people and learn and share knowledge on the water all while finding more success. At the end of the day, its about continued growth in the sport and catching fish in cool places.
UI/UX – we have placed a high level of importance on creating a great user experience unlike any other fly fishing apps. From the friendly Dashboard you will hit after successful account creation and login, to navigating through to the maps and various map styles, community, filters and even your private chat screens. This is intended to save you hours on researching, and make it easy to build a network, kind of like LinkedIn for fishing.
Outdoor Apps
Outdoor apps such as hiking, cycling and hunting all have many similiarities to the FlyFishFinder app and other fishing apps. These are considered adjacent industries but instrumental in the overall expansion of apps in fly fishing. Prevoiusly, it was though of as taboo to map areas for fly fishing but those days are long gone. As anglers ourselves, we are sensitive to this concern with the sport of fly fishing and fly fishing apps.
We are laying out 250,000 river options, working to expand data into alpine lakes and lakes as well, and potentially some saltwater fishing over time. There is more data here than one person could possibly have time for in their life. This will only open up the options for a person instead of having to fish those same 3 or 4 spots we always seem to end up at. Also for the Weekend Warrior anglers who have little time to research and explore, the FlyFishFinder app will take care of the grunt work and allow you time to hone in on those key areas and simply go enjoy fishing.
Save Money
Another key goal from the get go of our fly fishing app has been to not only save time and hassle, but money. There will no longer be the need to hire a fishing guide every new place you roam. Simply open the app, scan the map and find someone in your desired area, and reach out for advice, tips on gear and flies or plan a meet up to hit the water together. This will be the most effective option at gaining insights, growing your network and developing faster in the sport.
Again, the best anglers we know that catch a ton of fish, are also those same people with massive fishing networks. Seems like they know someone in every state. That was a huge part of the inspiration for the app.
Fly vs Traditional Angling
Fly fishermen and women are a different breed typically. Personally, most of us come from the traditional angling side and know many people who still strictly practice catch and release. But as fly anglers, we have never met someone in the sport who doesn’t practice catch and release. It’s in our blood and engrained in the sport from the moment you start.
We are building an app specifically dedicated to the sport and people in fly fishing because they are doing the most good for the world and the fish we love. We want to allow you to have a voice in the sport and use our platform to get your message and name out there. This is a spot for anglers to come and feel welcome regardless of experience, or skill level. The best way to grow is to learn from others. You need to find anglers to get connected with and go fish together. Hands down this is the most effective method for growing in the sport, and that’s where our app can really benefit you.
Fly Fishing Guide
We designed the app to give you access to anglers all across the country. Wherever your next trip takes you, plan it with confidence. Making the right connections in the sport of fly fishing will take you places. The FlyFishFiner app is intended to do just that.
We have plans to develop a portal for professional fly fishing guides as well to market their services inside the app with a unique profile, but this would be in a much later release of the app.
Badges
To continue building and enhancing the user experience, we plan to implement a badge system for anglers who are top contributors inside the app to earn badges. We also want you to be able to find local fly tiers and support them, as well as find the most lethal fly patterns when you travel by connecting with these tiers. We will give a badge to local tiers and allow them to display images of their flies as well.
Fly Fishing Apps Conclusion
We get it, there will always be some resistant to this idea of apps in fly fishing, but the thing to keep in mind is that you can’t stop progress. If not us, someone would have developed similar apps and probably wouldn’t have been so careful these past four years developing and engaging with the fly community to build something useful. We have been careful not to expose fly fishing, and especially not cause harm to the fish.
We hope to use any user generated data someday to benefit Trout Unlimited, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and other organizations to protect our beloved fisheries. We are giving back to these organizations, and focused on leaving our waters better than when we found them. We have kids and want the legacy in the sport to carry on for them to enjoy these wild and sacred places as much as we did.
For additional reading on methods for finding the best spots, check out this article
