Our Mission

As a newer fly fishermen, without the benefit of a father, grandfather or close friend to teach me the ropes, I was left to my own devices when it came to learning this sport. I was consistently struggling to identify the best fly patterns to throw based on seasons, time of day and river conditions. I struggled to read the water accurately. Had no clue how to throw a streamer, and stuck to the classic overhand method of fly fishing with plenty of tree tangles mixed in there.

I discovered the world of YouTube and began self-teaching by watching other fly fishing anglers virtually. I was struggling to really apply these concepts on the water though, and began to wonder how I could meet other local anglers in real life. I felt that I could learn more by getting on the water with people and learning new perspectives.

I struggled to find local fly fishing anglers or friends that were into the sport, and decided to double down.  I joined a few facebook groups and things but didn’t really make an impact on growing my fly fishing network. Fast forward a few more years and I had this idea of a fly fishing platform that made it easy to connect with other anglers, all while helping you level up your fly fishing. I jumped in head first, and very naively.  I had no prior development or software background but began self-teaching along the way.

The primary struggles I personally was facing as a new fly fish angler, and as I finally met a few other people in my neck of the woods, seemingly we all struggled with similar pain points.  1. We were constantly ending up at the same couple of fly fishing spots time and time again. 2. We were likely catching all the same fish over again. 3. Truly advancing and finding more success on the water was difficult from just watching online tutorials. At this point, I knew that there had to be a better way?

Backtrack to March of 2019, this is when the dirty work really begins. During this time I purchased a domain to own rights to flyfishfinder.com and began creating a glorified website that had a few tricks baked in.

Anglers could now make profiles and message other anglers on the site. This alone took nearly a year to work through developing. I had no prior software experience so it took a ton of learning, but I refused to outsource it. I wanted to be involved in every facet of the business and development, so that I understood it intricately. Many founders begin outsourcing right away and lose a grip on how it functions.  I wanted to understand all the ins and outs of the platform, and dictate its direction. This concept is what initially got people excited and I didn’t want to stray from it.

We acquired several early users and interest and early/mid 2020 we began working on building a web application/software to run these features.  By user request, we also began adding custom maps into the app.  Spoiler: this is what has taken the most time to develop. Researching, acquiring, and cleaning all the data is a massive task as well as standardizing that into a unified map resource. Nearly 5,000 hours alone have gone into developing this data and map tools that exist today at the time of writing (August 2024).

Though there have been many challenging days. Many days I’ve wanted to give up on pursuing this dream. I was able to stick with it, though its been much slower than I want at times, it’s gone exactly as it was always meant to go. I am always happy to chat with fellow anglers and entrepreneurs interested in what it takes to create and bring your own ideas to life. 

Andrew
Founder of FlyFishFinder

(Email: andrew@flyfishfinder.com).  

There are plenty of goals still ahead for the app. Our mission is to create a tool with a multi-faceted community that allows fly fishing anglers more time and success on the water. To that end, we are currently growing our team and adding more anglers to the crew. We are excited about what the future holds and will work tirelessly to keep advancing the platform for fly fishing.

Are you driven to get the most of your limited time on the water? If so, FlyFishFinder is for you. As fly anglers ourselves, our team has worked to solve common pain points.  By Joining our Fly Fishing App you’ll receive elite benefits not offered anywhere else. From comprehensive mapping and filters, to a dedicated angler community, experience the FlyFishFinder difference and fish further this year. Our app enables you to explore tons of new water while saving time and money in the process.

• 225,000 rivers mapped across 50 states.
• 55,000 trout streams.
• 25+ filters inside the map for honing in on key areas.
• In-App Community that enables you to network with other anglers.
• Reach out for local tips and insight when trip planning. Better yet, fish together. 
• Store and save unlimited data points privately!
• Connect with Guides and Shops.
• Thousands of campsites and trailheads
• Free and Premium options are available so you always have options.

We are dedicated to bringing you the best platform available to improve your time spent on the water.  That’s why we’ve invested nearly 8,000 hours to date on R&D.  We firmly believe the best way to improve is to build your network and gain and share insight with anglers across the country, from different backgrounds and experience levels. No, we aren’t social media or Fishbrain. We are built for fly anglers, and those apps just don’t work for our needs. 

We’ve worked with top notch anglers from around the country to implement the design of the app. FlyFishFinder makes it easy to join and connect with anglers matching your criteria. If growing your fly fishing network isn’t for you, we have extensive and curated map data so you can quickly find new stretches to fish.