The Fly Stop

TheFlyStop is a retail fly shop and e-commerce business specializing in fly fishing, hunting and sporting goods. Founded in Pennsylvania in 2006, it is an online seller of fishing flies in the United States.

The Fly Stop
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded2006
FounderKory Van Tassel
HeadquartersSan Diego, CA
Number of locations
4 retail stores, 1 outlet stores
Key people
  • Matthew Austin President of Business and Strategy
  • Conway Bowman Director, Guide Operations
ProductsClothing, gift/home, fly fishing, dogs, luggage and outdoor equipment
Websitetheflystop.com

History

The company's beginnings started out of a truck where Kory Van Tassel spent downtime tying flies one dozen at a time as he waited for customers he was guiding on the rivers of central and western Pennsylvania. While building the initial customer base he worked for another successful store, the Neshannock Creek Fly Shop,[1] which sat on prime Blue Ribbon trout fishing. He would take long junkets up to New York for steelhead guiding, and after fishing a client all day would set up a vice tying late into the night in cheap motels trying to keep up, before getting up at 4 A.M. to drive to the next spot and set up for the day. Eventually the demand grew to the point he could no longer keep up on his own and began to search for additional tiers to fulfill demand. At the same time he realized that he could only reach a limited number of customers within a small radius of his region invested in a website, www.theflystop.com, to try and expand the market he could reach.

After seeing some great initial success he relocated the business to Colorado, continuing to service the East Coast through dedicated customer service and long hours to keep up in both time zones. The business expanded slower than expected in Colorado and after a series of unfortunate business dealings migrated back to its roots in Pennsylvania.

In 2012 Matthew Austin[2] was brought in as a temporary consultant to the company and was later invited to join as Director of Marketing and E-commerce. This key hire would serve as a turning point in the direction of the company and led to the technologization of many of the companies infrastructure and fulfillment processes, re-branding, expansion of core business arena and growth into additional markets in California. In 2015 he was appointed to a role of President of Business and Lead Strategist.

Their flagship store is located at 9275 Trade Place, Suite E San Diego, California and their fleet of guide boats operates out of Dana Landing.

Famous Personalities

Their fishing guide service is known worldwide for two of the sports most interesting target species, Mako Sharks[3] and Carp. Captain Conway Bowman pioneered fishing for Mako's on the fly[4][5][6] also is host to several ESPN, Sportman Channel,[7] World Fishing network,[8] and the target of several fly fishing film documentaries.

Additionally the company is a national host to the Carp Throwdown[9] held in Santa Ysabel, CA which attracts anglers from around the country to compete for various prizes from orvis, patagonia and others[10]

Competition

The Carp Throwdown is an annual carp fishing event held in Southern California at Lake Henshaw. It is one of the premier fly fishing events in the country[11] Annually sponsored by Orvis, Patagonia, Scott Fly Rods, Abel Reels, Simms Fishing Products and Reisa Fly Fishing it features divisions for both team boat and individual walk and wade. Started in 2012 by Conway Bowman and Al Quatracchi it was acquired by Theflystop.com in 2014. It was featured in the film Carpland[12] by RA Beattie in 2014 which preceded to win 2015 Movie of the Year by the Drake Magazine.[13]

Additionally the Flying Mako tournament has run in San Diego several years but is less popular than their Carp Event.

Conservation programs

The Fly Stop is a dedicated benefactor of local and national environmental, fishing, hunting, and Women Oriented causes including Wounded Warriors, Coast Keepers, Trout Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, Walk For a Cure, Ruffed Grouse Society, Surfrider Foundation, Casting for Recovery, Stop Pebble Mine, Save Bristol Bay and several educational institutions and youth programs.

Statistics
An Orvis Green Highlander salmon fly.

The company services customers in over 150 countries, the American Armed Forces Abroad, and all 50 States and 16 territories. They disperse over 200 parcels daily through a newly expanded shipping and receiving center.

References and sources
  1. http://www.ncflyshop.com/news.stm
  2. http://askaboutflyfishing.com/speakers/matt-austin/matt-austin.cfm
  3. http://www.theflystop.com/san-diego-california-shark-fishing
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/sports/13sharks.html?_r=0
  5. http://www.worldsgreatestfishing.com/podcast/mako-shark-fishing-with-captain-conway-bowman-of-bowman-bluewater-ep-35/
  6. http://www.bowmanbluewater.com/index.php?/TFS/Trips/BBGO/body/Sort1/asc/bottom/C16/
  7. http://thefordoutfitters.com/
  8. http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/fifty-places/host
  9. http://www.anglingtrade.com/2014/06/11/lake-henshaw-3rd-annual-carp-tournament-june-28th/
  10. http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/flytalk/2014/05/help-me-solve-carp-riddle
  11. http://midcurrent.com/2014/06/16/lake-henshaw-carp-throwdown/
  12. http://carpfishingfilm.com/
  13. http://www.drakemag.com/featured-content/daily-drake/1453-drake-magazine-best-fishing-movies.html
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