🪶 Free fly tying inventory app — would love your feedback

T

TheAngler

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Apr 15, 2026
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Bellevue
Hey all — I'm a fly tyer and software developer, and I built a free web app to help me stop buying duplicates of materials I already had buried in
a drawer somewhere. It's grown into something I think other tyers might actually find useful, so I'm sharing it here for honest feedback.

🔗 https://flytyinginventory.com (free, no app store, works on phone / iPad / desktop)

What it does:
  • Track your materials — hooks, thread, feathers, dubbing, beads, wire, etc. Add by browsing the catalog or by scanning the barcode on the package.
  • Bulk add a whole size/color matrix in one go (e.g. all 10 sizes of a hook you bought).
  • Custom items with fields tailored to each category (Hooks get Style/Wire/Eye/Point, Feathers get Bird/Part/Grade, etc.) so the data stays searchable later.
  • Browse fly patterns and see at a glance which materials you already have vs. what you'd need to buy.
  • One-click add to shopping list or inventory straight from the pattern page — including an "add all missing" button.
  • Share your own patterns publicly with a link, or submit them to a community gallery.
  • Public pattern explorer at /explore — no login needed to browse.
It's free, no ads, no upsells. I'm not selling anything — I just want it to be useful. There's a feedback button in the app that goes straight to me, so if something is broken, missing, or just annoying, please tell me.

A few things I'd especially love feedback on:
  • Are the catalog materials covering the brands you actually use? If not, what's missing?
  • Is the barcode scanner working on your phone? (It hits a free product database — fly tying brands have decent coverage but it's not perfect.)
  • What would make this genuinely replace a spreadsheet / notebook for you?
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Tight lines 🎣
 

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FINALLY allowed to register

I tried to add a pattern. Can you add "Tip" and "Tag" individually to the materials category? A lot of flies use one or the other and sometimes both

Also add "Butt" "Horns" "Throat" and "Veiling"
 
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A question to PAFF, has this 3rd party site and app been verified, vetted or otherwise deemed secure? Am I off base here? Isn’t this what the experts tell us not to do to protect ourselves from malware?
 
There is no way I am organized enough to put my fly tying materials into an app, but since I am so disorganized, maybe the software would be beneficial for me.

I know I'll get all thirty packs of natural colored Awesome 'Possum dubbing used someday! Hardi-har-har
 
gfenlikestolosepasswords said:
caveat emptor.

it's not dkile's job to hold your hand, although i'd like if he'd hold mine sometimes.
Click to expand...
True, however I’m worried about you not me. I need 20 posts to sell an old pair of boots but I can make two posts about being a software developer and creating a free app to try by clicking on an unvetted 3rd party link. Yes I am overly suspicious. Yes I don’t trust strangers. Yes I see a lot of hooks in the statement that could be the result of my own paranoia. People who create malware are also software developers. I would caution everybody to not click on this link until it is in the Apple App Store. The fact that it isn’t in an App Store is a giant red flag. Now I’m not saying this isn’t legit but I’m pretty sure even the poster would direct his family and friends not to click on stuff on the internet that come from unknown entities.
 
I guess the concept is good if you have the time and inclination to add tons of items to set things up which would be the situation in my case, not to mention stuff with NO barcodes or from companies out of business.

And then you have the issue of constantly updating inventory when you buy new stuff which I tried when I was cornering the market on Gudebrod tying thread when they went bankrupt. It was a PIA...

Bottom line FOR ME is I don't buy fly tying materials like milk or eggs, in other words worrying about having more than I'll use in a given amount of time. When I shop for materials I NEVER EVER buy one package of hooks or whatever...

In addition, all of my materials from thread & wire to hackle is stored on shelving in a labeled bins, boxes or bags by the type of material so it is easy to see & find stuff and know what I have on hand. Because of this, if I want to tie three dozen beetles tomorrow, I KNOW I have what I need.

When I'm done if I see that I'm getting close to having less that 100 size 16 dry fly hooks or two packages of my preferred dubbing, I write it down on the ever present tablet of paper (imagine that) I have in my tying desk and procure more from available sources when I'm done tying.

Just like I do with milk & eggs...

YMMV
 
poopdeck said:
True, however I’m worried about you not me. I need 20 posts to sell an old pair of boots but I can make two posts about being a software developer and creating a free app to try by clicking on an unvetted 3rd party link. Yes I am overly suspicious. Yes I don’t trust strangers. Yes I see a lot of hooks in the statement that could be the result of my own paranoia. People who create malware are also software developers. I would caution everybody to not click on this link until it is in the Apple App Store. The fact that it isn’t in an App Store is a giant red flag. Now I’m not saying this isn’t legit but I’m pretty sure even the poster would direct his family and friends not to click on stuff on the internet that come from unknown entities.
Click to expand...
@poopdeck — your concern is completely fair. This is a web app, not a downloaded app, which is why it’s not in an app store. I’m not offended by anyone being cautious about clicking a link from someone they don’t know. Honestly, people should be cautious online. I built this for myself first and shared it because I thought other tyers might find it useful too.

@Bamboozle — also fair. If you already have a storage system and a paper method that works, this may not be worth the setup for you. The people I think it helps most are the ones who lose track of materials, buy duplicates, or want to see quickly whether they can tie a pattern with what they already have. I’m trying to keep improving the bulk-add and scanning workflow so setup is less of a pain.

Really appreciate everyone taking the time to weigh in.
 
5footfenwick said:
So you swear you are a human and just want to organize my flytying materials????…………
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Click to expand...
@5footfenwick - I’m a pretty nerdy guy and was looking for a few projects to work on as I head toward retirement. I’m not under any illusion that this is a huge market, but I figured there are at least a few people out there with similar overly obsessive tendencies. 🙂
 
poopdeck said:
I don’t understand it either. Popeye was one of the best shows ever produced. Imagine my surprise when I found out nobody was using poopdeck yet.
Click to expand...
I'm old enough to have watched Popeye on Sundays after church while Aunt Helen prepped the pasta but never knew poopdeck was Pappy's real name. I feel enriched. Thank you.

Relto the app, novel idea but constructively not really for me. To @Bamboozle 's point , I have way too much legacy stuff . . . . and way too much stuff . . . to want to inventory. Only exception to that is thread - which I do keep a running inventory of. If I end up in a fly shop and bought a dubbing pack because I'm not sure I have one at home, and it turns out I do, it just goes in my travel kit and I don't lose any sleep over my unnecessary net $0.70 contribution to a brick mortar. If I'm placing an online order, I'm usually at or near my tying bench and verify what I have and what I need.

Online security is important and it wouldnt hurt if @TheAngler did a little more to convince us seemingly random links are safe. Forget the finances and smart locks and PII. I can't afford someone hacking into my online ecosystem and downloading my GaiaGPS tracks and routes and learning where all the brookies actually are 😁

I believe the OP's intent is to share his personal work for others to use no different than some of us used to share an XL template with others that had a common template but it just feels different these days.

Thx for the consideration but I respectfully have to pass.
 
jeffroey said:
Online security is important and it wouldnt hurt if @TheAngler did a little more to convince us seemingly random links are safe.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t imagine using this site myself, but I ran an assessment through urlscan.io by Claude, and fwiw the site itself appears generally ok security-wise. (WHOIS looked ok too, btw)

Claude’s urlscan.io assessment:
Green flags
• Hosted on AWS (Amazon) — legitimate, mainstream hosting
• Google Safe Browsing clean
• No classification = not flagged by any engine
• HTTPS enforced (HTTP 307 redirects to HTTPS)
• 97% HTTPS transactions
• Zero cookies — not harvesting anything
• Page title is coherent and specific (“Track Materials & Discover Patterns”) — not a generic phishing placeholder
Yellow flags worth noting
• Domain ~1 month old — very new, though not suspicious on its own
• TLS cert issued March 26 with only 3-month validity — short, but Let’s Encrypt R12 certs are commonly 90 days; this is normal practice
• Only ever scanned once — no history to compare against
• DNS A record changed between scan and live check (216.150.1.65 → 216.150.1.129) — normal for AWS load balancing, not a red flag
Fathom analytics — privacy-focused analytics tool; actually a positive signal, used by indie developers who care about not tracking users with Google Analytics
Bottom line: Nothing here looks malicious. The profile fits a legitimate small indie web app launched ~4 weeks ago. The only real risk factor is newness. Given it’s fly tying specific, it’s almost certainly not a phishing trap — that’s a pretty narrow target for a scammer to bother building.
I’d call it low risk, safe to visit.
 
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📸 Try Photo Identify — Beta

Snap a photo of your fly tying materials and let our AI add them to your inventory — brand, color, and size pre-filled. No more typing... or at least less typing.

One photo, multiple items Lay out a handful of materials together — hooks, beads, dubbing, threads — in a single shot. The AI identifies each one separately, matches them against your existing inventory (so no duplicates), and lines them up for review.

Where to find it
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  • 🖥️ Desktop — homepage Quick Actions row, or the camera icon up in the header (works from any page)
  • 📱 Phone / tablet — same spots, plus a floating camera button bottom-right of the screen. Honestly, mobile is where it shines.
How it works
  1. Tap Photo Identify and take/upload a photo (one item or many)
  2. Wait a moment — analysis typically takes 10–20 seconds per image (sometimes longer for busy shots). It's AI doing real work, so a little patience pays off.
  3. Review each match — edit brand, color, size, or quantity, drop anything you don't want, then accept. Items land straight in your inventory.
What we need from you
  • 👍 / 👎 each match so we know what's working
  • Tell us when something looks wrong (bad match, missing brand, weird behavior)
Photos auto-delete after 30 days. Generous daily quota. Have fun with it.
 
🎣 Fly Tying Inventory — What's New (May 17)

🪶 Smarter pattern matching — the app finally knows your substitute drawer
If you've ever scrolled through the patterns library, glanced at a Zonker and thought "I've got brown rabbit strip but
the recipe asks for olive — does that count?" — this week's update is for you. 🎣

🪝 Substitute-aware matching, everywhere
When you mark one material as a substitute for another in your inventory, every screen that talks about what you can tie
now takes that into account…

🔔 New: Notifications when things change in your inventory
Look up at the top-right of any page — there's now a bell icon. 🛎️ When something in your inventory changes that wasn't your doing — like when I clean up a duplicate material in the catalog, fix a brand spelling, or merge two near-identical entries — you'll get a notification telling you exactly what happened and why…
 
I just shipped a couple of features to make your patterns look sharp and easy to share. The one thing I will note is that the image cleanup can be compute intensive, so be patient. It can take up to a minute to generate. All of the new features are available in the custom pattern section.
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✨ Clean up your pattern photos with AI: When you add a photo to a pattern, you'll now see a "Clean up with AI" button. One click isolates the fly — dropping the vise, background, hands, tools, and harsh shadows — recenters it in a clean square frame on a soft white background, and gives it a subtle product-portrait polish. It stays faithful to your fly: same hook, proportions, materials, and colors. You get a side-by-side before/after, and you can revert to your original anytime.
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📸 Post your flies straight to Instagram: Open one of your own patterns and tap Instagram. We'll generate a square, social-ready card of your fly (a few layouts to choose from) and draft a caption — written in a real tyer's voice, with hashtags — that you can edit however you like. Save the image, copy the caption, open Instagram, and post. No more screenshots or fighting with crops.

Both are live now. Tie something, snap it, share it.
 
I am testing an IOS version of the FlyTyingInventory app and I am looking for a limited number of testers. If you are interested, please let me know.
 
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