My name is David Whyte (Davie), and I’m based in Aberdeen, “The Granite City”. I have been a fly fisherman for over 40 years, fishing on wild Rivers for Salmon and Trout, as well as in stocked fisheries; if there is a fish there that would take my fly i am there!
Over the years i got more and more disappointed with the flies i was buying, i was sick of paying far too much for poor quality flies.
My father had taught me how to tie flies when I was a kid, and due to work commitment, I never tied my own. I got lazy and just purchased flies. However, all the flies were subpar, with hooks breaking and materials falling off, and the price for a fly was getting out of control, so I started to tie my own. I had worked my entire life in the oil industry, but my contracts were becoming increasingly shorter, and I kept having to find new jobs. So, I started a sideline in selling bought-in flies, but the quality was really not good. My father said, If you ever get the chance, why don’t you tie up some flies, see if they sell, and take it from there?’ As our flies are so much better than what you’re buying in.’ Well I did that exact thing tied a selection of flies and put them on my Facebook page and they sold withing seconds a few days later out the blue I got made redundant from my job in the oil industry so I started to tie more flies due to just sitting about doing nothing and yip you guessed it they also sold straight away – so I started “Granite City Fishing”.
The only thing I had in mind was to supply anglers with quality flies at a reasonable cost! However, there has to be no compromise on quality. I would not want anyone fishing with flies that I wouldn’t use myself, and Granite City Fishing flies are the only flies I now use, all tied by myself!
All flies are tied to order, and some are now stocked. I will expand this option over the next few months. I use the best UK-sourced materials and the highest-quality hooks available from other small, UK-based businesses, just like my own. That way, I also get the great one-on-one interaction with my suppliers, the same interaction I pass on to my customers.
It’s great to now receive feedback from fellow anglers and suppliers who are seeing the benefits of using the flies I supply in my online shop.
We also supply fisheries request a partner account.
Remember, a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work!
Tight Lines
Davie
