Fly fishing videos make the man from Stanley a social media sensation

STANLEY, Va. (WHSV) – A Stanley man has become a social media sensation thanks to his love of fly fishing. Brian Smith, also known as Fly Smith, creates and sells custom flies and lures and has seen his following skyrocket.

For the past two years, Smith has posted videos on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram of himself tying flies and sharing a little about their history, and now has hundreds of thousands of followers.

“I went fishing with my neighbor, he took me fly fishing for the first time and I really enjoyed it,” Smith said. “He kept saying he couldn't get Sneaky Petes, so I went on a mission to tie them for him. I just stuck with it and started uploading them a few weeks after tying them and it just took off.”

Smith said he spends hours every day researching the history of different flies on forums and books to discuss in his videos. While his growth was “really slow at first,” his following has since grown dramatically.

“It only takes one video, you know? I've had a few that had over 25 million views and then it just took off,” Smith said. “I get a lot of reach from it and then all of a sudden a lot of people are following me and it just happened.”

In total, Smith has over 480,000 followers, including celebrities like Chris Pratt.

“It's kind of weird because where I live, everyone knows everyone,” Smith said. “Everywhere I go, people are always asking me to tell them stories about it or how it happened or whatever. I'm just a normal person.”

Smith was a tattoo artist for 18 years before opening his fly fishing business. He said he loves the art of tying and creating different flies, but his favorite part of the posts is sharing his love of fly fishing with more people.

“This is all about teaching history and engaging children,” Smith said. “It's not really about the money – it's more about the lore.”

Smith said he is working on adding multiple views to his videos and he hopes to travel in the future and make videos of himself tying flies in specific destinations with scenic backdrops.

You can check out Smith’s work on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram.

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