Our Story
Built on generations of real fishing experience — this is who we are.
Why Flying Fish Outdoors
Flying Fish Outdoors was born from a multi-generational passion for fishing. What started with a dad taking his grandson out on the water has grown into a mission to share real fishing knowledge with serious anglers everywhere.
With roots in the legendary Tuna Club and decades of experience from veteran fishermen and experts, FFO is the real deal — no gimmicks, no fluff, just honest fishing content and gear from people who live it.
Our Story
The Beginning
Every great fishing story starts somewhere. Ours started with a dad taking his grandson out on the water for the first time — teaching him to tie knots, read the water, and respect the ocean.
That bond between generations is at the heart of Flying Fish Outdoors. We believe fishing knowledge should be passed down, shared openly, and preserved for those who come after us. It's not just about catching fish — it's about the lessons learned, the patience built, and the memories made on the water.
Today, that grandfather-to-grandson tradition lives on in everything we do. Every piece of content, every guide, every product is built with that same spirit — real knowledge, from real fishermen, passed down with care.
Our Roots
Flying Fish Outdoors draws from decades of Southern California fishing heritage. Our founders have fished these waters since before GPS and fish finders — when you had to read the birds, feel the current, and trust your instincts.
From the kelp beds off Catalina to the deep blue offshore canyons, we've spent thousands of hours on the water chasing everything from calico bass to blue fin tuna. That experience can't be bought — it has to be earned, season after season, year after year.
We built FFO to share that hard-won knowledge with a new generation of serious anglers who want the real deal — not clickbait, not sponsored fluff — just honest fishing wisdom from people who've lived it.
Legendary Legacy
Founded in 1898 on Catalina Island, the Tuna Club of Avalon is the oldest fishing club in the world — and a cornerstone of sportfishing as we know it. Our roots trace back to this legendary institution.
The Tuna Club pioneered light-tackle fishing, catch-and-release ethics, and the sportsman's code that still guides serious anglers today. Being connected to that legacy means something to us — it means holding ourselves to the highest standard of fishing ethics, knowledge, and sportsmanship.
When you learn from FFO, you're tapping into a tradition that stretches back over 125 years of fishing excellence.
Meet the Team
Our team isn't made up of influencers — they're lifelong fishermen, tournament winners, and marine veterans who know these waters inside and out.
Our experts have logged thousands of hours on the water — from inshore kelp beds to offshore big game. They know every species, every technique, and every secret spot along the Southern California coast.
No theory — just proven techniques refined over decades of real fishing. Our experts teach what actually works, sharing the same tactics they use on their own boats every single day.
Where It All Began
Two South Bay kids raised on the water by parents who lived for the ocean. This is the story of how Flying Fish Outdoors came to be.
South Bay Roots
Both of the Stotesbury parents were South Bay natives. Their mother, Roberta, grew up in Redondo Beach and graduated from Redondo Union High School, where she was an All Bay League swimmer. Their father, Ross, grew up in Manhattan Beach and graduated from Mira Costa High School.
Both parents spent their youth at the beach — surfing, skin diving, paddling, and fishing. Ross competed in the Catalina to Manhattan Beach Paddleboard Race in the mid ‘50s and spent winters in Hawaii chasing giant surf. By the mid ‘60s he had become a commercial fisherman and abalone diver, spending years working the coastline from Cortes Bank to Point Conception, making a living capturing shellfish.
Roberta still holds the IGFA 12 lb. line class record for a 43 lb. halibut she caught with Ross off Torrance Beach. Michael and Greg both caught some of their earliest offshore fish aboard Ross’s old single-diesel 33’ Jeffries commercial boat, moored in San Pedro.
The Early Years
Michael and Greg Stotesbury learned to swim, dive, surf, and fish at a very young age. They fished in the surf, on local half-day and full-day boats, and traveled with Roberta and Ross to all the local lakes. Weeklong trips to the Sierras were an annual tradition — camping and fishing at pretty much every lake, bay, creek, river, harbor, and ocean shoreline within several hundred miles of home in Torrance.
Bass, halibut, bonito, sea bass, yellowtail, spotfin croaker, lobster, abalone, trout, catfish, stripers, perch, and panfish — Roberta and Ross taught their sons how to catch (and eat) pretty much everything that swam or lived in the water.
Both brothers owned boats from a very early age, rebuilding and resurrecting old aluminum skiffs, wooden dinghies, and beat fiberglass throwaway boats — pretty much anything that could get them on the water. King Harbor in Redondo was their home water. They spent many days there catching bonito, halibut, bass, and yellowtail in the fertile grounds in and around the area, and spent many weekends at Catalina Island diving and fishing, just as their parents had done before them.
Proprietary Intelligence
Fish Gouge isn't a data feed. It's the product of a living network — licensed captains reporting live from the water, interpreted in real time by FFO's team of marine scientists and oceanographers who've spent careers studying these fisheries.
Twice a day, our network consolidates what's actually happening out there: species movement, bite windows, sea conditions, and migration signals — filtered through expert judgment, not algorithms. The result is intelligence that no app or public data source can replicate.
Our methodology has been developed over years of on-the-water collaboration and expert refinement. It's one of a kind — and it's exclusively yours as an FFO member.
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