Plan your next trip, choose your flies, record what worked, and know when those conditions return. Here’s how the FlyGuysNLies Mobile fly fishing app compares with TroutRoutes and onWater.
About this comparison: we make FlyGuysNLies. Details for the other apps come from each app’s own App Store listing, website or help docs, checked on September 23–24, 2026. “Not listed” means the app’s own materials don’t mention the feature — not that we tested it and found it missing. If something has changed, let us know and we’ll update it.
FlyGuysNLies at a glance
Looking for a TroutRoutes or onWater alternative built around fly fishing? FlyGuysNLies is a fly fishing app for Western trout anglers in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and New Mexico, built for the whole arc of a fishing trip:
- Plan the trip — River Verdicts rate every river Excellent to Unfishable against its own wading and floating flows, the Fishing Forecast rates each upcoming day with the hatches to expect, and the Trip Brief puts it all on one screen.
- Choose your flies — Fly & Rig Picks match flies and a rig to today’s conditions, can favor the flies already in your Fly Boxes, and link to step-by-step rigging guides. Every pattern comes with a tying recipe.
- Record what worked — log trips with conditions filled in for you, then see which flows, flies and tactics have worked on each river.
- Know when it’s on again — Hatch Alerts when a hatch is starting, Smart Alerts when your river comes into shape, and alerts when flows return to those of a great past trip.
- $14.99 a year — the lowest annual price of the three apps on the US App Store as of September 2026, and many features are free.
Plan your trip
| Feature | FlyGuysNLies | TroutRoutes | onWater |
|---|---|---|---|
| River rating (is it fishing today?) | River Verdicts — Excellent to Unfishable, scored against each river’s own wading and floating flow ranges, adjusted for water temp, clarity and weather. Free on favorite rivers. | Not listed | No overall rating; gauges show green or red against flow ranges you set (Plus) |
| Day-by-day fishing forecast | Fishing Forecast — each upcoming day rated, with the hatches to expect | No per-day fishing rating listed; compare live and historical flows yourself (PRO) | No per-day fishing rating listed; 10-day weather forecast (Plus) and streamflow forecasts where available |
| River-specific hatch charts | Hatch Charts — in the app, free | Not listed | Not listed |
| One-screen trip summary | Trip Brief — verdict, flows, hatches, flies, rig, regulations and weather on one shareable screen | Not listed | Not listed |
| Home-screen widget | Yes (iOS) — verdict, flow and weather for a favorite river, free | Not listed | Not listed |
Choose your flies
| Feature | FlyGuysNLies | TroutRoutes | onWater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flies for today’s conditions | Fly & Rig Picks — flies matched to current conditions and active hatches | Not listed | Not listed |
| Rig recommendations | Recommended Rigs — dry-dropper, nymph and other rigs matched to today’s water (Premium) | Not listed | Not listed |
| Fly box that shapes the picks | Fly Boxes — organize your flies by river (3 boxes free, unlimited with Premium); with Premium, rig picks can favor flies you already own | Not listed | Not listed |
| Rigging and knot guides | Free step-by-step rigging guides and knot library, linked from your rig recommendation | Not listed | Not listed |
| Fly tying recipes | Free — every pattern in the Fly Library has a materials list and step-by-step tying instructions | Not listed | Not listed |
Record what worked
| Feature | FlyGuysNLies | TroutRoutes | onWater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishing log | Free trip log with catches, flies, tactics, notes and photos. With Premium, flow and weather for past trips are filled in automatically (up to 30 days back). | Map markers with notes and photos (PRO); no journal listed | Free fishing journal; conditions filled in automatically with Plus |
| Insights from your own trips | With Premium, see the flows, flies and tactics that have worked for you — overall and on each river section | Not listed | Journal Insights: which conditions and weather windows line up with your best days (Pro) |
| Your spots on the map | With Premium, GPS-tagged spots from your log appear on the river map with the date, catch, fly and conditions | Personal waypoints with notes and photos (PRO) | Waypoints with notes and photos |
| Import and export your log | Free — import a CSV log; export as CSV, JSON or PDF | No data export — its FAQ says there are no current plans | Imports GPX/KML waypoints; log export not documented |
Know when it’s on again
| Feature | FlyGuysNLies | TroutRoutes | onWater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatch alerts | Hatch Alerts — a push when water temperature says a hatch is starting on your river (rivers with a hatch chart and a water-temp gauge). Free on favorite rivers; every such river with Premium. | Not listed | Not listed |
| Conditions alerts | Smart Alerts — flow range, optimal window, water temp, water clarity, closures, trend change and gauge offline. Free on favorite rivers, every river with Premium; email alerts with Premium. | Not listed | Advertises alerts for your ideal flows on its feature pages |
| Alerts based on a great past trip | With Premium, get alerted when a river’s flow returns to within range of a successful past trip, with an optional time-of-year filter | Not listed | Not listed |
Maps and flows
| Feature | FlyGuysNLies | TroutRoutes | onWater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Curated Western rivers in CO, WY, MT, UT and NM | 50,000+ trout streams, 48 states | Rivers, lakes and saltwater nationwide |
| Live USGS flows | Free | PRO | Basic gauges free; full dashboard Plus |
| Water temperature | Free, where the gauge reports it | Not listed | Plus |
| Public land map | Free (our five states) | PRO | Free |
| Access points & boat ramps | Premium — reviewed points on our rivers | PRO | Free |
| Offline maps | Free offline map pack for our five states | PRO | Plus |
Price
| App | Paid plan (annual) | Other plans | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| FlyGuysNLies | $14.99/yr Premium | — | 7 days (eligible users), then $14.99/yr unless canceled |
| TroutRoutes | $39.99/yr PRO | $9.99/mo; $19.99/yr single state | 7 days |
| onWater | $49.99/yr Plus | $89.99/yr Pro | 7 days |
US App Store prices shown on each app’s listing or pricing page on September 23, 2026. Prices vary by region and change often — confirm in the store before you subscribe. Free trials renew into a paid subscription unless you cancel before the trial ends.
What about FishAngler or Fishbrain? They’re general fishing apps that cover every species in fresh and salt water. As of September 23, 2026, their App Store listings mention no fly-fishing features like hatch charts or fly recommendations, so we’ve left them out of this fly-fishing comparison.
Frequently asked questions
If you fish Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah or New Mexico, FlyGuysNLies is built for the whole trip: River Verdicts and the Fishing Forecast to pick where and when, Fly & Rig Picks for what to tie on, a trip log that shows what worked, and alerts when those conditions return. It costs $14.99 a year, and many features are free.
Yes, on an annual plan. FlyGuysNLies Premium is $14.99 per year. On September 23, 2026 the US App Store and pricing pages listed TroutRoutes PRO at $39.99 per year (or $19.99 for a single state) and onWater Plus at $49.99. Many FlyGuysNLies features are also free with no subscription.
Yes. With Premium, you can set an alert from a trip you logged. FlyGuysNLies watches that river and notifies you when its flow comes back within range of that trip’s flow, and you can limit it to the same time of year.
If your log is in a CSV spreadsheet, yes — FlyGuysNLies imports it for free and matches your rivers and flies. Neither TroutRoutes nor onWater documents a self-serve log export, though. See switching to FlyGuysNLies for what’s possible.
Details for TroutRoutes and onWater come from each app’s own App Store listing (including release notes and in-app purchase prices), Google Play listing, website pricing and feature pages, or help center, checked on September 23–24, 2026. FlyGuysNLies details are checked against the current released app. “Not listed” means we searched those sources and the feature isn’t mentioned — it does not mean we tested the app hands-on.
Sources
- TroutRoutes: its App Store listing, website and FAQ
- onWater: its App Store listing, pricing and feature pages, and help center
- FishAngler and Fishbrain: their App Store listings
- Checked September 23–24, 2026.
TroutRoutes, onWater, FishAngler and Fishbrain are trademarks of their respective owners. FlyGuysNLies is not affiliated with any of them.
See also: FlyGuysNLies Mobile · Colorado · Wyoming · Montana · Utah · New Mexico
