I have worked for numerous sporting goods/tackle shops in western washington. What I would do is contact the manufacturers that you are interested in carrying and ask them for the name of the local sales rep in the area. Most tackle shops are very small so factories are accustomed to dealing with mom & pops and new start ups. I would avoid dealing with wholesalers if possible as their pricing is not very good compared to factory direct. Most people do not know this but, Sportco in Fife, WA is a large wholesaler (their wholesale name is Sport Service).

As far as fly eqipment is concerned you can try any number of manufacturers such as Umpqua in Oregon. Brian O' keefe was their rep for years. If you want to see some large shops that sell a lot of tackle to get some ideas of brands, etc. Try Fishermen's Supply in Portland, OR, Sportco in Fife, WA, The Morning Hatch fly shop in Tacoma, WA.

Again, contact the factory directly. If they have an area rep, that is your best bet. If they do not have a rep they will direct you to a wholesaler. You could also join a buying group such as World Wide Distributos in Kent, WA ...Steve Quarders is a good guy to talk to. WWD is ONLY going to deal with a shop owner (that is eligible to join their group) not some joe blow off the street.

Also, a word of advice, any rep you talk to will be vastly superior in terms of knowledge of general business and product mix than from any goofball behind the counter of a tackle shop. The rep probably deals with virtually every shop in your area with at least one line of products (most reps are independent business owners that sell for 5-20 tackle manufacturers) Very few tackle factories have full time paid factory reps. If you do talk to a rep ask when the next national trade show is and where. It would be worth the price to fly in to see the show and meet all the factories.

Good luck