I was just commenting on another board about a fishing shop I love in the PNW. Made me think about all the great tackle stores I have and still frequent over the years. Every trip I make up north I try and spend a little money at the mom and pop stores,and to get a little intel .

Here are my faves from south to north:

The Tackle Box in Salinas,CA. Roger,the owner is kind of a dick and a nice guy at the same time lol. He gave me crap for buying rooster tails in fire tiger last year. I told him I have caught 60 white bass in 2 hours the weekend before. He asked me what I got them on . "ROOSTER TAILS" as I rolled my eyes. Great little mom and pop store. We need to keep these around IMO.

Coyote Bait and Tackle,Morgan Hill,CA. If you need it they have it. People are attentive and they have a surprising inventory of reels there. It's a bit out of my way,but I don't mind once in a while stopping by.

Outdoor Pro Shop,Cotati,CA. This is more of a "hey let's stop at outdoor pro on the way up" kind of place. They have a ton of inventory here,although with covid not as much as normal. Their mail order gets to my house in 2 days . I have spent way more money here than I ever should.

Browns Sporting Goods,Garberville ,CA. This place is a throwback to another era. The owner,Darren Brown,fishes,gives HONEST reports about river conditions,and is a good guy to chat with. The store has been in that family for generations. When you walk in it looks like tweakers live there,with crap piled sky high lol. But if you need it he has it,and you can find all kinds of weird gear. The roe he sells is surprisingly good,albeit pricey. 5 stars!

Bucksport Sporting Goods,Eureka,CA. These people are almost too friendly and nice. If you need it you can get it at this old school mom and pop,and I always try and spend a few bucks here in what is otherwise a total sh!thole of a town. There is a box store up the road that has more inventory,but this place has lots of guns,and the people here like to kill stuff. One of the kids that worked there was impressed with my spoon collection lol.

Little Ray's Tackle,Klamath,CA. Tommy Chew runs this place. Tommy is kinda crazy,and I like the guy. He once asked me if I was gonna be in his hole and I told him that it was never on my list of life goals to be in "Tommy's Hole. EVER." We had a good chuckle. Good fisherman too. This store is bare bones,but in a pinch he has what you need. And the history and pictures of fish from the mighty Klamath are always good to check out. I always buy stuff from Tommy. If you're in the area you should too!

Brady's in Weaverville,CA (CLOSED). Ole Tim Brady retired finally. He was an institution here. Once held the state record for Smallmouth bass. It hung in the shop. 11 pounds or something. It was a monster. his little dog would come up to you and sort of let you pet it. He had all you needed,and I never had trouble giving him my money. This shop is sorely missed.

Brookings Harbor,Brookings ,OR. They had all the gear. Been a long time since I went in there but my buddy says it hasn't changed. Lots of photos of giant pig salmon on the walls. Across the way the biggest biscuits and gravy you ever had. I can't eat that stuff anymore.

Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods,Hebo,OR. Fresh sand shrimp. Whatever else you need. Not sure if that grumpy dude still owns it. He was funny. I caught a lot of summer runs on his shrimp. Miss that place. May have to make a trip sometime again.

The Guide Shop,Wilson River,OR.(Burned down)
This place had a mean cup of clam chowder. It also was a neat shop. They should rebuild one. Maybe they did,been a long while since I fished the Tillamook area. I know a guy who has a barn down near there...

Fisherman's,Oregon City,OR. I used to get all my gear there. Decent place. They have big inventory. I dated a gal in OC. Kati. Sweet Kati...

Bob's. Longview ,WA. Once upon a time my friend Dan and I came up to the OP to fish with a bunch of you crazy bastards and I spent a legit grand at Bobs. That place makes me sweat! It is my favorite NW fishing store. I always will spend too much there. Always.

Anglers Workshop,Woodland,WA. Also Lami and Loomis. I used to buy a lot of gear at A.W. Still order from them ,they are in the midewest I believe. Rodbuilders have plenty of options these days,but I loved being able to go in there and sniff around. Lamiglas used to sell seconds and blems. Maybe they still do. I haven't bought a new Lamiglas in quite some time. I once literally ran into Gary Loomis at the factory. He was nice about it. It was his fault anyway. I haven't bought a new GLoomis rod in ages. I own an original Loomis Composites Industries rod,cool stuff. Brings back nostalgic memories.

Forks,WA. I think I just went to Ace there. Lots of Forks fatties. Me likey,want wingy lol.

That's it. What are your favorites? I always wanted to go to Sportco and chew the fat with Bill Herzog but I never made it that far north,and I probably never will.

Funny store about Tim Brady in Weaverville. I went in to buy some gear one day after fishing that morning. I was wearing an Electric Wizard T shirt,an English heavy metal band. The shirt was some naked chick on a sacrificial altar and these other two women are holding her legs open and theres like candles and stuff all lit around her and she's showing all this bush,it was pretty offensive actually come to think of it. This was all framed in by a giant red pentagram. I wasn't aware of what I had on and Tim said "What on earth are you wearing!!" I said it's some band and he said "I guess you aren't wearing that to Sunday church!!" Maybe I need to go to Sunday church...(makes sign of the cross).

The Fisherman's Shack off 99W between Monmouth and Corvallis. Great place for spinner supplies and can order online. Found a silver bladed pink weight body once on the Kalama with their logo and caught a lot of fish on it.

Harry's Bait and Tackle Newport. Randy is the dude. Fresh sand shrimp and everything else.

Sportco in Fife. I did run into Bill Herzog there once.

Cabelas. Used to mail order before they expanded out west.

Olympic Sporting Goods (Closed) in Forks. Bob Gooding was the owner and used to give reports.

In my opinion Cabelas is a shadow of what they were since being taken over by BPS

White Elephant in Spokane in the early-mid '80s was an overstocked chit hole of toys, guns, sporting goods, and fishing stuff too. They got alot of their inventory buying up other sporting stores that were going TU over the years, so you never knew what they'd have crammed in their 2 stores. At times we'd hit the jackpot and get spin-n-glo's in the 100ct round plastic containers for $1-5 (size #14-8 in good colors), or corkies for the same price. Pound of pencil lead for $1, spools of Maxima 3/$10. Just fantastic deals.

Going or coming back from an OP trip during the same timeframe; if Swain's in PA was open, their Sporting Goods section was another one that could have a good sale or new "bobber colors" that we hadn't seen on the Eastside. Plus we grab whatever we'd forgotten to pack for our long weekend trip. Back then, Forks really rolled the sidewalks up after 9pm except out at the Smokehouse.

I have heard good things about them. I used to live in Tigard. Many moons ago now.

Good thread AB..

Here's your t-shirt: https://www.impericon.com/us/electric-wizard-come-my-fanatics-t-shirt.html

Long before any of the big stores opened here, there was a shop in Mount Vernon called Northern Sales. They carried the best gear in the area..Lami, Shimano and the rest. Helpful people there. Been closed now about 10 years.

As a younger man (some 45+ years ago), I found a small fly fishing shop in Fullerton Caif. It was called Anglers Corner, and the owner was an old, cranky retired Navy Captain named Kerridge. When I was in high school I would drop by there after school, and every time I was in there he'd teach me something more about fly tying, fly fishing or just about life in general.

Stopped by there one afternoon and the store was closed. Next day close again. The 4th day it was closed, but his wife was there, and she told me he'd had a heart attack and passed away.

Some people pass through our lives for a brief time..and the special ones are never forgotten.

Yes and when these mom and pop stores are gone the new generation will not realize what was given up in lieu of mail order and big box stores. Nothing wrong with it,but I hope we can preserve places like Tommy's and Browns where you can go in and shoot the [Bleeeeep!] for a bit with the owner and talk some fishin. You can't buy that.

BTW that album Come My Fanatics is their best one lol. It has the thick psychedelic fuzz and weirdness.

FYI - BPS and Cabela's are buying Sportsman Warehouse.

West Laramie Fly Store
Bud Lilly's Trout Shop
Jax Sporting Goods
World Wide Sportsman

I'll second the FlyFisher in Lacey. Always have to buy something there. I inherited a bamboo flyrod from my Dad. Real old, nothing to indicate line weight. Took it into the shop and we tried out 3 or 4 different weight lines until se found one I liked to cast. Always good service.

Sportco nowadays for most things.

Puget Sound Fly Co and Gig Harbor Fly Shop for fly materials.

It’s definitely a bummer so many of the small shops have closed and there will be more to come.

Enjoy buying your beads and blue foxes online.

Sportco and Outdoor Emporium for gear.
Sportsmen’s Warehouse had good prices on beads, cones etc for fly tying but that will go to [Bleeeeep!] worse then it is now that Bass pro Shops is buying them.

The Avid Angler and Puget Sound Fly Co for fly stuff.
Spawn Fly Fish which has a great online store and just opened a shop in Ilwaco. They have great customer service and super fast shipping.
They are becoming another favorite rather quickly.
SF

In 1950 (I was 12 at the time) I went into Willie's Sport Shop in Centralia to look at
baseball gloves. Little League was just getting started. Willie waited on me. I
found one I liked and he asked if I wanted it. I said yes but I didn't have the
money for it. He asked if I could pay $1 a week. It was $10 or $12 as best I can
remember. I said I thought I could. I don't remember signing anything. I may have
given my name. He got the money and much more over time. I moved in 1970, but
the shop is still there. I bought almost all my fishing tackle there. Oakies by the
100.

Wanna sell some?

Wish bimart would open a store in Oly. I miss sunbirds in yelm.

Bjorn at "the fly Fisher" in Lacey is great, he set me up with all the stuff I needed to start tieing back in 2006 or so.

I fish rivers.

Ted's in Lynnwood always had so much stuff. If he didn't have it, Mike would get it for you. Greg's in Lake Stevens is now closed. Now it's pretty much 3 Rivers, Triangle Beverage or the big stores.

Forks Outfitters always has the newest & best product at good prices. A walk through is a must just to see what is new in colors etc.

I used to go to Seattle for business once and a while and would stop by Outdoor Emporium. Sometimes during key Salmon months in the fall. It always amazed me as to how things they were out of. Bare Space!! It got to the point of me walking in and planning to spend $100+. I would walk out with nothing. I've worked in distribution-industrial retail for 30 years. You DON'T RUN OUT OF "A" ITEMS in season. Being out of the most popular #5 Vibrax and other product is idiotic. It wasn't just 1 time. When I complained to 1 of the workers, he pretty much said "we've told them". So I don't even bother anymore.

Fairbanks Outfitters on Yakima.
RIP Gary you are very much missed.

Always enjoyed visiting his shop.
SF

Keep these coming! I love reading stories like this.

Gary Sandstrom and the Morning Hatch is another shop that is missed as is Kaufmann’s Streamborn.
Warshall’s and the Swallow’s Nest are a couple others.
SF

Swains for sure but you really brought back memories mentioning the White Elephant. Wasn't that on North Division? Anyway, was attending WSU 1965-70 and spending a lot of my Fall days hunting (dead critters went into the Entomology freezer thanks to Howie Mizuta). Bought some good stuff to support that hunting habit at the White Elephant while in Spokane with my roommate attending hockey games. Also bought a lot of ammo in Lewiston. Yes, I did graduate and it helped running into professors down on the breaks with a shotgun in their hands.

Locally, there was Thompson's Sporting Goods in Tacoma which is gone. Sportco is more than just a tackle shop but still has some of the atmosphere. There was Ed's Surplus in Lynnwood now closed and Ted's in north Lynnwood which I have heard is closed or closing (hard to buy anything in there because he had it so full of good stuff).

Moving on up to Everett can't forget John's Sporting Goods - good selection and folks know their stuff. They also do repairs on downriggers and other equipment (but not old Penns sad to say). Hope that they can hang on until things turn around.

I did wander into a couple of great sport shops in Prince Rupert but that is a bit of a trip.

Larry,
Where was Thompson’s located?
There used to be a small tackle shop near the corner of 6th and Proctor.
I remember buying flies tied with polar bear there that we used to catch big coho off of Campbell River.
SF

Remember going to a place in downtown Seattle called bargain bobs as a kid in the early 90s, they would have spools of maxima in an odd “pearlescent” yellow-green color for $2 each.

I like Verle’s outside Shelton, just don’t make it in there much since we got kicked off the skokomish several years back.

Losing sunbird in Yelm really hurt, they didn’t have the most huge selection of gear but they usually had what you needed in a pinch, not just fishing or hunting but stuff around the house. Kind of like an inland Dennis company. Big J’s in Orting is kind of the same way.

Having lived around Lacey/Olympia/Rainier most of my life I can remember Fred Meyer and Kmart having a pretty good selection of fishing gear until the Walmart and later cabelas/sportsman’s coming to town and more or less putting them out of the sporting goods business. Now sportsman’s is gone and cabelas has been going downhill fast.

Been in a few north 40 stores on the east side, would be sure nice to have one come to the south sound. Just don’t know if our crappy fishing can support any more local tackle shops. Maybe a bi-mart could stay in business here.

Always amazed by the amount of little mom n pop tackle stops when I go down to Oregon, their fisheries can still keep them in existence. They’ve all but gone extinct in western Washington.

Jim Thompson had what was a fairly big shop catering heavily to the Cowlitz River crowd. it was located on the east side of South Tacoma Way at the intersection of 100th St. S.W. and was easily accessible to the I-5/512 intersection. That was a period when there was a very large and active Tacoma Chapter of NW Steelheaders before any linkage with TU. Jim had served as President of that group. He passed away a few years back.

Polar bear hair bucktails. Fun at Neah Bay trolling fast along the rips for the big ocean Coho; PNW version of trolling for billfish.

1: Teds
2: Ed’s surplus.
3: Johns in Everett.
4: Jerrys surplus.
5: Kaufman’s.
6: Anglers workshop.
7: Pritchard’s.
8. Greg’s Lake Stevens.
9. Grease line fly shop.
10. Silver Bow fly shop.
11. The old Orvis fly shop on hwy 95.
12. Confluence fly shop Bellingham.
13. Fly shop Ennis Montana.
14. Black sheep sporting goods.
15: Dennis company.

I really liked Mahaffeys

I was trying to recall Warshall's. Interesting place, you could get your hooks and photo paper in the same store.

I miss Kaufmann's. But now it's Sports Emporium, or Puget Sound Fly company.

Waters West in PA was always a great place to visit passing through.

1/01/2021

Bob's Longview/Kelso area...............Just an experience to go there, even if you think you don't need anything.

I'm pissed that they don't have a ACTIVE web site. Oh, they have a web site but its non-functional..... grrrrrrrr

Pritchard's on the Kalama was THE classic shop.

They have EVERY color and size drift bobber.

Agreed 100% on comment about inventory. It’s more than a coincidence it’s the model at both Sportco and Ourdoor Emporium. Ridiculous if they weren’t right next door to where I work I’d not do business there anymore. Very frustrating not being able to get what you need inseason. Bobs in Longview is an absolute dream always well stocked. Never go to Bob’s hungry.

Going way back, Stoners in downtown Puyallup. Long before the dope smoking years. They displayed many a 20#er in their front window on ice. The Puy used to be #1 in the state for winter fish. It changed to RB's...Ron n Barb's. If you hung around any length of time in there it was like you smoked a pack of cigarettes. Pay n Save and Ernst both had a minor selection next door to each other. Long gone now along w/ the Puy.

Get Bent. From a business perspective & from a tackle user I don't get it. Sportco should be wanting me to spend $200 instead of the $100 I planned to spend. A store like that should have the inventory & selection where I walk out with items I never planned to buy but said "this is cool. I can use this".

Thinking about it every time I've been frustrated I came up with 2 conclusions.

1) They may have cash flow/credit problems.

2) The owners or Bean Counters don't have a clue as to what they are doing.

I walk through the Tackle Section of Forks Outfitters and 8 out of 10 times I buy something I didn't plan on buying. Why? Because they have it and because of the "this is cool" factor. It may be new color Worms or new color Spinner etc. But I always laugh and say to who I'm with. "They got me again"!

I've never said that at Sportco. So I have not been there in over 10 months. No reason to drive there.

Fruitridge Bait and Tackle on Fruitridge Road in south Sacramento. Little wooden building. Run by Japanese fellow. Mostly, as a kid (10 or so) I just rode my bike there to look. He had all sorts of pictures on the walls of folks with (mostly) Sacramento River stripers. I bought minnows there to feed my turtle. I know I bought other things like small lures. What I remember most is the smell and just ambiance.

Like a lot of folks here, I buy stuff on the "cool" factor. That fly might work here, that plug there, and so on. "Shopping" was fun.

A few not yet mentioned:

Buffalo Bill’s in Issaquah
Chubby and Tubby on Rainier Ave in Seattle

GI Joes and their blue fox spinners for $1.79

There used to be a place in Bellevue called The Fisherman

Big 5 used to be called Sportswest and I remember trays full of oakies on their shelf in Bellevue. I was a kid back then and thought they looked like fake blackberry clusters. I think I still have a soft plastic crawdad lure I got from there

I should have added to my earlier post that my first real job after university was with Seattle Sporting Goods at their Roosevelt Way location in the University District. Another place with folks who knew fishing and hunting plus that location had a gun smith upstairs. That local "chain" was subsequently bought out by Big 5 which I believe is a chain that grew out of California.

There was a place I used to go to once in awhile in Redmond.
I believe it was called Sporties or something like that.

All the little mom and pop stores near rivers always seemed to have a small tackle section as well.
They were great for last minute stuff you needed allow with grub and beer for a day on the water.
SF

As I keep reading I think of more places.

-A guy had a small shop in Sultan on the left just before the bridge on HWY 2 back around the late 80's/90's.

-Then there was a young guy that had a shop in Bellevue (on Northrup) in the late 80's-90's Nice guy. He carried Pen-Tac parts before Pen-Tac was sold. He was the 1st person I saw catch a Steelhead at Reiter with a Float & I think a worm. Up until that point it had always been drift fishing or spoon/spinner.

There was Jacks snack and tackle on the Sandy River in Oregon. I believe it was where RB lures started. I bought quite a few spinners for coho from him. Another shop that just came to mind was Rainbow's End in I think Vancouver. The guy tied jigs . Big fella.

There is a guy down here in Monterey that has a little tackle store called Gone Fishin above his auto repair place. He has a surprising amount of inventory. I don't go in there too often because I just don't need tackle these days. But it's good to know it's there.

I also really like going to the commercial fishing places in various ports. You can sometimes find some cool stuff.

Growing up in Aberdeen in the 60s and 70s, we had Walt Failor's and Reiners, both sporting goods + stores. Even Swanson's supermarkets had a great tackle selection with gear tailored to fishing the Grays Harbor area. When I moved to Seattle in 1975 to go to school, Outdoor Emporium (when they were on Pontius and Republican), was incredible for prices and selection.

How about Tereskis on the way to the barrier dam and the one on the way to Bluecreek which I can't remember that name. Used to be able to leave my boat there.

fp

I think them not having a website helps keep their prices down. Can you imagine trying to keep one current with their inventory? Are you on their e-mailing list for sales flyers? They've pulled sales items aside for me and held them for a couple of weeks until I could get down there while still honoring the sales price. Pretty cool!

Then can you remember Kolbs in Aberdeen and Vean Greggs in Hoquiam? I bought a tackle from both many many years ago.

fp

Andy's Tackle? He and his wife (I think it was Agnes) were a hoot!

I ain't that old - j/k! I remember the Kolbs name but not Vean Greggs.

I think you’re correct on # 2 bean counters but still a poor business model. I’d rather spend a little more and give my money to Dennis Co.

Since we’re going down nostalgia lane remember Andy’s Tackle Box at the top of the hill going down to Blue Creek. Even if you didn’t need anything you’d stop in for coffee and a doughnut to get the scoop. One of the first shops that I know of that had live sand shrimp daily. Karen at the barrier dam is also money for the hard to find stuff. Still for
Sale?

Black Sheep in Lewiston is mind blowing. Never seen such a huge assortment of plugs. Steelhead central.

Sultan Sporting Goods - Near the confluence of the Sky/and Sultan. Dick (retired police chief) used to work the morning shift and I could always get a decent report from him by calling up and chatting and seeing how the "cracker bar" fished that morning. Then I could gauge how the river above there would fish, depending on water conditions.

I was building 3 new bridges across Olney Creek up the Sultan Basin Rd in 90-91. That winter is when the first of the "Super Floods of the '90s" occurred if I remember correctly? The store flooded, along with all the rest of the shops along the highway (the entire Snohomish Valley flooded). The "flood sale" was a good one though, as there was alot of stuff that was 75% off. Seemed the store was never the same after that, and a few years later the venue changed. The big flood's forever changed the landscape of the Sky in some locations as well.

Ahh Andy's. Bought my 1st Loomis IM6 1141 Casting rod from him/there. The Cow was a steelhead factory back then. His wifes name was Agnes. The building is still there. Man time fly's!

It's not just the local tackle stores we have lost but just about everything "local". Have to buy so much online now as that is the only place stuff is available.

I make it a point to support my local whatever store, whether for hunting, fishing, books, whatever. Even if it is cheaper online, the help and advice are well worth the extra cost.

Holiday Market in Burlington has been the best place in north sound. The old store was more fun, could hardly get through the aisles but always had everything. Everyone working there knows what they're doing.

Yeager's in Bellingham has been around for many years.

One more from me and it is more nostalgia than a primo sport shop. Back when Edmonds was still a small town and the ladies (Mom and Grandma) going to Seattle was for dressing up to go shopping for the day (early 50s) there was Crowe Hardware at 5th and Main. Bill Crowe kept me supplied with the necessities to fish all day from the then public walkway and Boat float along the south side of the ferry dock. Don't know if I ever got the fish smell out of the basket on my bike.

Ha! How times have changed! Bought my first bow at Willie's Sport Shop in Centralia. He stocked everything from bicycles, gym clothes for all the schools, firearms and ammo, and everything fishing. However I bought my first steelhead rod and both spinning and baitcasting reels over at Yard Birds in Chehalis. Loved all the military surplus at Yard Birds. Got a backpack (that weighed a ton empty) and a gas mask bag to use as a tackle bag that lasted years. I always wanted on of the genuine Navy surplus rubber rafts - they were also heavy beyond belief and took a month to inflate with a bicycle pump. The flip side of Yard Birds in Chehalis was Sea Mart in Olympia - same inventory. A dollar would buy a lot of Okie drifters in those days. Up 4th Ave. was Ed's Sport Shop, where I bought some of my first fly fishing tackle. Flies were $0.25, but Muddler Minnows were $0.35, but they were so worth it when I fished them on the Toutle River. Memories . . .

Thank you all for the nostalgia and the stories.

60 pounds?

ArvidBarker: PM sent

Didn't go through?

Oak Harbor Ace Hardware. Not a big selection but almost always had what I needed (if they didn't have sumthin Holiday Sports would usually have it).

This was back in the late 80's - early 90's when I used to fish 300+ days a year. Knew where on the island to catch fish nearly any day of the year.

Caught salmon casting from shore @Bush Pt. and Ft. CASEY. Also @ the West beach in Deception Pass.

Ling cod from the N. beach in D- pass. Remember one year a fellow showed me a King that he had just caught @ "The Hole" in late Nov, might have been Dec or Jan -- way later than you'd expect.

Trout in Cranberry lake.

Cutts n Dollies @ Ala Spit.

Used to have a deep depression just on the inside of Admiralty Head dialed in. At the right time of year and the right tide could just about guarantee a 12-15 lb or bigger King jigging just off of the bottom.

Used to catch, on average one 24"-28" cutthroat every year, from the exact same spot!

Easy Dungeness limits @ the county dock in Coronet Bay.

Steelhead @ Ft Casey, blackmouth in the winter on the East side...

Darn! Sorry took such a tangential long trek down memory lane.

Sunbird in Yelm-- only decent shop that wuz near Lacey. Yeah there is a Cabelas but they're out of the good stuff whenever the fish are in the rivers.

Take care n stay safe
Roger

I'm sure you're fishing down in San Diego,yes?

Bass Pro Shops is buying Sportsmans Warehouse. They are now the Walmart of the fishing world. Doubt I will be buying from them anymore. They killed Cabelas.

Thought I would add a shop to the list,from last weekend's fishing excursion on the Russian. Kings Sport and Tackle in Guerneville. This place has a lot of history. It was once frequented by likes of the eccentric Bill Schaadt who used to do crazy stuff in those old days. The Russian river once had a run of 50,000 steelhead in it. I hope every sip of wine from Napa hurts the people who drink it!

Bare bones shop,but they have tackle if you need it. Reliable fish reports and a friendly staff. I bought a Dr Death colored plug and some dude bought one right after saying "I better get that plug too!" You're welcome for the sale,Kings. And I of course had to swing by Outdoor Pro Shop in Cotati and spend 100 bucks on gear I don't need.

I'll be fishing a bit in Southern Oregon in a few weeks so it will be fun to see what old shops I can find down there.