About 50 years ago I got my start working at one of the top Sporting Goods Store in Nor Cal.

We sponsored Bel Lange's "The Outdoorsman" television show.

We had the most guns for sale, new and used, in Nor Cal.

We had 3 to 5 gunsmith in a shop in the rear who did warranty repair for all major brands.

We had a large ammunition reloading department too.

They also sold tennis, golf, skiing, and back packing equipment.

They hired me to work in the fishing tackle department part time when I as going to Sac State studying fisheries.

In the fishing department we had Orvis split cane fly rods, Hardy reels and were a Cortland Pro Shop.

We had Dan Bailey's flies tied in Livingston, Montana. Fenwick rods and Pflueger reels were a main stay.

Everyone who was a serious hunter or fisherman came to our store.......fly shops did not really exist back then.

We had the biggest stock of fly tying materials too.


It was the hang out for all the local top fly fishers from the Greats Generation.

This is where I met all the wonderful men who helped me at my shop. Joe Shirshac, Walt Bennett, George Martin, Chuck Campana,

Neil Hansen, Jack McLaughlin, Mac Holloway, Joe Patterson, Wally Westlake, Henry Starr and more that treated me like I was their

son or nephew. Al Perryman and Bob Giannoni are both from my generation, the Baby Boomers, and help me so much too.


You could probably write a book about any one of these guys.....true "Outdoorsmen". Most were in World War II, they all went

through the Great Depression, they all hunted and fished their entire lives. These are the kind of men that after World War II built

this country to what it is today.


Most of these guys are in the movie, Rivers of a Lost Coast.


My late uncle, Tom Anderson, helped me all through my life, especially around my shop, as he was a very talented guy.



I worked at Sports Unlimited, West Capitol Rod & Gun, Tower of Sports, then started The Fly Hutch, then Fly Fishing Unlimited and

finally Kiene's Fly Shop........50 years?