A Colorado transplant’s farewell to 46 years of fly fishing history-Bob Marriott Fly Fishing Store
A Colorado transplant’s farewell to 46 years of fly fishing history.
I’ve never told this story before.
In 1981, I traded the beautiful rivers of Colorado for California.
The South Platte. The Frying Pan. The Arkansas. The Roaring Fork.
If you’ve waded those waters, you understand what I left behind.
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Colorado doesn’t just have fly fishing; it breathes it. Every small town has a fly shop. Every river has a guide. Every kid with a rod knows the difference between a Royal Wulff and an Elk Hair Caddis.
California was a different world entirely.
Dale’s Hackle and Tackle
When I arrived in Southern California, I went looking for what any serious fly fisherman needs; a shop that speaks the language.
I found exactly one.
Dale’s Hackle and Tackle.
Dale was an ornery character; the kind of shop owner who didn’t care whether you bought anything or not. His operating philosophy was simple: cash only, no refunds.
A good friend of mine; a member of the United States Secret Service; once walked into Dale’s shop and made the mistake of saying he wanted to buy “a fishing pole.”
Dale pointed straight out the window at the telephone pole on the street.
“Boy,” he said. “That’s a pole. What you need is a fishing rod.”
That was Dale.
Direct. Unfiltered. Apologetically himself.
He was the kind of man who would rather educate you than sell to you. And if you couldn’t handle the correction, he didn’t need your business.
You had to love the man for it.
The Young Man from Real Estate
At that time, there was a young man who had previously been in the real estate business.
Evidently, he did well enough to make a bold move.
He bought Dale’s Hackle and Tackle, renamed it Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Store, and moved it just a few feet down from its original location on Orangethorpe Avenue in Fullerton.
What Bob built from that humble foundation became legendary.
That small shop evolved into a 7,000-square-foot fly fisher’s paradise. Coffee and Oreo cookies greeted you at the door. A full-service travel center connected anglers to over 100 destinations worldwide. An education center taught beginners the craft.
Bob’s motto said it all: “If we don’t have it, you probably don’t need it.”
He wasn’t wrong.
From the mid-1980s through my entire time in California; 1981 to 2015; Bob Marriott’s was the fly fishing store. Not one of several options. The destination.
It had a brick-and-mortar presence that commanded respect, an internet operation that served anglers nationwide, and a travel division that could put you on a bonefish flat in Belize or a chalk stream in England.
A fishing guide on Montana’s Madison River once told his clients there wasn’t a single shop in the entire United States that could compete with Bob Marriott’s for fly tying inventory.
He was on the money.
The Closing of the Doors
Bob eventually stepped away from the business.
Kevin Bell took it over and carried the torch with the same passion for the craft. For years, Kevin and his team maintained what Bob had built; the inventory, the travel services, the community.
But on March 22, 2025, after 46 years of serving the fly fishing community, Bob Marriott’s Flyfishing Store closed its doors for good.
Kevin’s farewell summed up what that shop meant to people. It wasn’t just a retail location. It was a gathering place. A home for anglers. A shared space for stories, laughter, and a deep love for the water.
What California Lost
Here’s what people outside the fly fishing world don’t understand.
Coming from Colorado, where fly fishing is woven into the culture, to California, where it’s a rarity; the shop wasn’t just a store.
It was proof that the sport existed there.
It was the place where a Colorado transplant could walk in, talk about hatches and presentations and tippet sizes, and feel like he was home again.
California needs a viable fly fishing store. Whether it will ever get another one like Bob Marriott’s is a question I can’t answer.
Tight Lines
I have so many fond memories of that shop.
The smell of the materials. The walls lined with rods. The conversations that turned a quick stop into a two-hour visit.
Some things in life can’t be replicated by an algorithm or a website. The feel of a new cork grip in your hand. The advice of someone who has fished the water you’re heading to. The community that forms around a shared obsession.
Bob Marriott’s gave California fly fishermen all of that for nearly half a century.
It deserved a longer run. But 46 years is a legacy most businesses never come close to achieving.
To Dale, who taught us the difference between a pole and a rod.
To Bob, who built something extraordinary from a small shop and a big vision.
To Kevin, who kept the fire burning.
And to every angler who walked through those doors and left a little richer for the experience.
Tight lines, gentlemen. Tight lines.
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Thad M Brown is a retired CPA, CFP®, and author of The Inevitable Truth on Substack. When he’s not writing about biblical principles or business strategy, you’ll find him thinking about the next river.