They should sell the business and building as one. Kinda ridiculous for them to expect someone to buy at their asking price and pay rent for that type of operation. Seems simple enough.

 

That is what they originally tried to do unsuccessfully. I can only assume that from the lack of offers for the building/business as one, they decided it was best to simply sell the building without any of their inventory, which they are now trying to sell. It can't be easy trying to sell any business/building in a small coastal burg. When passing thru Hebo and Cloverdale one can see how many places had to wrap up operations.

 

A great asset to the coastal fishing scene. Gunna miss it.

 

Who is going to pick up all of the shuttle work? That has got to be the largest part of his business.

 

Farewell, Pat. Now you have all the time in the world to go fishing. Poor guy has been in bad shape for a while now. I hope he's going to be able to get in some fun his golden years.

That is going to leave a huge hole in the Nestucca fishing community. I have faith that someone else will take the reigns and open another business somewhere. Too much money left out there to not be made.

 

Farewell, Pat. Now you have all the time in the world to go fishing. Poor guy has been in bad shape for a while now. I hope he's going to be able to get in some fun his golden years.

That is going to leave a huge hole in the Nestucca fishing community. I have faith that someone else will take the reigns and open another business somewhere. Too much money left out there to not be made.

They haven’t been able to find anyone to take over the shuttle business either. I would think that would be an easy money maker at $17 a pop.

 

More and more small (mom and pop) businesses are going by the wayside. It’s been going on for a LONG time in this country. It’s a sad fact of life. We supported Pat whenever we could not because we had too but because we wanted too. In fact some entire communities have gone by the way because of “progress” and conveniences. I came from a small town. It’s nothing like it used to be back in the day. But what is. It just is what it is. But as an old song said. The times they are ah changing.

 

Good fishing supports small businesses well..

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

It didn't bring tears to my eyes, but there was still some sadness when I read that Pat, the current owner of Nestucca River Outfitters (formerly Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods) has given up on trying to sell the business and is now liquidating inventory and attempting to sell the building. I think it said he will soon (end of June?) stop operating the business completely and shut down.

From the time it operated across the street from its current location, as a hole in the wall place next to the now defunct Hebo Cafe, through a few owners at its current location, I have always arranged shuttles and bought sand shrimp through the various business entities for my trips on the Nestucca, my home river. Some stuff in life, unfortunately, never stays the same. I wish him and his wife well in their next ventures in life. They are good people.

All the NFS type groups and ODFW take a bow.....

 

I agree with this to an extent but I will say that I witnessed a couple days this winter where I saw more people fishing that river than I've ever seen in my life, and it's the river I grew up salmon/steelhead fishing on so that' s saying something. I think the big issue for this store and others in that area is much less camping/lodging based destination, longer duration, fishing adventurers (mostly day trip people from valley now) compared to how it used to be. Online shopping certainly hurts as well.

 

Sad to hear.

Was our home river back in the driftboat days. We'd start in on kings in late September/ early October, and chase em well into December.. Silvers were in there too.
Alsea strain steelies starting around thanksgiving.
Nates from January thru April.
Springers and summers well into July. If you showed back up in early fall, the summers were below redds eating eggs that drifted downstream. Stupid good fishing on Jensen eggs.

NVSG was home base. Ray Hammer ran it back then. Sold it to his SIL (Ron???). Later on, Marty Peterson ran it for a while.

With the lower returns of recent years, coupled with broodstock of fish that generally arrive in Feb/March.
Dumping the early strain winter steelies (Read "2+ months of lost revenue")
I haven't heard if they stock summer steelies or springers in a long time, or in much numbers (More lost revenue)
Silver plants have been gone for a long time on most of the coast. I'm assuming the Tucker was one of the rivers that used to have plants, and have few if any today.

So now, there's a couple months or so in the fall, and another 2-3 months in the spring. Hard to make ends meet with that window to work with. Especially if the ocean takes a bad turn.

On top of all that, with the coast wide reduced plants, anglers are forced to fish on wilds only streams, or fight crowded rivers that still have keepers. It used to be you could go to the coast, and get away from the crowd of O.C and the Clack. Now, there's less boats per acre on the MC and Willamette than the coast streams with plants left. At some point, why whould someone drive 90 minutes to drift a river when they can drive less than 30 minutes to the Columbia/MC/Willamette? It's less of a zoo, and there's keepers available.

The days of mom n pop tackle shops seem to be coming to an end.

Maybe, folks will go back to hitch hiking for a ride back to the trailer instead of the shuttle. That's how it was when I started.

 

Sad to hear.

Was our home river back in the driftboat days. We'd start in on kings in late September/ early October, and chase em well into December.. Silvers were in there too.
Alsea strain steelies starting around thanksgiving.
Nates from January thru April.
Springers and summers well into July. If you showed back up in early fall, the summers were below redds eating eggs that drifted downstream. Stupid good fishing on Jensen eggs.

NVSG was home base. Ray Hammer ran it back then. Sold it to his SIL (Ron???). Later on, Marty Peterson ran it for a while.

With the lower returns of recent years, coupled with broodstock of fish that generally arrive in Feb/March.
Dumping the early strain winter steelies (Read "2+ months of lost revenue")
I haven't heard if they stock summer steelies or springers in a long time, or in much numbers (More lost revenue)
Silver plants have been gone for a long time on most of the coast. I'm assuming the Tucker was one of the rivers that used to have plants, and have few if any today.

So now, there's a couple months or so in the fall, and another 2-3 months in the spring. Hard to make ends meet with that window to work with. Especially if the ocean takes a bad turn.

On top of all that, with the coast wide reduced plants, anglers are forced to fish on wilds only streams, or fight crowded rivers that still have keepers. It used to be you could go to the coast, and get away from the crowd of O.C and the Clack. Now, there's less boats per acre on the MC and Willamette than the coast streams with plants left. At some point, why whould someone drive 90 minutes to drift a river when they can drive less than 30 minutes to the Columbia/MC/Willamette? It's less of a zoo, and there's keepers available.

The days of mom n pop tackle shops seem to be coming to an end.

Maybe, folks will go back to hitch hiking for a ride back to the trailer instead of the shuttle. That's how it was when I started.

Yep, grab a rod out of the boat and get on 101. It was pretty easy getting a ride before the Covid days. I don't know about now, but I got a feeling I am about to find out.

 

it was a good place to stop but you had to know it was there and what it was. and didnt really have any special attraction to make you stop and go in. thats what small businesses need to have.
i drove by and even ate at the hebo cafe and never knew they had a shuttle service.

 

I remember stopping there in the 1980's on a fishing trip from California. They had Steelhead and Salmon gear you could not find in California.

 

Break out the old bike or start looking for one of the little motor bikes. Had one but sold it a few years ago. Looks like a 2 rig caravan over to the 'old Tucca'. I use to hitch hike back in the 70's but that got old as you waited in the rain or cold after a long drift. The bike route was scary as the hwy was not built for a bike. The small motor bike is not good as the log trucks trying to pass you. Looks like I will be bank fishing.

 

To be honest, if your fishing buddy decided to drive his little 4 banger to shuttle, the cost in their gas is usually a bit less than paying 17 bucks for the shuttle service. I bet the Tillamook shuttle guys will try to take this over, amd charge way more than 17 bucks.

 

Unfortunately you're probably right. The price of getting a shuttle for the Nestucca is definitely NOT going to go down....

 

Hitchhike.

Or meet others at ramp, and figure out a shuttle for multiple folks at once. Like Jim used to do on NFN. launch, shuttle empty trailer to takeout, run back up to start.

 

Exactly this, sometimes life doesn’t have to be too hard

 

Put up a thread section here on Ifish called shuttles. Maybe people can coordinate rivers and times to shuttle each other's rigs....

 

It's not hard. Walk on side of road. Stick thumb out.

Flip side is also simple.....if you are driving, and see what is clearly a fisherman walking with thumb out, pick them up. They are likely going to a ramp that aint too far off the road.

The only reason shuttles were ever necessary was over crowded rivers that lacked adequate parking spaces at launches. That's it.

 

To your first sentence, I would add "take fishing rod in the hand that does not have the thumb out" or/and "wear your hip waders" and "smile".

 

"Hitchhike" Many years ago I was walking back on the Necanicum and Bill H was kind enough to give me a ride. He gave me a card and mentioned this website his
significant other was working on - on this thing called the internet.... Time flies.

 

Good Morning all, My name is Pat and I am the owner of Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods. I just want to set the record straight before rumors start to fly. My wife Laurie and I have operated the store now for appox. 16 years. It has been a rewarding experience and the last few years a very profitable one. We have worked hard over the years to improve, add to, and completely remodel the business. Six years ago we added an addition and added a deli that has become very successful. I am now 72 years old and I want to retire, my working life has come to an end. We have tried for the past two years to sell the business. We have had interest but no one really seems to want to work hard anymore and due to Covid lenders are very tight with money. In a nut shell it hasn't sold and we don't wish to sit here forever. After bringing in commercial realtors from north and south, they did their home work and both reported to us that the building and property all by itself was worth substantially more than we were asking for the entire business.We have now listed the building for sale. We are no longer trying to sell the business and have begun liquidating the inventory. We are anticipating being done and closing July 1st. We wanted to stay open through the biggest part of spring Chinook season before we closed. We would like to offer a heart felt thank you to all of our friends and customers that we have made over the years. We will miss you all. I wish we were younger and able to continue on as we really believe our business was needed by the community and the community of fishermen and fisher women. At 72 if I'm ever going to go visit my children and grand children and go camping and fishing, now is the time. I have always wanted to go to Alaska for an entire summer , and go south for the winter, so that's our immediate plan. I would like to reiterate that we are not closing because of health or business, both are fine , in fact I wish I were younger because we really have the business operating on all cylinders. It is what it is, on one hand I'm sad we are closing and on the other we are excited to start a new adventure in our lives. We wish you all he best.
Pat and Laurie

 

Good Morning all, My name is Pat and I am the owner of Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods. I just want to set the record straight before rumors start to fly. My wife Laurie and I have operated the store now for appox. 16 years. It has been a rewarding experience and the last few years a very profitable one. We have worked hard over the years to improve, add to, and completely remodel the business. Six years ago we added an addition and added a deli that has become very successful. I am now 72 years old and I want to retire, my working life has come to an end. We have tried for the past two years to sell the business. We have had interest but no one really seems to want to work hard anymore and due to Covid lenders are very tight with money. In a nut shell it hasn't sold and we don't wish to sit here forever. After bringing in commercial realtors from north and south, they did their home work and both reported to us that the building and property all by itself was worth substantially more than we were asking for the entire business.We have now listed the building for sale. We are no longer trying to sell the business and have begun liquidating the inventory. We are anticipating being done and closing July 1st. We wanted to stay open through the biggest part of spring Chinook season before we closed. We would like to offer a heart felt thank you to all of our friends and customers that we have made over the years. We will miss you all. I wish we were younger and able to continue on as we really believe our business was needed by the community and the community of fishermen and fisher women. At 72 if I'm ever going to go visit my children and grand children and go camping and fishing, now is the time. I have always wanted to go to Alaska for an entire summer , and go south for the winter, so that's our immediate plan. I would like to reiterate that we are not closing because of health or business, both are fine , in fact I wish I were younger because we really have the business operating on all cylinders. It is what it is, on one hand I'm sad we are closing and on the other we are excited to start a new adventure in our lives. We wish you all he best.
Pat and Laurie

Pat, you've always been polite, helpful, and honest every time I've stopped in for shuttle services and snacks over the years. I wish you the best of luck in your retirement! Enjoy and may you have many healthy years of adventures in your future!

 

With 16 years owning and running a seven day a week retail business, you deserve a break. Glad that you were able to save up for this next faze of life. Best of luck and health and great job of serving your community and the fishers that visited.

 

Congats to you and your wife on retiring Pat, and best of luck!

 

Does anyone remember the name of the guy who owned the business when it was across the street from the current location, next to the Hebo Cafe? I think it was Dave, but I'm not sure. He was a little crusty but we got along cuz I drove a 65 Chevy pickup and during steelhead season for my shuttle, I always told him I would put in about one mile above Blaine at the first path through the trees to the river that a boat could be squeezed through. He always laughed at that and always asked me if I was still squeezing my boat through the path.

 

Dave Robertson. He has since passed on. His daughter and son both have been in many times. Have a few albums the gave us from the old days and we had the old map on wood too.

 

I'm really gonna miss going in there and hearing the great music 1st thing in the morning. On one hand, if it had sold as a "business" ; I'm not sure anyone could run it as well as you guys have. Wish you all the best.

 

For all those worried about having a shuttle service around, my experience from down south might help. I started fishing the Elk back in the late 70s. Back then, a guy named Jim organized the shuttles by meeting drifters at the Hatchery put in in the early a.m. He lived just downstream. Finally, Jim passed on. From a much smaller population base, there has always been someone to operate a shuttle service by meeting people at the hatchery in the a.m. and collecting the money and keys and taking the vehicles to one of two take outs. So, if someone pops up to run a shuttle business from the Port Orford area, I would assume that there are enough people around Hebo/Cloverdale to run a business on the Nestucca. So, having a shuttle service may not be out of the question. However, these days, would one be a fool to turn over the keys to a nice pickup while relying on their word that they will shuttle it down to Cloverdale?

 

There was a sign up last year for shuttles at one of the houses across the road from Beaver Shell. Imagine they'll be trying to fill as much of the void as they can.

 

It depends on if they are working or not. Give it a try just need someone reliable!!

 

Pat and Laurie,

As a customer of yours for the past 14 years, I'd just like to say I'm extremely happy for you guys finally being able to do what you want to do, anytime you want to do it. I'm going to miss the hell out of the store, and the services you provided. Life is too short to work it away, with no time to play.

My favorite line of yours was from way back when I used to call and ask how the river looked. You would say, "I don't know, I come to work when it's dark, and I go home when it's dark. Come on over and find out yourself!" ❤ 😄

Steve

 

Pat and Laurie,

As a customer of yours for the past 14 years, I'd just like to say I'm extremely happy for you guys finally being able to do what you want to do, anytime you want to do it. I'm going to miss the hell out of the store, and the services you provided. Life is too short to work it away, with no time to play.

My favorite line of yours was from way back when I used to call and ask how the river looked. You would say, "I don't know, I come to work when it's dark, and I go home when it's dark. Come on over and find out yourself!" ❤ 😄

Steve

Thanks! Another is"where are the fish?" reply..."In the water..!"

 

Pat you come from a long line of owners for me. You can rate yourself right up there. I always liked Ray Hammer also. My fishing buddy Clark and I have always loved talking with you. Get your retirement while you can I'm younger than you and I am finding out those health things just pop up unexpectedly.
The old guy across the street that started the whole thing his name escapes me. But there a couple of memories I have of him. I would come into the shop and he would walk down the stairs, I would say where are the fish today, meaning which part of the river to drift and he would always say 'in the river' never failed. The other time he had no time to waste when the fishing was hot in the bay. I went in one time and he just told me to take what I needed and leave the cash, he was hooking his boat up and getting to the bay pronto because his buddy just called the fish are on the bite. Funny how that place has evolved and your now part of the history. I got to say that you two really did class up the place.

 

Pat you come from a long line of owners for me. You can rate yourself right up there. I always liked Ray Hammer also. My fishing buddy Clark and I have always loved talking with you. Get your retirement while you can I'm younger than you and I am finding out those health things just pop up unexpectedly.
The old guy across the street that started the whole thing his name escapes me. But there a couple of memories I have of him. I would come into the shop and he would walk down the stairs, I would say where are the fish today, meaning which part of the river to drift and he would always say 'in the river' never failed. The other time he had no time to waste when the fishing was hot in the bay. I went in one time and he just told me to take what I needed and leave the cash, he was hooking his boat up and getting to the bay pronto because his buddy just called the fish are on the bite. Funny how that place has evolved and your now part of the history. I got to say that you two really did class up the place.

I posted above and said I thought his name was Dave and asked if that was correct. That's my best guess.