Tap into Fin and Fire
From left to right, a few of the Fin and Fire family: Paul Snowbeck, Aidan Lippy, Dave Hogan, Jesse Dodd, Ryan Smith.
More Here than Meets the Eye
There’s a lot more to Fin and Fire Fly Shop than meets the eye. Located in Redmond, Oregon, the unassuming storefront, located in a strip mall on the north end of town off Highway 97, belies the 5,000 square foot warehouse a few blocks away that fulfills a high volume of online orders. Inside the shop, an impressive array of reels, rods, waders, boots, sun shirts sunglasses, hats, coolers, Traeger grills, flip flops– and even a corner dedicated to hunting gear–attests to a comprehensive management style, meant to cater to the myriad needs of the central Oregon outdoor enthusiast. Ensconced in another bright corner, a shiny bar top patterned in the manner of a trout; behind the countertop on the wall are a dozen or so taps from breweries around the region. There’s no shortage of product at Fin and Fire, and it’s all aimed at having fun.
The ringmaster of this well-choreographed operation is Fin and Fire manager Paul Snowbeck. “We employ 20 people, full and part-time,” says Snowbeck, with more than a hint of pride. “It’s one big happy family.”
A River Runs Through It
Fin, fat and fire: a ridiculous redside brought to hand in the gloaming.
The family, led by Snowbeck, appears to be happiest when pursuing big Deschutes River redside trout on the stretch of river between Warm Springs and Trout Creek. Snowbeck figures he’s logged over 1400 days there; his lead guide Dave Hogan is close behind at 1300. In chatting with Snowbeck, you get the feeling he loves the last day he got to fish the Deschutes as much as the first. He tells me the story of fishing at dusk with a few friends the night before I met him. One in his group hooked and brought to hand a 19-inch trout that took the lucky angler into his backing not once but twice. For Snowbeck, that fish, and the tale that came with it illustrates one of the many reasons the Deschutes is a world-class place to fish. “A guy like me with 42 years of fly casting experience,” he says, “can still get excited telling the story.”
Fin and Fire supports the work of the Deschutes River Alliance. “Conditions on the river are nuanced,” says Snowbeck. He contends the Deschutes is not an easy river to fish even under ideal conditions. “Wading is difficult, and it’s a big river, and you can’t fish from a boat. A skilled angler from Montana or Wyoming could come here and get smoked. Conditions change year-to-year, week-to-week, day-to-day,” he observes. “It’s one of the reasons I’m a supporter of the DRA. I want the science, the baseline information.”
Spirit of a Fish
While the river on some days seems fickle, the dependable living a healthy Deschutes River provides makes conservation a worthy cause for Snowbeck. “There are hundreds of people employed in central Oregon who simply wouldn’t be there were it not for the Deschutes,” he says. “That’s the big retail outdoor stores, the five or six fly shops, and all the guides who work full or part-time. The quality of the angling experience here is still pretty high, and we need to work to keep it that way. If you lose the lower Deschutes, a lot of us aren’t going to be there, simple as that.”
Snowbeck manages his own time to reflect his love for the Deschutes. “I still fish 150 days a year, including last night when I slept in my truck so I could fish until dark,” he says. He tells another story about last night’s fishing adventure. “There were so many caddis swirling around our lamps we had to turn them off. It was just like the old days.”
He thinks at least some of those good old days are in the here and now. The Warm Springs to Trout Creek section, he claims, with some justification from recent water quality data gathered by the DRA, is at least some of the year healthier than sections further downstream. He’s observed the cold water that Portland General Electric seems to have released during the latest heatwave. And the resulting thick hatch of caddisflies renews his long-lasting hope for the river. “We’re selling hope, we’re selling enthusiasm, we’re selling the spirit of these fish, and the chance to catch a wild fish,” says Snowbeck. “I just want people to see the river.”
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