I received an e-mail this past week that alerted me to some very sad news for local fly fishermen. The Reno Fly Shop, an institution for nearly 30 years in Reno, is going to close its doors at the end of the year.

In a message from owner Dave Stanley, he cited many reasons for closing the shop at this time. Some of the reasons he stated were personal, economic and some business related.

Stanley says that he will continue to operate the guide service that was run out of the shop, do some destination travel and teach classes and clinics. He stressed that his intent is to remain in the fly-fishing business, just not in the retail portion of it.

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Stanley also used to own the Truckee River Outfitters shop that was a fixture during the general trout fishing season in downtown Truckee. It was located at Tahoe Daveand#8217;s ski shop, which was turned into the shop during the spring, summer and early fall. Truckee River Outfitters closed its doors the fall of 2007.

I have had the good fortune to know Dave for nearly the full time that he has owned his businesses. In fact, I actually got my first post-retirement job with Truckee River Outfitters. I would still be there today if it had not been for the closure. It was a terrific job for me.

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Working in a fly shop was just plain fun. The retail crew, the guides and everyone else associated with the business were terrific. Obviously, Dave was a great boss and owner as well as a friend.

In this day an age of big boxes, it is unfortunate that small businesses such as the Reno Fly Shop are being forced to close their doors. Earlier it was Gillyand#8217;s Fly Shop in Sparks that closed its doors. The owner there cited the inability to compete with the larger stores that had come in such as Cabelas, Orvis, Sportsmanand#8217;s Warehouse and Scheels.

What this means to the local fly-fishing community is that the area is losing the only full-service fly shop in the area. It will be a sad day for fly fishers when it comes to end.

Stanley will be liquidating the in-store inventory over the remainder of the store opening and by other avenues after. I know everyone in Truckee who shops there wishes Stanley the best and thanks him for providing such great service to the community for all these years.

If you have the time, stop by and say goodbye to Dave and his staff before they close their doors and thank him personally.

and#8212; Bruce Ajari is a Truckee resident and regular fishing columnist for the Sierra Sun and other area newspapers.