Two guys who had a big influence on my life were Paul Kukonen and Warren Taylor.
Paul owned a small tackle shop on Green Street Worcester for probably the better part of 40 years. He was sort of the "all/everything" when it came to the New England hunting and fishing scene.
Paul taught me to tie flies and wrap rods when I was in the sixth grade. Plus, who coulf forget he annual winter hunting and fishing movies each winter at the Little Theater in Worcester. I wish I'd save all his "hand-drawn" maps to all the hunting and fishing spots he sent me to over the years.
Warren Taylor was a guy I met in the late 60's while shad fishing on the Palmer River in Rehobeth Ma. He was the first guy I ever met who was a saltwater "fly-fishing" only guy. That was a pretty rare thing way back when. I was 15 years old then, so he probably didn't consider me much of a threat, so that's likely why he was free with the info. What I remember most was the saltwater flies! Up until then, all I'd ever seen was trout flies. When he started pulling out box after box of beautifully tied flies, my eyes must have popped out of my head!
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