DENNIS P. LEE
Dennis P. Lee retired from the California Department of Fish and Game after 36 years helping to manage California’s diverse fisheries and their habitats. In addition, he has maintained a personal involvement in fly fishing as well as fly tying since attending Humboldt State University in 1968. Most importantly, as a fisheries scientist, avid steelhead angler, fly tier and author of two books on California steelhead, he brings a unique perspective to Fly Fishing Specialties customers. In addition, Dennis teaches Fly Fishing Specialties beginning and advanced fly tying classes.
ANDY GUIBORD
Andy Guibord has been fishing for most of his life, with a passion that began in his childhood on his uncle’s lake in Michigan, where he spent time catching bluegill and catfish using a bobber and worm. His love for fishing carried into adulthood when he moved to California in 1979 at the age of 19. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in 1986 and took up fly fishing, which became a central part of his life. For over 30 years, Andy has dedicated himself to serving the fly fishing community in Sacramento, working at Kiene’s Fly Shop and now continuing his work at Fly Fishing Specialties.
Andy is a bonded and insured guide with a Captain’s license, and he enjoys sharing his extensive knowledge of fly fishing with his clients. He guides on the rivers and delta of the Sacramento Valley, specializing in steelhead, stripers, bass, and shad. Over the years, Andy has had the pleasure of introducing many anglers, both young and old, to these wonderful species. He is also a skilled instructor, having taught many students the art of fly tying and casting single and two-handed rods.
In addition to his guiding work, Andy has contributed articles to California FlyFisher Magazine and has been honored to have his photography featured on its covers. He hopes to continue serving the fly fishing community for many years to come and looks forward to sharing his passion for the sport with future clients and friends.
RICH PLECKER
Rich is a native born and raised Idahoan, growing up and learning to fish with the Grand Teton Mountains and Yellowstone Park as the backdrop. He learned to fly fish and row a drift boat from his dad in the 1970's, when you might see 3 or 4 drift boats all day on the South Fork of the Snake River. Rich then sought his fortune in the golden state and played by expectations: scholarship, engineering degree, gets a great job, meets a girl, has a couple kids and builds a home with white picket fences. Now, at the tail end of a career managing municipal utilities, RIch is embracing that life path never chosen: fish bum.
As one of the newer crew members at FFS, Rich was a long-time customer, who (some would say) fishes "a lot". He absolutely loves all aspects of the sport- especially the joy of helping people overcome challenges, whether it's the basics of getting started, to going down deep esoteric rabbit holes with more advanced anglers. Rich embraces FFS's mission of creating and building a strong local community of passionate fly fishers and looks forward to meeting you the next time you visit our shop.
CHARLES WON
Husband, father, outdoor lover. Played high school and college sports - super pumped that my daughter is playing soccer and learning life lessons in patience and confidence.
My day job is in healthcare software, my "fun" job is anything fly fishing related. Started flyfishing in the early 90s. Lucky to have extremely experienced friends and mentors that taught and shared patiently. Proud to say that I still take lessons.
I get off on sharing little tips or tricks that could increase the chances of catching for anyone - whether it is a new technique, maybe a different fly, or something a bit different.
If anyone asked me how to start, I'd would tell them to find a mentor or friend that fishes regularly, a club, a local shop, and go online – there are free videos from some of the best in the world. There is no substitute for going and trying and just being on the water. If you can hire a guide - do exactly what they say. They want you to catch fish! Try to learn as many different presentation techniques as possible.
Lastly - I hope more and more good folks in this awesome community will consider taking wet pics.
JIM CHRISTENSEN
Jim’s angling interest began in early childhood when he and a friend created their own pond and stocked it with fish. And thus began a lifelong passion to fish. After a brief tour in the Army and Vietnam, Jim returned to college and received a Masters in Science in Counseling Psychology. He held a number of related jobs including Assistant District Administrator, Department of Rehabilitation, and various managerial and administrative positions throughout his career. Though none were related to fishing they always provided a means to that end.
During Jim’s first week of retirement in 2001, he began working at Kiene’s Fly Shop in Sacramento. He has worked at Kiene’s and Fly Fishing Specialties throughout his retirement years. While at Kiene’s, he hosted a number of trips through Angling On The Fly. Jim’s early fishing pursuits were primarily in California, Montana, Alaska and Canada. He has also fished the San Joaquin Delta extensively for black bass and striped bass. As his interests grew, he began to focus on South America, Mexico, Belize and the Caribbean with excursions to Gods Lake in Manitoba, redfish in Louisiana and muskie and smallmouth in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Jim’s breath of experience includes: bonefish in Turks and Caicos, Andros Island, Los Roques in Venezuela, Christmas Island and Mexico; golden dorado in Uruguay and Argentina; approximately 10 trips to Brazil for peacock bass; and Mexico for largemouth bass, tarpon, snook, permit and bonefish. Jim brings a significant amount of expertise to Fly Fishing Specialties primarily in salt water and international travel experience.
DENNIS ESTRADA
Dennis is a long time employee of Fly Fishing Specialties. He is the shop’s inventory manager. His years involved in retail sporting goods has made him a great asset in merchandising, buying, and selling. He started fly fishing as a teenager, but stopped when he discovered things teens like... cars, sports, girls. On a backpacking trip in his 20s, he was fishing a lake with friends using a spin rod. He could not catch a fish. He borrowed a fly rod and started catching brookies. Since then, Dennis has been using a fly rod regularly. His exploits involve catching trout in our local lakes and rivers, chasing big game in Baja and the Yucatan, walking the flats of Christmas Island for Bonefish, cruising the Delta with his friend, Toby.
JOE PAULA
Joe grew up fishing dough balls for catfish with a Zebco spincast outfit in the irrigation canals near where he grew up outside of Stockton, CA. He progressed to salmon eggs and lures on a spinning rod for trout during family picnics at the lower Mokelumne River. Joe bought his first fly rod in the early 1990s and tried to teach himself how to use it by checking out books from the library. That didn’t go so well. He would bring both his fly rod and spinning rods on frequent trips throughout the Sierras where he would fish the fly rod without success until the point of frustration, then revert back to the spinning gear. It wasn’t until the mid 2000s that Joe met a mentor that taught him how to properly use the fly rod. Around 2010 the same mentor introduced him to swinging flies for steelhead using a two handed rod and more or less changed his life. Since then, swinging flies with a two hander is pretty much all he wants to do. Joe has swung flies for steelhead from the urban rivers of California’s Central Valley to the ultra wild waters of northern British Columbia and a bunch of places in between.
Unfortunately, living in Sacramento, it can’t be swinging flies for steelhead all the time. So, until he wins the lottery and builds a cabin on the bank of the Skeena, Joe swings flies for trout, ties flies in anticipation of his next trip and even has some single handers that still get used from time to time.
JON HUBBARD
Jon Hubbard fell in love with fly fishing at age 13 in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Self-taught from the ground up (YouTube didn't exist yet!), he put in a lot of time on the water to learn California's unique fisheries, their seasons and bugs from the Trinity on down to the Owens and everything in between. Jon is first and foremost a steelhead and trout bum, but enjoys striper fishing, top water bass and dabbling in the salt. After almost 30 years on the water, Jon has caught enough steelhead and trout for a lifetime and is happier now getting folks out on the river to experience the joy and adventure of a day spent fly fishing on our local waters.
ROGER BLOOM
Roger is a passionate angler and has been flyfishing since 1976. His obsession for angling has not only taken him around the globe in pursuit of wild fish, but also guided his career path. Roger retired from California Dept. Fish and Wildlife in 2022. He served CDFW in many capacities since his start in 1994 including, but not limited to, Fisheries Chief, Inland Fisheries Program Manager, Statewide Native fishes coordinator, Heritage & Wild Trout Program Leader, and Regional Wild Trout biologist. Roger has also worked on many projects throughout California including chemical treatments, habitat restorations, aquatic sampling, genetic sampling, research, fishing regulations, public outreach, and many others. While working at CDFW Roger had the unique opportunity to both survey and fish most of the fisheries in California. With his extensive background in fisheries along with a lifetime of related angling experiences, Roger brings a unique and valuable set of skills to Fly Fishing Specialties.
TERRY THOMAS
A Sacramento native that graduated from Sacramento State and went on to earn his teaching credentials. He taught in the Sacramento City Unified School District for 33 years. While teaching, he worked part time for Kiene’s Fly Shop for over 15 years. Terry is an avid trout and steelhead angler that has fished from California to B.C. most recently the Dean River in B.C. While working, he co-managed Digger Creek Ranch for 7 years. Terry has hosted trips to Tarpon Cay Lodge, Isla Del Sabalo, and Billy Chapman’s Lake El Salto. He has been part of team Fly Fishing Specialties for over 7 years.