Thanks for Everything

Before there was Figure Eats Bucktail Co, there was a fly shop. A unique little fly shop in Waunakee, WI with an online personality that was bigger than its shoes. If you are reading this post the week of the Figure Eats launch, I assume you know the one...

During my time at Musky Fool I got to wear just about every hat in that shop: helping folks pick the right fly line, talking a first-timer through flies, matching a rod and reel to a dream, and occasionally serving as unlicensed therapist to anyone who'd just lost the musky of a lifetime at the boat. And it wasn't just muskies. We helped folks chase everything from bluegill to steelhead to whatever showed up on the end of their line. If it had fins, and someone wanted to catch it, that was our problem to help solve.

Our whole mission, phone call after phone call and email after email, was to bring the real, in-person fly shop experience to people who couldn't always walk through the door. To make sure whoever called or wrote in got treated like they were standing right at the counter. Service first, always. We did a damn good job at it, too.

None of it happens without Dan and Jenn. They built that shop from nothing and poured a thankless amount of heart and soul into it. It was the kind of work that doesn't show up on a receipt but shows up in conversations, Instagram comments, and reviews. They handed me the keys, trusted me with their customers, and gave me room to grow into it long before I'd fully earned it. Dan, Jenn — thank you. Genuinely.

And to every one of you who called, emailed, or walked through that door... Thank you to you, too. Especially the ones who bought and understood our love of bucktail. You let me talk your ear off about grades and colors and why it actually does matter which one you buy. You were patient with a guy who loved this stuff a little too much, and you kept coming back. That's the whole business, right there.

Now it's time to build my own > Figure Eats Bucktail Co.

At Musky Fool, bucktail was one piece of a much bigger job. I was managing the shop floor, running the guide calendar, helping customers in person and virtually, and a million other things. Now all of that time and energy gets to go toward one thing: BUCKTAIL. That means better inventory, more unique colors, and down the road, some new products I'm genuinely excited about.

I'm still the guy who wants to hear about your last follow, still happy to talk you through fly line or leader setup, still available for musky therapy sessions, and will continue the legacy of providing world-class bucktail and customer service. I'm just running my own online store now.

Thank you, Dan and Jenn. Thank you, Bambam, Hoss, Charlie, Nick H, Nick L, Quinn, Josh B, and Tim. Thank you to every customer who made the last 5 years such a memorable chapter.

Cheers to good bucktail and cheers to you, friends! I've got some good eats coming your way.