On the main drag of historic downtown Truckee, just across the tracks from the river, Trout Creek Outfitters has its front door propped open. It has for six years. Inside, the soul of TCO abides: a rustic brick fireplace, cozy cabin-core interiors, the sounds of Al Green or Hector Lavoe wafting amongst its wares. The nostalgic, inexplicable comfort of being surrounded by fly-fishing gear is consuming. Scott Ferguson, who co-owns the shop with Miles Zimmerman, puts it plainly: “The vibe that Miles has created in the shop—all the way down to the playlist—is so cool and welcoming that people just come in and hang out sometimes. It’s like a bar without beer.”
Folks flow in and out—one of the perks of Trout Creek Outfitter’s primetime location—each one greeted with a wave and a welcome from the register. “That’s always been part of my style,” Miles says simply, “that’s how I would want to be treated.” Some saddle up in waders at the spool station to recount the day’s glories. Others shuffle in, examine the most flamboyant streamers in a hushed curiosity, and quietly chat with a staff member by the merch “…. but do you use real flies?”
The TCO staff—who have either grown up in Truckee, relocated here for the outdoor lifestyle, or are wild about fly fishing—maintain meaningful conversation with visitors while multitasking: spooling reels, tallying flies, pulling rods and reels from their displays for further inspection. The welcome extends to the experienced angler and the beginner alike. “It can be easy to create a barrier to entry into the sport. Miles and I thought everybody needed to know they could come into our shop with any question, any time of day, and we would treat them with respect.”
On the phone, someone is having an existential crisis after half a day on the Little Truckee without a bite. Miles is calm and collected. He takes a minute to deliver sound advice, down to the granular details. “You’re on the LT? I’d try a 6X leader with a Skwala if you have it…” This approach has defined the spirit of Trout Creek Outfitters for the last six years—welcoming, knowledgeable, and happy to share.
“The Truckee River is hard enough as it is. I could tell you all the spots. I could tell you how to rig up your rod. I can tell you what flies to use. If you don’t do all of those things correctly at the same time, you’re not going to catch fish on this river. It doesn’t matter if I tell you everything correctly—you still have to go out there and work for it.”
The story of Trout Creek Outfitters begins not on the river, but on the mountain. While Mountain Manager at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, and a fan of Miles from the fishing department at Mountain Hardware & Sports, Scott Ferguson offered Miles a full-time position on the hill. Miles declined; he wanted to stay close to fishing. “His work ethic and passion and determination for fly fishing stuck with me,” Scott says, “and became part of the impetus for exploring the idea of opening a fly shop in Truckee together.” With time, and a better understanding of each other’s long-term goals through discussions about life and fishing, a plan to open Truckee’s first stand-alone fly shop took shape. Miles recalls: “I was fishing at Floriston. I got this text, looked at it, and thought: ‘No way. Scott wants to try to make this happen.’ He wanted to open a fly shop. So I texted back and said, ‘I’m your man. Let’s do this.'”
To know Miles is to experience someone who has aligned purpose with passion and holds the wisdom to safeguard the longevity of both. He is criminally fishy, yet refuses a guiding license—”I wouldn’t be able to say no.” He plans to fish all 120 miles of the Truckee (“I’m probably five-eighths of the way there”—roughly 75 miles, for inquiring minds) and draws his fishing influences from everywhere: from the legendary Lahontan cutthroats of Pyramid Lake to the under-the-radar carp of Reno. “It’s some of the best carp fishing in the entire country, and no one knows about it,” he says. Trout need no mention. He has released a fly, the “Rock Steady Stone,” with Umpqua in homage to the Truckee River.
Pairing Miles’ ability with Scott’s entrepreneurial instincts has created the synergy that warrants TCO’s lasting success. Both find common ground in the sport, but the shared ethos of running a people-first business—supported by consistency, commitment, and culture—keeps their shop thriving. “My attitude was: don’t treat this like a fly shop. Treat this like any other business. If you’re comparing yourself to everyone else in the fly-shop world, you’re not focused on what’s best for your business. It just happens to be a fly shop.” When asked for his advice to anyone wanting to open a shop of their own, Scott doesn’t hesitate: “Find a really good partner who is aligned on core values.”
The respect between Miles and Scott trickles down to the shop’s employees, its guides, and to their customers. A business like TCO and its success support the Truckee fly-fishing community and their families, and keep the sport alive and vibrant at the local level. To Scott, this is what matters most. “We’ve built a fly shop, but the thing I like the most is that we’ve built a business that’s supporting a bunch of anglers. We’ve got a staff of five or six and a team of 12 guides, and we help support their lifestyle. We do it together.”
TCO shines in its wide-ranging and trusted presence: the dynamic culture at the fly shop, an active social media presence, a weekly newsletter released every Friday, and a fully stacked event calendar. They offer guiding services from the Truckee Basin to the Yuba, gear rentals, including free rentals for women on the last weekend of every month, and an active lost-and-found of items recovered on the river. This prevalent approach to establishing brand presence has its merits, but is otherwise empty without a key component: a deep and genuine knowledge of fly fishing.
On June 27th, Trout Creek Outfitters will celebrate 6 years of business, naturally, on the banks of the Truckee. The event is free and very TCO: a barbecue at the Truckee Regional Park river access, rod and reel demos from brands like Sage, Orvis, and SA on the lawn, and casting within reach of good water. Vendors, guides, regulars, and newcomers will all mix together on the bank, which is exactly the point.
Six years in, Trout Creek Outfitters is more than a fly shop. It’s proof that when a business concept is realized with the right partner, the right values, and the door open for everyone, folks will show up–and keep coming back.
