End of the line: Plug Ugly fishing gear store will close Nov. 30

Their business is a throwback many wish could go on forever. But, alas, all good things must come to an end.

Jon and Linda Peterson's much celebrated Plug Ugly store of vintage fishing gear and one-of-a-kind collectibles for over three decades, is closing at the end of November.

Its many loyal customers, near and far, are chagrined.

For Jon Peterson, the time just seems right to retire – again.

Peterson served various roles in the Seattle Police Department, including motorcycle and bomb squad duty. The late Bill Shears was a colleague. Shears also found his way to La Conner, serving five years as manager of the Shelter Bay community.

Peterson could hardly have expected a second act as exciting as the first, having done detective work while in law enforcement. On one memorable undercover assignment, Linda was enlisted to join him.

Yet since the early 1990s the couple – Linda is their bookkeeper and "the backbone of the business," said Jon – has, if anything, stepped up their sleuthing. They have followed leads all over the country for distinctive nautical merchandise and antiques.

Even with the Petersons now selling their stock to big-time auction houses, Jon couldn't resist joining longtime friend Ricky Roulst on a road trip last week to a major National Fishing Lure Collectors Club show.

"I love to hunt old stuff down," said Roulst. "I've been one of Jon's pickers and it has helped me with my own collection. Jon has had some fabulous fishing tackle in his hand, especially some really rare salmon plugs.

"I can't even begin to explain how much fun it's been to know Jon," Roulst said, echoing a sentiment shared by scores of customers and suppliers.

"It's a special place," said Scott Price, an avid fisherman and local financial advisor. "The inventory has been so special. It's been one of the most unique stores that I've ever been in. Some clients were brought to tears when they learned the store was closing. I'm happy for them, but really, really sad that Plug Ugly is going away."

Price noted the irony of "local fisher people who don't know about it, but there are fisher people around the globe who know about it well."

The Petersons got their start almost by accident. Having sold their Seattle area home, they were building a new house in the Hope Island area while discovering La Conner, then emerging as a destination town after decades as a sleepy fishing village.

"I had no idea what I was going to do," said Jon, "but I had walked around La Conner and noticed there were no 'guy's shops' here."

As a fisherman, opening a fishing-oriented store came to mind. The question was building an inventory.

"I had the idea for a store in La Conner," he said, "but needed to get some stock."

Fortunately, he knew a Seattle warehouse outlet owner who carried fishing and camping gear. Peterson signed a contract– an agreement simply drawn up on a pocket-sized notepad – to purchase $1,100 of merchandise.

"I loaded up my station wagon and drove back to La Conner," he recalled.

Peterson secured shop space from Jerry and Donna Blades in their Station House building at Fourth and Morris streets, put up an open sign on the storefront and picked up a cigar box for use as a money till.

Those first years in the 1990s, Peterson would go "picking" most mornings and return to sell his new stock later in the day. He soon met John Wells, whose family owned the bustling Station House restaurant next door. Wells, a top-flight tyer of fishing flies, was pretty much on the job 24/7 then. A friendship and business relationship was forged that still continues

"Jon is one of the kindest men I've known," Wells said. "He's a positive, friendly remembrance of how things were in La Conner in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. People came here because there were these small, independently owned eclectic businesses like Plug Ugly."

Plug Ugly's big break came on a chance visit by an attorney and champion fly fisherman with homes in Arizona and Jackson Hole.

"This well-dressed guy walked in the store, looked around and said 'I think we can do some business,'" Peterson related. "He said he would be back the next day. And, sure enough, he came back. He started picking stuff off the walls. In two days, he spent $17,800 at a time when we were making maybe $30-$50 a day."

In all, he purchased so many items that his private plane had to be loaded twice for delivery.

"That got us going," Peterson said. "He cleaned us out. He left our walls bare."

The massive sale provided cash the Petersons used to scour major shows in search of new stock, with an emphasis on high-end collectibles.

Eventually, they relocated to the former Doug's Frame Shop building north of Fifth and Morris streets. It, too, was almost immediately filled with classic rods, reels, hand-made duck decoys, ship's clocks, David Hagerbaumer waterfowl paintings, a life preserver from the USS Baltimore and items from historic sailing vessels and pirate ships, including a silver lamp lit with whale oil. Another collectible is a basketball signed by members of the 1979 Seattle Sonics NBA championship team.

"It got to the point where I realized I had to diversify," Peterson noted. "So, the last few years we've added lots of other stuff."

Through it all, he has retained his unique brand of salesmanship. On a recent Saturday morning he offered a significant price discount to a repeat customer.

"No," she insisted, "I'll pay full price."

Peterson wasn't having it.

"You'll pay what I charge," he chuckled.

"I really enjoy my customers," said Peterson. "They're more than customers, they're friends. Great friends."

Soon, many of those friends will likely be fishing partners as he embarks on a well-earned second retirement.

"He's known throughout the country," Roulst said of Peterson, "and I'm excited that now he'll have the time to get out and do some fishing."