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Date: 6/2/2022
WARREN – If you’re speeding through town on a quiet country road, you’re likely to miss a small, hand painted wooden sign pointing the way to Rivertown Bait and Fly shop.
It’s off the beaten path, in an out of the way section of Warren – and that’s exactly where Bruce Camarda wants to be.
“It’s just a small shack on my property. I sell live bait and I tie flies for some of the local guys,” said Camarda.
Camarda built and opened the 8 foot-by-10 foot shack six years ago. His modest goal was to sell a half dozen types of worms and custom-made flies to friends and whoever else stops by. He also custom-makes and repairs fishing poles and reels.
“I don’t do a lot of advertising, not a lot of people know I’m here. I get a handful of regulars and some new people here and there,” said Camarda.
Camarda is 60 years old and said it only makes sense for him to open a bait shop as he approaches retirement.
“I like being around the fishermen, talking to some of the guys. I’m an outdoorsman and if I’m not fishing, I’m thinking about fishing. I used to work all the time and when I got out of work, I’d hit the river. I always lost track of time when I was fishing,” he said.
Camarda was a welder for 25 years before getting into the flooring business, ripping up and restoring concrete or tile floors. He doesn’t do much of that anymore.
“Work was kind of dropping off and I’m getting too old for that kind of work. It was a rough job, very dusty,” he said.
Camarda hasn’t retired from work or fishing, but he’s doing less of both these days. The bait shop is a way for him to stay in the game when he’s not in the water.
“Everything seems to fall around how to go fishing. When I’m not fishing, the shack still ties me to the sport,” he said.
From dropping hooks through holes in frozen lakes, to casting lines in rivers and streams during the warmer months – fishing is an all-year endeavor. Camarda says business has been a bit slow these days, customers aren’t coming because the weather isn’t cooperating.
“You sell a lot of bait during the ice fishing season, but we really haven’t had a real long ice fishing winter. It picked up a bit in April, but things have slowed down again because it’s been windy and cold until recently,” he said.
When he first opened the bait and fly shack, Camarda sunk his entire marketing budget into making that sign at the end of the road. This is to say, there was no budget for advertising. He’s not quite a social media influencer, but Camarda does have a website his son created for him.
Rivertown Bait and Fly shop is open every day because Camarda lives there and is always around.
“I’m either in the house or doing something around the yard, so if someone stops by, I just walk down and say hello,” he said.
Camarda plans to expand his business in the coming years, if he can get more customers to bite. Until then he will run the business from his front yard and only once in a while hang a sign that reads “Gone fishin’”.
“I love everything about fishing – the water, the outdoors, catching the fish. It’s not always about catching fish. It’s about enjoying nature and the beauty of the river, woods, wildlife – and picking up litter when I see it,” he said.
Rivertown Bait and Fly shop is located at 473 Washington St. in Warren. They can also be found online at
https://rivertown-bait-fly-shop.business.site and can be called at 774-200-6072.