MARATHON — Back in the 1990s, “The Walker Cay Chronicles” introduced a generation of deep-sea fisherman to the saltwater flats — among them, Travis Katski, who as a kid fished tournaments with his grandfather in a Hatteras 53 off of Ocean City, Maryland.
“That show really sucked me in,” says Katski, who watched with his best friend, Michael McGivern, turning Saturday mornings with ESPN into a religion. The duo bought fly rods, began tying flies and fitted McGivern’s 16-foot aluminum jon boat with a plywood platform.
“At 19 years old we drove straight down to Fiesta Key, pitched our tent and started to fish the flats,” Katski remembers. Repurposing a wooden dowel into a push pole, they glided silently across the water in pursuit of bonefish, permit and tarpon.
“Wouldn’t it be great to buy a house on a canal,” they mused, while camping under the stars, “and to own a fly shop where you could just hang out, tell stories and shoot the s—” — something like Islamorada’s H.T. Chittum, now long gone, where they stopped when traveling south during their college vacations.
Three decades later, Katski has made good on that dream. He and his wife, Ashley, bought a house on the water on Duck Key and, with their four children, shuttle back and forth from home in Annapolis, Maryland. On Feb. 1, Katski opened the Seven Mile Fly Shop in Marathon, a stone’s throw from its namesake bridge. When you visit, be prepared to “set awhile,” as they say in the south, in one of the Adirondack chairs near the casting pond out back or at the bespoke walnut table where fly tiers often congregate. Katski will ask about your last day on the water, which in his book is always cause for discussion and celebration. Manager Joe Dahut, a transplant from the Orvis shop in New York City, will throw Google Earth up on a massive flat screen TV to advise you where to put in for a day of fishing in the Middle Keys.
“We’re not giving away any secrets,” says Dahut, who may be the only fly shop manager you’ll ever meet with a master’s degree in poetry. Katski and Dahut mean to protect the territory of the six local guides affiliated with the shop, “but there is plenty of great fishing in the backcountry and the flats of the Middle Keys,” Dahut says. “We want to show anglers that they have many tools available to plan a day, and all it takes is a little curiosity and a sense of adventure.”
The Seven Mile Fly Shop is the sole establishment of its kind between Islamorada and Key West. Like the old H.T. Chittum, its interior is brushed in earth tones and shades of pale gray, which somehow make the merchandise look like crack for anglers. The shop carries everything from top-flight rods and tackle, to apparel, sunglasses, sunscreen, coolers and luggage; an alcove is devoted to fly-tying materials. Ladies have their own room with a coloring station to distract the kiddies. “Our inventory comes from companies that stand behind their products,” says Katski, “and that we can vouch for personally.”
Katski collaborated on designing the shop with his wife, Dahut and artist Caleb Goins. Goins’ work is featured throughout, with a striking metal sculpture island of a Keys trifecta (bonefish, permit, tarpon) hovering on a reef as its centerpiece. The artist’s custom sales counter and rod rack expand on the theme. A gallery — currently showing the work of Boca Grande guide Courtney Marie Martin — will promote a different artist every six months.
“Marine life, of course, is the idea,” says Katski, “and it would be great if the artists are either from the Keys or Florida.”
While Katski will be delighted if you stop at the Seven Mile Fly Shop to buy a Sage rod or a Tibor reel, he’s in no hurry. His flourishing electrical construction company in Annapolis has allowed him to invest in the shop. In a sweet cash deal, he bought its yellow clapboard building at 1638 Overseas Highway outright.
“I ran my successful business for 20 years,” he says, “so I’m blessed to have been able to build up capital to do this debt free.”
As a result, he has the liberty to concentrate on an all-important message of conservation — one of the reasons he took up fly fishing with its philosophy of catch-and-release in the first place.
“You can see how rapidly the environment changes when there’s a lack of conservation or an assault on nature,” says Katski. “We’ve got to take care of what we have because our lives depend on it. I’d like this shop to become a platform to share that awareness.”
To that end, Katski has joined the local conservation groups, and he hopes to help resurrect the Middle Keys Guides Association, offering the Seven Mile Fly Shop as a meeting place. With the enthusiastic assistance of Dahut and sales staffers Tyler Bowman and Jillian Tisdale, he is building a sense of community by offering events such as fly-tying workshops and casting clinics — led by experts, fingers crossed, such as “The Walker’s Cay Chronicles” host Flip Pallot down the line.
An all-day open house is planned for March 13 with food trucks, vendors, demonstrations, contests and prizes.
The shop, which is located at 1638 Overseas Highway, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
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