Grappling with flathead catfish: An Oklahoma noodling adventure
David Dishman and Ed Godfrey waded through a creek for a noodling adventure. Noodlers use their bare hands, and some times feet, to catch flathead catfish.
Jordan Green and Paige Dillard, Oklahoman
Tom Adams is well-known in the fly fishing world in Oklahoma.
Adams is a fly fishing guide and instructor and was the manager of the Backwoods Store in Oklahoma City for 34 years.
Backwoods went out of business in February 2021. Now Adams and three other local fly fishermen who met and became friends at Backwoods over the years are starting a fly fishing store of their own.
J.D. Adams & Co. will be open for business on Thursday in Oklahoma City in the same location of the old Backwoods Store in Oklahoma City at NW 122 Street and May Avenue, but in a smaller space.
“It will be a place for the community to come in and hang out,” Adams said. “We want it to be a place to trade information and suggest flies, suggest destinations. Just be a hub for the fly fishing community.”
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74 years of fly fishing
The “J” in J.D. Adams & Co. stands for Joshua Stratton, 37, of Guthrie. The “D” is Dan Orr, 46, of Piedmont. The Adams in the name, of course, represents soon-to-be-59-year-old Tom Adams of Bethany.
“For me, and I think all of us, we wouldn’t have opened a fly shop without Tom on board,” Stratton said. “We jokingly call him the patriarch of fly fishing in Oklahoma. Tom and fly fishing is the magnet that drew us all together.”
The fourth owner is 66-year-old Stephen Ruiz of Edmond..
“We came up with the name of the company before we found Steve,” said Stratton, who joked Ruiz could be the “& Co.”
All four men are fly fishing guides and have worked not just in Oklahoma, but guided and hosted anglers on both freshwater and saltwater fishing trips around the country.
The four friends, and now business partners, have 74 years combined of professional fly fishing experience among them.
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I’ll Fly Away
Not only will J.D. Adams & Co. be a store that sells fly fishing gear and other accessories, it also will serve as a fly fishing outfitter, arranging trips for customers to fly fishing destinations, lodges and guide services.
“We are going to send them to places we know and people we’ve fished with,” Stratton said. “Steve has been a couple of times to Bolivia and Brazil, so there are some relationships there.”
Eventually, the owners plan to host fly fishing trips of their own and have leased some properties in Oklahoma for bass fishing. They plan to offer fly tying nights at the store just as they used to do at Backwoods along with casting clinics.
While the store officially opens Thursday, a grand opening celebration is scheduled for April 30 with food and drink being served and industry representatives on hand.
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Filling a void
J.D. Adams & Co. will be the first store in Oklahoma City to cater to only fly anglers in 15 years, said Stratton, who has worked in the hunting and fishing industry for 21 years.
“I think we are filling a need and a want by fly fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts to have this type of shop,” he said. “Our fly selection is arguably going to be the largest in the state and it’s going to be diverse.”
Stratton’s work in the outdoors industry includes stints at Cabela’s and managing the Fly Fishing Film Tour in the United States, a traveling roadshow of the best fly fishing films in the world.
Stratton also is the Great Plains coordinator for the nonprofit organization Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. The Great Plains’ Backcountry chapters are in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Fly fishing is growing in popularity with almost 7.8 million people in the United States who identify themselves as fly anglers. Nationally, there are 100,000 more fly anglers in the country than there were three years ago, Orr said.
“In Oklahoma, from the seven to almost eight years that I have lived here, it has grown,” Orr said.
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Living the dream
All four owners of J.D. Adams & Co. have dreamed of opening a fly shop. And they are all passionate about fly fishing.
“You’re not going to get rich off a fly shop,” said Orr, a former U.S. Marine who also operates an oil and gas consulting business. “You are not going to get wealthy off of being a guide, so obviously there has to be the passion and the love for what you are doing.
“If we can turn a buck, obviously that’s great because we got to keep the lights on and we got to keep all this cool stuff in the store, but at the same token we got to be a service to people and we want to have fun doing it.”
They all agree that life is better with a fly rod in hand.
“I don’t think there is anything else,” Ruiz said. “My wife doesn’t like to hear that.”
The store’s website is jdadamsco.com and its phone number is 405-242-3520. J.D. Adams & Co. will be open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Reporter Ed Godfrey looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
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