Another Popular Fly Shop Closes its Doors

Well, there's some bad news for California steelhead anglers.

Ernie's Casting Pond, "a Santa Cruz institution," is closing its doors at the end of the month after supplying Golden State anglers with fly-fishing supplies and tips for more than 30 years.

Ernie Kinzli's shop, located on Soquel Creek in Soquel, closes No. 29, but you can't really blame him for the reason.

"We want to go do more fishing," Kinzli, 73, told the San Jose Mercury News. "There's a lot of places we haven't been that we'd like to go. We have customers who every year flop to Alaska to fish for salmon and trout. It's time for us to go before it's too late."

The free time will also allow the Santa Cruz native to continue fishing his favorite local rivers as well. About.com will be featuring the Big Three along California's Central Coast in coming days, so check back on our where-to-fish page for pieces on the San Lorenzo, Big Sur and Carmel rivers.