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`Fish Lips' pulls anchor on retail Photo by Jim Craven Curt Thompson of Specialty Tackle works on a reel inside the Crater Lake Avenue shop he is closing or selling. Specialty Tackle owner is selling family business after 15 years in sporting goods By MARK FREEMAN Curt Thompson cut time away from his established fishing-guide service in 1983 to open a small tackle shop on Crater Lake Avenue north of Medford. "When you eat, sleep and breathe fish and are a lot younger," says the 47-year-old Thompson, "your little dream is to own your own business and work for yourself." But 15 years later, the man known as "Fish Lips" for his angling advice has no more fire to keep that small businessman's dream going. Curt and Darlene Thompson are closing their Specialty Tackle Shop at 5274 Crater Lake Ave. and liquidating rods, reels, hooks and lures this month. It's not that the husband-and-wife shop lost money. In fact, the couple says, it's always paid the bills one bag of hooks or box of weights at a time. But years of absolutely no vacation and working extra hard to survive in a market now dominated by chain stores has worn the Thompsons out. "The saying is, `If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch,"' Thompson says. "Well, it's not that I can't run with the big dogs. I'm just tired." The shop will close no later than Dec. 31, but Thompson is willing to entertain offers to sell out to someone who will keep it open. Regardless of whether the shop is eventually sold or closed, the Thompsons will continue operating Specialty Guide Service to run fishing trips on the Rogue, Chetco and Umpqua rivers. The loss of yet-another mom-and-pop tackle shop is a sign of the times, in which big chains like G.I. Joe's and Wal-Mart are tough competitors, says Jim Broman, who owns Jim's Tackle Shop in Grants Pass. Lost in the shuffle are small shops, where owner-operators have taught hundreds of anglers to tie knots, pointed them toward good fishing holes and spent endless hours dispensing free advice. Broman said he also faces an uphill battle in the tackle market. "You get a guy come in here and pick your brain for an hour about how to fish," says Broman. "Then they go to Wal-Mart, buy their reel and then they have the (guts) to come here and ask you to put line on their reel for them." Perseverance keeps small shops afloat, Broman says. "You come through the door in the morning, and flip on the switch," Broman says. "If the light comes on, it's a good day." Thompson's good days began in 1983, when he went to work for Broman's uncle, Abe Smith, at Smith's Tackle in Grants Pass. Smith taught Thompson the retail ropes for a few weeks before the protege struck out on his own. When he opened the store, Thompson had no sporting goods chains as competitors. At first, Curt Thompson spent about 175 days a year guiding anglers, while Darlene staffed the shop those days he was away. Eventually, the Thompsons bought out smaller store's inventory and even moved to a bigger location on Crater Lake Avenue. Thompson also joined forces on the radio with Jerry Allen, now the voice of University of Oregon sports, for radio fishing reports. It was Allen who dubbed Thompson -- who is never short of an opinion on fishing -- as "Fish Lips." Over time, the guiding business jumped to 250 days a year, with Darlene spending more and more time behind the shop counter. "Being in the shop is 10 times more stressful than being a guide," he says. "You have to sell a lot of nickels and quarters worth of tackle to pay the rent. "Retail's a tough business," he says. "But it's a rewarding business." But the rewards are less now than when the dream of being his own boss first swept Thompson from the river to the cash register. "After 15 years you think, well?..." he says. "It's fun, but it's not as much fun as it used to be. "It's just like animals on the food chain," he says. "After a while, you fall to the bottom." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA