For Matt Purdy, fishing has become important for him across various facets of his life.
Purdy, who grew up in Brantford, detailed his earliest experiences of fishing, especially with his father.
“I have been fishing since I was around three-years-old. My dad instilled my love of fishing in me. He loved to fish [and] we spent so much time together fishing at the Grand River. We would also fish on Lake Ontario in the summertime, and Lake Erie [and] the rivers and streams for trout in the spring. Then as the spring turned the summer, we would migrate away from those and start fishing out in the boat. When fall would come [and] I learned to fish for salmon as they migrated up the river system,” Purdy recalled.
However, along with fishing with his father, a key reason Purdy became passionate about fishing was because of nature.
“I was always mesmerized by what’s beneath the water…and with fishing, you could put a little more visualization to that…other than daydreaming about what was down there to a degree. And I love just being out in nature…with the birds chirping and singing. Having a chance to see some really unique wildlife, like deer, and turkeys…and a few weeks ago, I saw an Eagle which was really amazing. Nature just never ceases to amaze me,” he said.
Although he and his father didn’t participate in many competitions, the Great Ontario Salmon Derby was one which they looked forward to.
“We would do that all summer long. We never really placed per se as we ended up getting bumped out a bunch of times. Even last year we were in second place most of the week, and then got bumped out near the end, when the weather got better and more fishermen were out targeting them and did better than we did. You know, when others are more successful, you can’t get disappointed about it…instead it just kind of drives you to do better and go further,” Purdy explained.
Nevertheless, Purdy learned the value of a dollar growing up, which helped him later on in life.
“When I was growing up, my family wasn’t as well off as others. My parents taught me that if I wanted my own spending money, I had to get a job. So, I used to deliver penny savers back in the day, and as I got a little more responsibility, I would pick up more routes and cover routes for other people. And one particular day, I had the route that went out to the old location of H & H Tackle and went in there to drop off the penny saver. One of the previous owners was Karen, and she would offer me a job. I worked off and on there since I was about 16…so for about 12 years,” he reflected.
After being an employee there for many years, Purdy would eventually get an opportunity that changed his life.
“That time was a bit tough for me…my dad passed away in 2011 and Karen, passed away around the year after. But there was something that happened that would change things for me…around that time, I went to the tackle shop one day to buy my tackle gear to go fishing. And Chris, the owner, offered me the opportunity to buy the shop. That was a big life decision, so I took some time to think about it. After doing a little soul searching for about a week, I told him I would go for it…I thought about the quote “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” so for me it was not about succeeding or failing…it was about testing myself and if I could really do it,” said Purdy.
Purdy would then secure his master business license, and has now been running H & H Tackle for a decade, and quickly made the decision to relocate to Colborne St West from Colborne St East in order to grow the business.
“It was about the second-best thing I ever did in business aside from taking it on. Relocating the business around eight years rectified a lot of problematic areas…like now being on a bus route and within walking distance of the river [which] really increased business and sales that way,” he said. “Moving to the new location also provided us with a good parking lot which could now accommodate for about ten people at one single time as well as customer towing boats.”
While the shop had a strong following from being an established business for decades prior to Purdy’s ownership, he continued to build the business through exceptional customer service.
“It’s basically all word of mouth. I don’t really advertise too much. As my perspective on that is, if people are looking for something, they will look hard enough to find you,” he said. “We have many repeat customers from mostly Brantford and the surrounding area. We do get customers from Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, and Simcoe…but it all comes down to taking care of the customer and treating them with respect. If word gets around, you’re treating them right and explaining things to them and helping them, people will come.”
