Rock Creek Fisherman’s Mercantile’s manager John Staats has lived and breathed Rock Creek since he was seven. John moved here with his grandparents from the San Francisco Bay Area when they started the business back in 1989.
John helped his grandparents convert the building from a bar into a fly shop, and by 14, he was working in the place. After studying history at the University of Montana, he considered a career in voice acting. He thought he might move back to California to pursue this dream but always had an inner knowing that he was meant to be at Rock Creek.
“In my 20s, I was vehemently against working here,” John said. “I didn’t appreciate this place for what it is. I wanted to get out, but I never did. This place always kind of pulled me back in.”
After graduating from college, John worked under his grandpa, Doug Persico, from 2005 to 2010. Following Doug’s tragic passing from prostate cancer, John took over operations. John embraces the opportunity to continue his grandpa’s legacy. Like Doug, he sees the business as more than just a store and motel; he envisions it as a tangible representation of the essence of Rock Creek.
“When people think about the Merc, and Doug, and me, I hope they think, ‘They really set me on the right path with fishing or helped me get started without feeling too overwhelmed or too intimidated by it,’” John said. “I want to have as many good conversations in here and help out as many people as I can. And I think he was the same way. It’s not just my place of work. It’s one of my deep memory places that’s always going to be with me.”
John’s grandparents taught him to fly fish when he was four years old. Throughout his life, no matter what is going on, fly fishing has remained a constant source of peace.
“I just kind of tune out everything else, and I focus on my fly or my indicator,” John said. “I can have all sorts of problems in the world, and they just kind of fade away when I’m out there on the water. I have to control myself sometimes because I’ll stay out there for eight hours and fish the entire time. I don’t want to say it’s an addiction, but it’s something that once I start is hard to stop.”
While not overly religious, John connects with his spirituality through fly fishing.
“When you’re really in tune with the river, you can pick up on that,” John said. “You feel full. It’s just a purity. You connect with nature. It’s amazing that we can create these fake flies out of hair, and feathers, and thread, and the fish can routinely fall for it. There’s something really beautiful about that. Other people might call it something else. I call it spirituality.”
John lives on the creek with his wife, Meg, his two daughters, and an adorably intelligent pup named Duke. His motivation is to maintain the Merc as a place any recreator heading out for an adventure can stop by to get the supplies they need and some friendly advice.
“We try to accommodate all recreators up here whether they’re fishing or not,” John said. “That’s the biggest thing I hear: ‘I’ve never been in there. I’m not really a fisher.’ But there’s a good bit more in here! And I think we’re the only fly shop that can serve beer. It’s just a unique sort of business–kind of the anti-boutique I guess you could say.”
And always at the center of what he does is keeping Doug’s memory alive.
“A lot of people tell me I’m a lot like him but not as grumpy,” John said. “I definitely saw the grumpy side growing up with him, but there was way more to him than that. He loved connecting with people. I’ve made a lot of good connections here too, and I just want to continue that and foster stewardship for Rock Creek.”