The story of Wayne ‘Buz’ Buszek and his Western Coachman begins in the 1930s. Buz started fly fishing the local streams of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains as a young boy. His abilities as a fly tier and fly fisher developed quickly thanks to guidance from the local “old timers.” He soon excelled, developing into an exacting and innovative fly tier, skilled fly fisher and a mountain goat of a hiker.
Living in Visalia, California, his early career was with the U.S. Postal Service, but soon that career changed. Local fly fishers frequented his back porch discussing fishing and purchasing Buz’s flies. During the 1940s he continued to frequent the Sierra Nevada Mountains generally travelling alone since few could keep up with him, fishing for his dinner shared with fellow hikers he met. Careful notes were taken regarding people he met, places he fished, fish caught, and effective patterns, which he later transferred sometimes strikingly in white ink on black paper. His handwriting was as precise as the flies he tied.
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