Ron Rakoczy, and his wife Ronda, are the owners of Ron’s Fly Shop, located at 228 Michigan Ave, in Downtown Grayling, MI. Both he and his wife have lived in Northern Michigan all their lives. Ron retired from his full-time job as a Grayling High School teacher of Drafting/CAD in the spring of 2014, and is now pursuing his dream to own a fly shop. Ron has been a commercial fly tyer for over 37 years now, and has been a fly-fishing guide the past 38 seasons (best teacher summer job ever!). Ron has built his own AuSable River boat, has developed some highly effective trout flies, began the Grayling High School Fly-Fishing Club 33 years ago, and has immersed himself in the history and lore of the Grayling area. The summer between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, his parents told him in later years that, “we thought we lost you to the trout”, of which in fact they did! He fished every day that summer, and kept a record on a wall calendar of the kind and quantity of trout that he caught, ignored any and all summons by an old dinner bell to come home to eat, and regrets only that that old calendar does not exist anymore. The best way to describe Ron is what his guide friends call him: “Dr. Trout”, or “Trout Magnet”.
