Robert Sentiwany

[Bowhunter570]

Hello everyone!

My grandfather, Bob Sentiwany was the owner of AA Pro Shop and a guide on the Lehigh River for much of his life, as well as fishing on the Delaware and many other rivers and streams across the country. I'm making this post asking anyone who might have had an experience with him, his late wife, dog boozer, or his 3 kids to share their story and any photos they might have of him and his family during that time so that my fiance can make a scrap book for him. It doesn't matter how insignificant your story may seem, it will mean the world to him.

Thank you everyone in advance!!!!
- Michael Mazula

 

[afishinado]

Hello everyone!

My grandfather, Bob Sentiwany was the owner of AA Pro Shop and a guide on the Lehigh River for much of his life, as well as fishing on the Delaware and many other rivers and streams across the country. I'm making this post asking anyone who might have had an experience with him, his late wife, dog boozer, or his 3 kids to share their story and any photos they might have of him and his family during that time so that my fiance can make a scrap book for him. It doesn't matter how insignificant your story may seem, it will mean the world to him.

Thank you everyone in advance!!!!
- Michael Mazula

Hey Michael,

I knew Bob, Mary Lou and Boozer when they had the shop in Lehigh Tannery back in the 80's. I learned a lot from Bob about fly-fishing and Mary Lou with fly tying, both took me under their wing. I was converted into a "Sage" flyfisher (both meanings apply) by them both.

Quick story: I planned my first trip out-west to Montana and told Bob about it. I only had two piece rods and wanted a four piece to travel on the plane. I didn't have a lot of money at the time, so Bob gave me a demo Sage four piece rod at no charge and said just bring it back with pictures of the scenery and fish you catch with it. After that day, I bought nearly all my FFing gear, tackle and tying stuff from Bob and Mary Lou.

Great memories. Tell your grandfather "hello from Tom".

 

[Tigereye]

I know them both and bought my first Sage rod ca 1980 from Bob. It was broken by a fellow forum member 2 years ago. He will remain anonymous lest he be chastised here. I still have the matching Sage reel .

I recall Mary Lou's " flies in flyte" . She used an early iteration of what was probably Tyvek. She would cut tyvek envelopes into ~1/16" strips, and use the strips as body material by wrapping the strip around the hook similar to tinsel. When wrapped, she would color the material with waterproof marker. I can attest that green, brown and grey were very effective. It made for very slim, segmented dry fly bodies that were attractive, durable and floated like a cork. In fact she had a fly ( an adams ) I believe floating in a glass of water on the counter as a sample.
Great memories.

 

[afishinado]

I know them both and bought my first Sage rod ca 1980 from Bob. It was broken by a fellow forum member 2 years ago. He will remain anonymous lest he be chastised here. I still have the matching Sage reel .

I recall Mary Lou's " flies in flyte" . She used an early iteration of what was probably Tyvek. She would cut tyvek envelopes into ~1/16" strips, and use the strips as body material by wrapping the strip around the hook similar to tinsel. When wrapped, she would color the material with waterproof marker. I can attest that green, brown and grey were very effective. It made for very slim, segmented dry fly bodies that were attractive, durable and floated like a cork. In fact she had a fly ( an adams ) I believe floating in a glass of water on the counter as a sample.
Great memories.

LOL! Yes "flyte" was "manufactured" by a paper shredder using Tyvek material from a FedEx type envelope. The feature was it could be colored with a permanent marker. If you tied them and left them white, you could color them on the stream to match the hatch. The idea never caught on, though.

Do anyone remember Bob's pattern called the "Submerger"? Caught a lot of fish with it back-in-the-day.

Waiting for Tim and Terry to check in. THEY have some stories to tell, I'm sure.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Michael,

My brother Terry and I first started visiting the shop in Lehigh Tannery to buy worms and minnies for fishing when we camped at Hickory Run in the late 1980's. Mary Lou really took to us quickly but Bob kind of hung back for a while.

It wasn't long after our first visit that we started asking more about fly fishing for trout. Bob started to really show an interest in us then. It didn't take long until we stopped camping in Hickory Run and started sleeping in our truck back by the railroad tracks behind the house. Even that didn't last long as we were soon invited to just stay in the house.

Your Grandfather and Grandmother and your mother, and your Aunt Terry and Uncle Johnny became like a second family to us. We literally spent 20 or more weekends at the house every year, even in the dead of Winter when fishing really wasn't possible because we felt so welcomed. Bob eventually showed us many places to fish including many places where we really weren't supposed to fish, but he was kind of an outlaw in that regard.

I'll never forget the time when we wanted to go steelhead fishing in Pulaski and Bob said, come by the house around 2:00 AM on Saturday and we can all go up together. We showed up and sat in the car for a half-hour until Bob and Mary Lou got home from a night on the town. True to his word, Bob went in the house and grabbed his gear bag and got in my Isuzu Trooper and off we went. We had a great time until my brother Terry fell in the Douglaston Salmon Run. He didn't want to quit fishing, but Bob told him to back to the Trooper and we followed him up the hill shortly after that.

Terry was literally frozen solid when we all got to the car. We knocked the ice off him and gave him some dry clothes to wear and we headed back. It literally took until we got to Cortland NY with the heater running on full blast for Terry to stop shivering! We laugh about it now, but hypothermia is the real deal!

I remember when Bob and Mary Lou had Sire the Dobermann. Then one day Boozer showed up at the house, and they decided to take him in. He and Sire would fight a bit, but Boozer always held his own. I can't really say here what Bob called him, but he always said that Boozer was 30 pounds of dynamite! And that he was.

Mary Lou used to tell us that when we left every Sunday night Boozer would lay by the door and cry for a couple of days. But when Friday evening rolled around and we showed up Boozer would bounce off the walls with excitement!

Here is a picture of Boozer in my truck after one of our morning runs to Orloski's. We always got him a kielbasa with mustard on a hot dog roll and boy did he love them! We usually rode all the back roads in Hickory Run with him in the mornings just to see how crazy he would go when we came across a bear or a deer! He really helped me and Terry become dog lovers and dog owners, he was the best buddy to us!

I'll close now, but I could literally tell stories about your grandparents for a solid week and not run out of things to say. Bob introduced us to so many people that we would have likely never met otherwise, and they became life-long friends just like Bob and Mary Lou were to us. Terry and I loved them, and they loved us back. Tell your grandfather I'm thinking of him, and that I will never forget what your entire family did for us.

Love,

Tim Murphy

boozer by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

 

[TimMurphy]

LOL! Yes "flyte" was "manufactured" by a paper shredder using Tyvek material from a FedEx type envelope. The feature was it could be colored with a permanent marker. If you tied them and left them white, you could color them on the stream to match the hatch. The idea never caught on, though.

Do anyone remember Bob's pattern called the "Submerger"? Caught a lot of fish with it back-in-the-day.

Waiting for Tim and Terry to check in. THEY have some stories to tell, I'm sure.

Dear Tom,

I remember one day in May in the early 1990's when I decided I had done enough work for the day and quit to fish the Acid Factory Pool on the Beaverkill.

There was nothing much going on and I decided I'd try wet fly swinging a submerger down around where Horton Brook dumped in.

It was like I was fishing a worm and a salted minnie at the same time. I spent about 2 hours hammering fish one after the other including some dandies in the 18" range. I felt like a fish God!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Bowhunter570]

Dear Michael,

My brother Terry and I first started visiting the shop in Lehigh Tannery to buy worms and minnies for fishing when we camped at Hickory Run in the late 1980's. Mary Lou really took to us quickly but Bob kind of hung back for a while.

It wasn't long after our first visit that we started asking more about fly fishing for trout. Bob started to really show an interest in us then. It didn't take long until we stopped camping in Hickory Run and started sleeping in our truck back by the railroad tracks behind the house. Even that didn't last long as we were soon invited to just stay in the house.

Your Grandfather and Grandmother and your mother, and your Aunt Terry and Uncle Johnny became like a second family to us. We literally spent 20 or more weekends at the house every year, even in the dead of Winter when fishing really wasn't possible because we felt so welcomed. Bob eventually showed us many places to fish including many places where we really weren't supposed to fish, but he was kind of an outlaw in that regard.

I'll never forget the time when we wanted to go steelhead fishing in Pulaski and Bob said, come by the house around 2:00 AM on Saturday and we can all go up together. We showed up and sat in the car for a half-hour until Bob and Mary Lou got home from a night on the town. True to his word, Bob went in the house and grabbed his gear bag and got in my Isuzu Trooper and off we went. We had a great time until my brother Terry fell in the Douglaston Salmon Run. He didn't want to quit fishing, but Bob told him to back to the Trooper and we followed him up the hill shortly after that.

Terry was literally frozen solid when we all got to the car. We knocked the ice off him and gave him some dry clothes to wear and we headed back. It literally took until we got to Cortland NY with the heater running on full blast for Terry to stop shivering! We laugh about it now, but hypothermia is the real deal!

I remember when Bob and Mary Lou had Sire the Dobermann. Then one day Boozer showed up at the house, and they decided to take him in. He and Sire would fight a bit, but Boozer always held his own. I can't really say here what Bob called him, but he always said that Boozer was 30 pounds of dynamite! And that he was.

Mary Lou used to tell us that when we left every Sunday night Boozer would lay by the door and cry for a couple of days. But when Friday evening rolled around and we showed up Boozer would bounce off the walls with excitement!

Here is a picture of Boozer in my truck after one of our morning runs to Orloski's. We always got him a kielbasa with mustard on a hot dog roll and boy did he love them! We usually rode all the back roads in Hickory Run with him in the mornings just to see how crazy he would go when we came across a bear or a deer! He really helped me and Terry become dog lovers and dog owners, he was the best buddy to us!

I'll close now, but I could literally tell stories about your grandparents for a solid week and not run out of things to say. Bob introduced us to so many people that we would have likely never met otherwise, and they became life-long friends just like Bob and Mary Lou were to us. Terry and I loved them, and they loved us back. Tell your grandfather I'm thinking of him, and that I will never forget what your entire family did for us.

Love,

Tim Murphy

boozer by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

Thanks so much Tim! I love hearing all these stories and I can’t wait to read them all to him! I currently have a Portuguese water dog named Gunnar who I bring to see my grandfather and him and boozer definitely have similar personalities!

 

[Bowhunter570]

Hey Michael,

I knew Bob, Mary Lou and Boozer when they had the shop in Lehigh Tannery back in the 80's. I learned a lot from Bob about fly-fishing and Mary Lou with fly tying, both took me under their wing. I was converted into a "Sage" flyfisher (both meanings apply) by them both.

Quick story: I planned my first trip out-west to Montana and told Bob about it. I only had two piece rods and wanted a four piece to travel on the plane. I didn't have a lot of money at the time, so Bob gave me a demo Sage four piece rod at no charge and said just bring it back with pictures of the scenery and fish you catch with it. After that day, I bought nearly all my FFing gear, tackle and tying stuff from Bob and Mary Lou.

Great memories. Tell your grandfather "hello from Tom".

I can definitely see my grandfather doing that! Thanks for the story!

 

[TimMurphy]

Thanks so much Tim! I love hearing all these stories and I can’t wait to read them all to him! I currently have a Portuguese water dog named Gunnar who I bring to see my grandfather and him and boozer definitely have similar personalities!

Dear Michael,

I remember when your Mom posted a picture of Gunnar on Facebook and I said he looked like Boozer. He definitely does!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Bowhunter570]

Dear Michael,

I remember when your Mom posted a picture of Gunnar on Facebook and I said he looked like Boozer. He definitely does!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

My Fiance is going to take that picture of boozer and put it on the digital picture frame we got him.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Michael,

Here is a picture of the Murphy boys, from left to right, Gator, Peahead, and Goobs. otherwise known as Terry, Michael and Tim.

Your grandfather took this picture of us in late May 1989 on the West Branch of the Delaware right where Shehawken Creek joins the river. Back then the access wasn't formal, it was just a dirt lane to wide spot in the dirt on the river where you could park.

It was one of the many places your Grandpa Bob took us.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

2026-03-28_12-37-37 by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

 

[troutbert]

Tim,
Those are great stories, and old school photo.

 

[TimMurphy]

Tim,
Those are great stories, and old school photo.

Dear troutbert,

Bob Sentiwany was one of a kind, and as a kid who was originally from the coal region, he saw me as one of his kind too. It was a connection that not everyone would understand, but we just clicked.

I just got off the phone with the son of one of the dear friends that Bob introduced to me. His father and Bob would fight and argue all the time, but it was mostly because they were exactly alike.

My friend's father always reminded me of this old Jerry Jeff Walker song. Bob reminds me of it too. My brother's and I were definitely their sidekicks. 😉

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[PENZZZ]

Hello everyone!

My grandfather, Bob Sentiwany was the owner of AA Pro Shop and a guide on the Lehigh River for much of his life, as well as fishing on the Delaware and many other rivers and streams across the country. I'm making this post asking anyone who might have had an experience with him, his late wife, dog boozer, or his 3 kids to share their story and any photos they might have of him and his family during that time so that my fiance can make a scrap book for him. It doesn't matter how insignificant your story may seem, it will mean the world to him.

Thank you everyone in advance!!!!
- Michael Mazula

Hello Michael, I didn't know your grandfather well, but we did cross paths a few times in the 1980's. One of the meetings was up Black Creek where I was enjoying complete solitude and catching a trout here and there. Without hearing a sound, I looked to my right and saw Bob standing on a prominent stream side rock - no fishing gear, and wet from head to toe. He asked me if I'd caught any of the large trout in the creek. I replied that I hadn't, but couldn’t help but ask how he got so wet. His response was that he swam across the river. Sorry, but I have to admit this seemed odd to me... Ha!

Jeff Shafer

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Michael,

I'm going to share one more story about Bob Sentiwany.

This goes back to the late 1980's and I'm a bit ashamed to tell it, but it was a different time. Back then, you could leave the shop on the way to Hickory Run and immediately after you crossed over Hayes/Black Creek you could turn right down over the bank and cross a small tributary and drive down Hayes Creek keeping to the right under the railroad trestle and wind up right at the Lehigh at the old bridge abutments.

My brother Terry and I along with both the Gabriels, Jr and Sr were down there fishing the Hendrickson hatch along with a caddis hatch. We were slaying fish and having a great time. Your Grandfather had just bought a bike around that time. The rail to trial section on the Luzerne County side of river was rough, and nothing like what it is today.

As we were fishing, we saw Bob on a bike coming down the trail on the opposite side of the river. He yelled at us; we waved and the next thing you know we heard cursing and noise. I guess Bob was watching us and not paying attention to the trail, but he actually rode off the trail and fell against a tree.

Bob dusted himself off and got back on the bike and rode back to the shop. We couldn't stop laughing and hustled back to the shop. Bob was fine, but I think he paid more attention while biking after that.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Michael,

I lied; here is another story about your grandfather.

One time a guy who was a frequent customer of the shop was staying in Hickory Run State Park. He told us to come up after dark for some burgers and beers at this camp site, so we did.

We brought Boozer along, and Boozer being Boozer proceed to harass every single camp site in the campground while we drank beer and ate burgers.

Knowing full well that dogs and beers were not allowed in State Parks your Grandpa, being who he was knew this wouldn't end well. He told us to take our empty beer bottles and fill them with water from the cooler, screw the caps back on. and put them back in while he stashed the full beer bottles.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Staties showed up. The cop got out and came over to us, took one look at Bob, and said, "Aw S&&t it's you." But the trooper was nice and he made us pour out all the remaining water filled beers and said, "Get out!"

We corralled Boozer, put the remaining good beers back in our truck and drove back to the shop laughing all the way!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Bowhunter570]

Dear Michael,

I'm going to share one more story about Bob Sentiwany.

This goes back to the late 1980's and I'm a bit ashamed to tell it, but it was a different time. Back then, you could leave the shop on the way to Hickory Run and immediately after you crossed over Hayes/Black Creek you could turn right down over the bank and cross a small tributary and drive down Hayes Creek keeping to the right under the railroad trestle and wind up right at the Lehigh at the old bridge abutments.

My brother Terry and I along with both the Gabriels, Jr and Sr were down there fishing the Hendrickson hatch along with a caddis hatch. We were slaying fish and having a great time. Your Grandfather had just bought a bike around that time. The rail to trial section on the Luzerne County side of river was rough, and nothing like what it is today.

As we were fishing, we saw Bob on a bike coming down the trail on the opposite side of the river. He yelled at us; we waved and the next thing you know we heard cursing and noise. I guess Bob was watching us and not paying attention to the trail, but he actually rode off the trail and fell against a tree.

Bob dusted himself off and got back on the bike and rode back to the shop. We couldn't stop laughing and hustled back to the shop. Bob was fine, but I think he paid more attention while biking after that.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

Years ago, probably 15-20, he fell down some stairs in the middle of the night while living alone, proceeded to get up, go to the bathroom, and then go back to bed. When he finally went to the hospital 3 weeks later at my family’s insistence, he had broken and cracked ribs, plus shoulder damage. The entire 3 weeks he claimed he was fine and didn’t feel any pain at all! Definitely one of the toughest men I’ve ever met!

 

[Bowhunter570]

Dear Michael,

I lied; here is another story about your grandfather.

One time a guy who was a frequent customer of the shop was staying in Hickory Run State Park. He told us to come up after dark for some burgers and beers at this camp site, so we did.

We brought Boozer along, and Boozer being Boozer proceed to harass every single camp site in the campground while we drank beer and ate burgers.

Knowing full well that dogs and beers were not allowed in State Parks your Grandpa, being who he was knew this wouldn't end well. He told us to take our empty beer bottles and fill them with water from the cooler, screw the caps back on. and put them back in while he stashed the full beer bottles.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Staties showed up. The cop got out and came over to us, took one look at Bob, and said, "Aw S&&t it's you." But the trooper was nice and he made us pour out all the remaining water filled beers and said, "Get out!"

We corralled Boozer, put the remaining good beers back in our truck and drove back to the shop laughing all the way!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

Of course he knew them!

 

[TimMurphy]

Years ago, probably 15-20, he fell down some stairs in the middle of the night while living alone, proceeded to get up, go to the bathroom, and then go back to bed. When he finally went to the hospital 3 weeks later at my family’s insistence, he had broken and cracked ribs, plus shoulder damage. The entire 3 weeks he claimed he was fine and didn’t feel any pain at all! Definitely one of the toughest men I’ve ever met!

Dear Michael,

No doubt, he was one tough SOB. But he was also kind and good hearted too. That's a tough combination to be, but he managed to pull it off.

I've said this before, but your grandfather was like my Hunkie Uncle. You know what I mean by that and at my age it's definitely not an ethnic slur and never was. That just how we talked back then, and still how I talk today. We loved him and we know he and Mary Lou loved us back.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Dear Michael,

My brother Terry and I first started visiting the shop in Lehigh Tannery to buy worms and minnies for fishing when we camped at Hickory Run in the late 1980's. Mary Lou really took to us quickly but Bob kind of hung back for a while.

It wasn't long after our first visit that we started asking more about fly fishing for trout. Bob started to really show an interest in us then. It didn't take long until we stopped camping in Hickory Run and started sleeping in our truck back by the railroad tracks behind the house. Even that didn't last long as we were soon invited to just stay in the house.

Your Grandfather and Grandmother and your mother, and your Aunt Terry and Uncle Johnny became like a second family to us. We literally spent 20 or more weekends at the house every year, even in the dead of Winter when fishing really wasn't possible because we felt so welcomed. Bob eventually showed us many places to fish including many places where we really weren't supposed to fish, but he was kind of an outlaw in that regard.

I'll never forget the time when we wanted to go steelhead fishing in Pulaski and Bob said, come by the house around 2:00 AM on Saturday and we can all go up together. We showed up and sat in the car for a half-hour until Bob and Mary Lou got home from a night on the town. True to his word, Bob went in the house and grabbed his gear bag and got in my Isuzu Trooper and off we went. We had a great time until my brother Terry fell in the Douglaston Salmon Run. He didn't want to quit fishing, but Bob told him to back to the Trooper and we followed him up the hill shortly after that.

Terry was literally frozen solid when we all got to the car. We knocked the ice off him and gave him some dry clothes to wear and we headed back. It literally took until we got to Cortland NY with the heater running on full blast for Terry to stop shivering! We laugh about it now, but hypothermia is the real deal!

I remember when Bob and Mary Lou had Sire the Dobermann. Then one day Boozer showed up at the house, and they decided to take him in. He and Sire would fight a bit, but Boozer always held his own. I can't really say here what Bob called him, but he always said that Boozer was 30 pounds of dynamite! And that he was.

Mary Lou used to tell us that when we left every Sunday night Boozer would lay by the door and cry for a couple of days. But when Friday evening rolled around and we showed up Boozer would bounce off the walls with excitement!

Here is a picture of Boozer in my truck after one of our morning runs to Orloski's. We always got him a kielbasa with mustard on a hot dog roll and boy did he love them! We usually rode all the back roads in Hickory Run with him in the mornings just to see how crazy he would go when we came across a bear or a deer! He really helped me and Terry become dog lovers and dog owners, he was the best buddy to us!

I'll close now, but I could literally tell stories about your grandparents for a solid week and not run out of things to say. Bob introduced us to so many people that we would have likely never met otherwise, and they became life-long friends just like Bob and Mary Lou were to us. Terry and I loved them, and they loved us back. Tell your grandfather I'm thinking of him, and that I will never forget what your entire family did for us.

Love,

Tim Murphy

boozer by Tim Murphy, on Flickr

Great story. I remember going to the shop once when it was at the Tannery. It was when I first started fly fishing. I don't remember why I went in or what I bought, but was disappointed when I later found out that they moved from that location.