By Kate Bartlett
Nick Sagnibene is a small business owner, outdoorsman, dog dad and enjoyer of the great outdoors that surround Ellicottville. He can be spotted driving around town with his Australian Shepherd’s, Beaufort, and drift boat in tow.
Born and raised in West Seneca, Nick graduated from West Seneca East High School. “I grew up in the outdoors, spending every weekend at the cabin in Rushford, fishing, playing in the mud, four wheeling and snowmobiling. It’s where my love for the outdoors began.” He attended Paul Smiths College near Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks for fish and wildlife biology. After his first year, he returned to Western New York for financial reasons and completed two years at Erie Community College for Environmental Science. Nick began to realize that schooling in a classroom setting did not suit him, and he began his journey to become a fishing guide.
In 2016, Nick was working as a full-time bartender at Big Ditch Brewing Company in Buffalo. “I was spending nearly every day fishing around the area before I would work evenings at the bar. One day I was fishing in Great Valley, where I met Tony Distefino, who informed me about a new outdoor store opening up in the village. I stopped by that afternoon still in my waders and was greeted by John Rounds. We talked fishing and more, and within a month or two, I moved into the village and working full time as a fishing guide and sales associate at Adventure Bound onthefly.”
Nick has been a fishing guide in NYS for about 10 years, with it becoming his full-time job around 2020. In 2021, Nick decided to start his own company, 716 Fly Fishing, and has never been happier. “It is extremely gratifying to run your own business; you get to see the fruition of your efforts. Each day is focused on growing the business and what effort you put in is what you’ll get out. I have been amazed by the support from not only Ellicottville, but the greater WNY area. When I’m on the water with clients or friends or family, I am just as excited when they hook into a fish as when I hook into a fish. The instructional aspect and watching an angler grow in both confidence and skill, is the reason I love the career path I chose.”
Nick loves being involved in many outdoor activities and events in WNY and Ellicottville. He has hosted fly fishing film festivals at both Holiday Valley and The Ridge, a newly opened ‘pour-your-own’ bar Nick manages in West Seneca. He has also been involved in Rushford Conservation Club’s annual kids fly fishing events and continues to write articles and update regional fishing conditions for the Buffalo News and other publications. He recently joined the WNY Trout Unlimited chapters Board of Directors, which has allowed him to work on stream restoration projects and more to protect fisheries for the future.
Everyday offers something new to Nick as a fishing guide. “There’s literally a different view every day. We have a year-round fishery, and a multitude of species which allows me to have variety. Variety is key for me and my personality. I get bored easy and have a short attention span, so having countless streams, rivers and species to fish makes it feel like I’m not ‘locked down’ and I appreciate that.”
Allegheny Plateau will forever be a special place in Nick’s heart. “As a registered guide in both New York and Pennsylvania, my work takes place in some of the most beautiful areas on the east coast. Being on the water, many times in the middle of the woods away from roads and people, allows to me soak up the environment. I’ve come to appreciate the different species of birds throughout the year, mammals, invertebrates, flora and fauna. My job allows me to be involved with nature and the outdoors which I do not take for granted. I often times will be standing in a river, looking around thinking about how natural and wild it was where I was standing, maybe 200, 300, 1,000 years ago. Who has stood where I have, what animals were here and how did it look back before modern Europeans ascended, before everything was logged & species were lost. The Allegheny plateau of Southern New York and NW Pennsylvania will continue to captivate me and I’m lucky to call it my office.”
Nick feels fortunate to have met so many amazing people since moving to Ellicottville. “There is someone in town or close, that can help you with just about anything you need, and many times its one hand washes the other. Coming from the suburbs of Buffalo, West Seneca was a great place to grow up, but in the village, you don’t have the hustle and bustle of suburbia. It’s so much more relaxed, as are the people. You can see as many people in town as you’d like, then drive 5 minutes outside and never know EVL was there. I am really blessed to be a part of this community, and look forward to many years of friendships and building my career in the village and surroundings.”
For more information on 716 Fly Fishing visit https://www.flyfishingthe716.com/ or email Nick directly Nick@716FlyFishing.com. Also visit The Ridge in West Seneca for a Pour-Your-Own beer experience featuring many local and Ellicottville brews at 555 Orchard Park Road https://www.theridgewestseneca.com/.