Matt Hillyer still remembers his grandfather's place opposite the Niantic Town Green, at Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

The late Walter L. Hillyer opened a gas and service station in 1934 at the same location as the village train station overlooking Niantic Bay, and with a pier popular with fishermen just over the tracks, Hillyer immediately recognized the genius of adding a bait and tackle shop to the business, too.

Hillyer's Atlantic Station thrived and was eventually taken over by Walter C. Hillyer, son of Walter L. and father of Matt and Jon Hillyer, the third-generation owners of Connecticut's oldest operating tackle shop, now located at 374 Rope Ferry Road in Waterford, on the opposite side of the Niantic River. It was about 1966, when Matt and Jon's father was running the business, that he moved it to Mago Point, when the state opened its public boat launch there, a launch that to this day is one of the largest and most popular in Connecticut.

Hillyer's has occupied three different sites in the neighborhood since it relocated there almost 50 years ago, and today is housed in a free-standing, more than 2,000-square-foot building settled among the marinas, charter and party boats, and the still-popular public boat launch where even on a recent dreary early spring weekday, boaters were heading out to Niantic Bay.

The season is still early, but Hillyer's is open seven days a week and will increase its hours as the days grow longer and the fishing improves.

"Our product has never changed and we've never moved far," said Matt Hillyer, who has operated the business with brother, Jon, since 1988. "We give people what they want and have things on hand when they need them. We've got everything here that you need for a day of fishing."

Hillyer's is indeed a fisherman's paradise. It's not just that they seemingly have every conceivable tool, notion and accessory that a person heading out on the water intent on catching something might desire, but they know what's biting where and they liberally hand out that information, too.

In peak fishing season Hillyer's employs a dozen workers and all are fish-savvy. Even the teenagers who work there go out fishing with the veterans so when a customer asks a question, they can answer it intelligently.

"We all fish a lot," said Hillyer, "so we can direct a customer where and when to go to get fish."

Personal service has always been a mainstay of Hillyer's, and Matt Hillyer said staff goes out of its way to remember the names of regular customers and provide them with whatever they need.

"We adapt to our customers' needs," he said, explaining that if the Niantic River has a good scallop season, Hillyer's will stock up on scallop nets and view boxes. And for crabbers and clammers, they've got things like traps, nets, rakes, baskets and other paraphernalia.

Hillyer's sells the necessary permits, and all kinds of bait, like sandworms, night crawlers, mealworms, green crabs and live eels. They've got an extensive section of rods and reels and the gadgets to go with them like plugs, jigs, sinkers, snap swivels, hooks and braided fishing line. Their selection of sinkers, neatly organized in loaf pans, is massive, taking up a good portion of one entire wall.

They also sell anchors, sunscreen, foul weather gear, fishing and clamming knives, sunglasses, and navigational charts. If you're on a boat and going fishing, there's not a thing you may need that Hillyer's doesn't carry.

When Jon and Matt's father moved the business to Mago Point in 1966, he put up a building beside the former A&W Root Beer where Hillyer's operated until 1988, when the state took a portion of the property for construction of a new vehicle bridge over the Niantic River. That's when the brothers took over, and for one season they ran the business from a trailer, before renting property across the street from where they are now located. They stayed there about eight years, and in 2000 they built Hillyer's current location on property they owned, and where they plan to stay.

They cater predominantly to in-shore saltwater fishermen, but carry gear for off-shore and fresh-water fishing, too. Hillyer's opens weekends in the winter and every day starting in March. By summertime, they're opening at 5 a.m. and not closing until 7 p.m.

"We want to be here when they need us and have what they need," said Hillyer. "People want convenience."

a.baldelli@theday.com

Twitter: @annbaldelli    

Hillyer's Tackle Shop

What: Full-service bait and tackle shop

Where: 374 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford

When: Open daily except December, January and February, when only open on weekends. Check the website for hours.

Employees: 12, including co-owners Jon and Matt Hillyer

Website: www.hillyerstackle.com/

Phone: (860) 443-7615