Kaufmann's Streamborn, Inc. had its humble beginnings in 1969. Two brothers, Lance & Randall Kaufmann, began a mail order fly fishing business in their parent's garage in Tigard, Oregon. Randall tied flies, and Lance ordered merchandise, dyed feathers, and filled the orders.
After the Kaufmann brothers outgrew the garage, they set up shop in an old house where rock music played upstairs, bird skins dried in the bathroom, feathers were dyed in the kitchen sink, and flies were tied in the dining room. Retail sales were conducted in the living room. The business soon expanded to include stores in Tigard, Oregon, and in Bellevue and Seattle, Washington. In 1979 Kaufmann's Fly Fishing Expeditions, Inc. was launched to operate fishing schools on Oregon's Deschutes River and to provide trips to exceptional freshwater and saltwater fly fishing destinations throughout the world.