Why

When I first started talking about writing a blog, some of those I talked to about it asked me "why?" in different ways, usually with some comment or inference about ego or money. It's not about either. As a fly tier I have no misconceptions about where I stand in the market. I tie simple flies that I know catch fish because I'm out there fishing them myself. I don't tie them in the hopes of becoming the next great creator, to have them catch tournament trophy fish or win awards. And when all is said and done, I don't make much money sitting at the vise every night. As a fly fisherman I'm not the greatest. I don't make perfect casts. I'm not concerned about how many fish I catch or how big they are. I'm not an expert. I just fish. A lot.

 So, "why?"

Because it is what I do, it's what I have become. Over the years I have amassed great wealth from life in the fly fishing world. A wealth in the form of memories of the amazing places I have fished, the things I have seen, the things that I have learned and the people I have met. Things that make a life. In the end, the only thing that any of us really own is our story. I just want to live a good one.

That is "why?"

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is

only the details of how he lived and how

he died that distinguish one man from another."

- Ernest Hemingway