A bittersweet day

I have been out fly fishing a couple of times since my last blog without amazing results…other than it’s always great to be on the water.

Today was unexpected and combined a dream realized and deep sadness at another loss.

As many of my readers will know, the fly fishing industry is struggling right now when it comes to the small fly shops. One of my favorites, Taletellers in Lynchburg, VA closing down in the next few weeks. I have seen others shut down, but this one hits home as it’s only 45 minutes from my house and is the closest privately owned fly shop near me.

It is also one of the ones that I went to a few seminars (one epic one on smallmouth bass fly fishing) and learned about Thomas & Thomas fly rods. The Contact 2 by T&T is one of the rods most associated with high end tight line nymphing/euronymphing across the world and after 4 years from release…is still considered one of the very best.

I have been fortunate to have had some great business results in the last few months and my wife and I had agreed I would buying a ‘dream’ rod in November. After some consulting with some of the very best anglers in the world, the T&T Contact 2 and the Hardy Marksman rods came out as the best for how I love to fly fish.

Everything changed about the timeline this afternoon when I checked my email and discovered the Taletellers was closing down. I decided to give them a call and see if they had one of the T&T Contact 2’s that I was most interested in (the 10’ 3wt). They did and I bought it immediately.

My excitement and anticipation while I wait for the rod to be mailed to me is tempered by a great sense of sadness to see such a quality fly shop being shut down. The harsh realities of the economy and the post-Covid bump in fly fishing easing is causing some serious problems for the industry…let alone the folks affected by Helene.

I wonder if you all can understand that mix of emotions that I am experiencing right now? I can’t wait to fish one of my dream rods, but will always remember the story of tragedy that brought it to me. My only consolation is that my purchasing it helps out that owner by putting some cash in their pocket as they look for a different path.

All the best and tight lines,

Mike