What can I say.  I’ve done a lousy job keeping my website up-to-date the last couple of years.  I keep promising myself I am going to do a better job of it, and then everything else keeps getting in the way.

Just like it is with everyone else, this COVID thing has been a part of it all.  I’m now fully vaccinated and boosted, still wearing a mask and staying socially distanced as much as I can.  Even after getting both of the shots, though, I ended up with a positive test, even as careful as I have been.  Luckily, the symptoms were mild, but being quarantined at home for a couple of weeks was a pain.  I lived downstairs in the basement, and my wife stayed upstairs.  Worst part was sleeping on the lumpy couch.

On the other hand, the pandemic has created one positive for me.  Lots of people have used fly fishing as a way of getting out and doing something enjoyable.  After all, it’s not something you do in a crowd.  It seems, though, that a lot of people don’t have ready access to a supply of flies.  So like a lot of other things, they are ordering them online.  In the last two years I have sent out more flies than I did in the previous six years of doing this.  What hurts is the fact that I have spent more time tying flies than I have fishing them.

Like many other businesses, though, I have had supply chain problems.  A lot of fly tying materials come from overseas, and some items like hooks and beads have been in short supply.  It’s interesting how creative one can be when they need 20 dozen of the same hook to fill an order.  Never knew you could find fly fishing hooks on E-Bay.

I am writing this piece having caught up on my orders, but I’ll bet that at least one more will pop up on the computer before I get this thing posted.  (Yep.  Got two so far.)

I encourage everyone to do all that they can to stay safe and healthy.  Be smart and stay as socially distanced as you can – go fly fishing if nothing else.  Wear a mask when that’s not possible.  And for God’s sake, get vaccinated and/or boosted.  We all want to beat this damn thing, but that won’t really happen until we are all smart and do the right things.

Enjoy some time on the water, and keep your line tight.

CJ