Secure – Insecure
Fight – Concede
Hungry – No appetite
Not hungry – Stress eating
Positive thoughts – Depression
Sleep – Insomnia
Knowledge – Ignorance
Hope – Dispair
Care giver – Taking care of oneself
Battling cancer – Quality of life
12 months – 6 months
Greed – It’s not your choice
Loving someone unconditionally – There is no other option!

opportunity to not only see great art work, but also join friends and family for another evening celebrating the fly-fishing industry’s best photographers. This showing will again be held at the Anthology Fine Art gallery (635 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204). Framed prints will be available for direct purchase, and those who bought prints at the exclusive opening will be able to take theirs home that night or any time after.

If you missed the opening show, or would like to attend again, please join the Greenbacks on February 24th, 2012 from 7pm to 11pm to enjoy the photography, friends, and beverages. All ages are welcome.

For more information, please visit http://thegreenbacks.org or http://anthologyfineart.com

The Greenbacks seek to promote native fish and their habitat through the engagement and recruitment of the next generation of Trout Unlimited members.

Other than family, time and money are two of our most important wants, needs…. or combination of both.  Mostly, they are not mutually exclusive, though.  You usually have to give up one to have the other.  You can give up your job to have more time, but then money becomes an issue… and, unless you can find a job that pays you twice what your making now for the same amount of hours, in order to make more money (legally), many people get a second job, and, thus, have less time.

How to make TIME — fire your boss:

I fired my boss 9 years ago because, as I told him, he was getting in the way of me traveling to Indiana to visit my grandson. My wife actually suggested it… I had been unhappy with my job for years, we only had one house payment left and we had a 2^nd grandson on the way.

With all this free time, three years of bicycling, hiking, hunting and fishing took its toll on my left knee leaving me with a less active lifestyle.  Not really bored, but extra time on my hands had me thinking of a part time job or volunteering, but I never was the volunteering type.  The Army had something to do with that.  Anyone that has served knows that those who raise their hand, when asked for volunteers, get the cr@p jobs.

So, that left me thinking more about a part time job.  I performed a reality check on myself and the results were… I liked my current boss (me) better than any other during my 37 year career in computers and I didn’t miss not having to fight rush hour traffic, so I decided not to rush into anything (retirement is great that way).

Two years and a total knee replacement later, I was hunting and fishing again and even took up golf at age 63.  Then, my wife saw an ad for a free seminar from an internet hosting company on website building and attendees would get lunch and a free MP3 player, so she signed us up.  She wanted an MP3 player.  You need to understand that my wife is technically challenged and it shocked me that she wanted one, but who am I to argue.  She had no clue how they worked and my best guess was she expected to be able to just turn it on and it played music.  Simple…. right?  Needless to say, she attempted to use it, after I showed her how to load music on it, and it was put in a drawer and I can’t remember which drawer.

How to make more MONEY – start your own business:

The seminar got me thinking about possibly earning a couple hundred dollars extra a month working for my current boss (me).  The seminar talked about different types of websites; Information, Service, Sales, etc.  The speakers told us to try and identify a Niche that has little or no competition on the internet. They covered many other things that I either forgot about or is too much to get into here, but I saw a lot of people, at that seminar, getting excited about becoming rich using the World Wide Web.  I wonder how many actually got one going and, if they stayed with it to make a profit.

Another venture my wife and I tried during my years of trading 8-5 for a paycheck, taught me that making money, other than trading that time, requires devoting the time and hard work.  Back then, time was the thing I didn’t have to make it work.  In retirement, I could take the time.  So what was going to be my niche?  My daughters would send us different things, from time to time, with my grandsons’ and granddaughter’s pictures (Oh, I failed to mention our precious granddaughter was born a year after our youngest grandson), like coffee cups, Christmas ornaments, etc.  So, until that Niche jumped up and smacked me in the face, I decided to start an Affiliate Marketing website called Simply Unique Photos.  My website contained advertisement links to sites that allowed customers to upload photos and have them printed on mugs, shirts, canvas prints, jewelry, etc… and if someone ordered something, I would get a small commission. Well, you may be familiar with the saying about a “Fart in a Spacesuit”… enough said!

How to make MONEY (idea 2) – expand your floundering business:

Website idea number 2 (at least until I can scratch that elusive Niche) was to create a business around one of my recreational passions…. Fly Fishing. Niche, market this is not, but I thought if I could find well known fly rod and reel manufacturers, that would allow me to sell their products and I paid all the shipping costs rather than my customers, I might be able to make a little money.

Phone in hand, I started calling every manufacturer asked for the sales manager and gave them my sorry pitch.  Oh, BTW, and I couldn’t afford to stock inventory, so they would have to agree to drop-ship directly to my customers for me… remember the Spacesuit saying?  One after another, after the next, to the very last, told me they only dealt with “Brick and Mortar” stores and I would have to purchase 5-20 thousand dollars’ worth of their product in inventory. NO is only a small word letter-wise.  There was one company, though, that didn’t say no but also didn’t say yes… file that one away for later.  This was going to be an internet business so I started doing some search engine research, more calls, more no’s.  Back on the phone to the “non-no” business.  “Brian, I really think I can help you make some money (that got his interest).  Here’s the deal, I can’t promise I’ll ever sell one of your rods or reels.  If I don’t, you haven’t lost a cent, have you?”  “I’m listening”, he said.  I continued, “but if I do make a sale, we’ll both make some money. Worst case scenario is I’ll be advertising your products on the internet and I promise to represent you and your products in a professional manner.”

Brian is a business man.  He is not a corporate sales manager that has rules to follow, so he said “OK, I’m willing to give it a try”.  We worked out my discount, the fact that he would drop-ship to my customers and bill me for my cost plus shipping.  SCORE!!  I’m in the Fly Fishing business.

Now I need a domain name… one that automatically tells people the type of business I’m in, is short enough to remember and captures their attention right from the ‘get go’. Let’s see now… larrysretirementflyshop.com… nah… flyrodsandreelsintherockymountains.com… nah, nah… FLYFISHINGCRAZY.COM… Eureka!  I resemble that (crazy) and furthermore, I represent that.

So now I have one vendor and domain name.  I googled “’fly fishing manufacturers” + “drop ship”’ and found other potential vendors.  My sales pitch on cold calls must have evolved, because now I was getting yesses instead of no’s.  Enough that I could actually take my website live in May of ’09 and got my first sale in July of ’09, another in Aug., several in Sept. and ended the year with about 15 sales.  Off and running.  FYI… I’ve met my goal of a couple hundred bucks a month.

Volunteering:

Remember I mentioned I served in the Army and that I am Crazy about Fly Fishing? I came across this organization called Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) through a contact on Facebook. I went to one of their fly tying classes for the vets down at the VA hospital in Denver and I was hooked.  I’ll come back to this in a little while.  First….

Caring for Cancer:

As I am writing this post, I just got back from my wife’s visit with her oncologist.  This is where, when you get knocked down, you have to try to get back up.  It’s hard when your heart is breaking.  We’ve been married over 46 years.

I digress… 18 months ago, my wife was diagnosed with what we were told was an inoperable, incurable form of bile duct cancer.  Best guess life expectancy 6-12 months.  I’m not going to go into the horrible details of her treatment.  Suffice it to say, we spent months in radiation and chemo treatments and during that time, had many visits to the ER (some resulting in hospital admission). While working with PTSD veterans at the VA, and now helping my wife in her battle, made me realize that PTSD is not reserved for wartime military personnel. I was dedicating all of my time to her while she was awake; listening for any ‘out of the ordinary’ sounds from her while she slept. Where do I find the strength?  I don’t have a clue other than unconditional love.  While being trapped in this mental cell of caring, I had to find time for responding to my website orders by forwarding the orders to my vendors to be shipped.  I even had to; somehow, find time to pay my vendors for those orders.

From last spring, when she finished her chemo, until now, she has had a good quality of life and we have been able to do a lot together.  She encourages me to volunteer on a regular basis with PHWFF and has attended some of our fishing events with the vets.

Today, though, it sounds like she (we) will be starting anew with a different type of cancer that is growing in several lymph nodes.  We don’t know what the future will bring, but she has vowed to fight on.

Continuing on:

I have to find whatever balance I can.  Being consumed by all this free time and some extra money while trying to care for a loved one is not going to happen.  Certain things are no longer in our control, but we need to control the things we can.  I enjoy my business… it is Fly Fishing related.  I care very deeply for my fellow soldiers and veterans.  But first and foremost, I will love my wife, unconditionally, until….

Healing Those Who Serve

As a proud volunteer for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing in Denver, CO, helping our disabled active duty soldiers and veterans has become a big part of my life.  Last year, ProjectHealingWaters.org gave me permission to produce a custom built fly rod to be sold exclusively through FlyFishingCrazy.com.   These rods compliment the great PHW rod sold by Temple Forks Outfitters.

The tittle of this blog states a New and Improved, fly rod from Fly Fishing Crazy, so what’s new and what’s improved?  First, I have introduced 4 separate grades of rods.  The first 3 are available in trout models and All-Purpose models which are designed for fresh or saltwater with all aluminum reel seats, small fighting butt and 2 stripper guides.  The top of the line “Evening Dress Blues” grade is only available in trout models.  It’s just too high class to try and make it saltwater worthy.  These rods are based on custom blanks made exclusively for Fly Fishing Crazy. The Freshwater fly rods are built on unique T.L. Johnson designed and built blanks in line weights 4-6.  The 8’6″ 4 weight rod is a Medium/Fast action incorporating a graphite resin system along with helical reinforcement.  The 9′ 4-6 weight rods are a Fast action blank that incorporates a unique graphite resin system that is a high modulus blend. The unique construction of these rod blank designs make them very light, yet extremely durable. Project Healing Waters fly rods are balanced to achieve low swing weight.  The All-Purpose models are available in 6-8 weight and are built on the same fine blank, but come with saltwater approved reel seats with small fighting butt, a full wells grip and 2 stripper guides.  All-Purpose rods will handle the big freshwater species too, as proven by Matt Smythe, The Fishing Poet, who fished one of my 6wt demo rods for steelhead on the Salmon River in New York state (read his review below).

Starting with the “Enlisted” Grade, you get a quality black anodized aluminum reel seat with walnut insert, a delrin winding check, Olive thread w/ three spiral NCP Olive accent wraps (BDU – Battle Dress Uniform colors), and black guides and tip-top.  The second grade is “NCO” Grade or “NCO” Grade All-Purpose.  This will get you a bright anodized reel seat with walnut insert (pewter anodized seat available for $10 more), delrin winding check, Branch of Service or BDU colors, bright guides and tip-top.  Next is the “Class A” Grade or “Class A” Grade All-Purpose which comes loaded with Nickel Silver reel seat with Premium Gun-Stock Walnut insert, Nickel winding check, Branch of Service colors and bright hardened chrome guides and tip-top.  Finally, the “Evening Dress Blues” Grade is adorned with Gun-Barrel Blued Nickel Silver reel seat, Premium Walnut insert, Blued Nickel winding check, Branch of Service colors and TiCH black snake guides and tip-top.  The hardware is upgraded to provide a higher quality rod for the price.  All rods are built on a matte finish blank and beautifully Hand Inscribed with “Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing”, rod length, line weight and serial number.

Why should you buy a custom U.S. built rod from FlyFishingCrazy.com?

You’re looking for a new fly rod.

Scenario 1: You go to the nearest fly shop and pay $300 – $800 and you get a nice rod.

Scenario 2: You pay $369 – $489 for a Project Healing Waters fly rod… you get free shipping in the U.S., a great custom built rod and 20% + $20 gets donated to Project Healing Waters to help our wounded and disabled vets.

IT’S YOUR CALL!                    and it’s well worth the 4-8 week build time for these custom U.S. made fly rods!

As an on-line fly shop owner, I have some great resources to draw on.  Terry Johnson of T.L. Johnson Rod Company in Wellington, CO is one of this countries best custom boutique fly rod builders.  Terry is producing all of my custom Project Healing Waters fly rods that will be sold exclusively through my website FlyFishingCrazy.com. Terry builds his own blanks here in the U.S. so what better choice for a custom rod to support our troops than one that is 100% U.S. made. Terry has been building rods for over 25 years and has worked for many of the big name companies before starting his own company in 2003. He is, in my honest opinion, one of the finest rod builders in the U.S., if not the world. Terry is a perfectionist and you can see it in his wraps. I chose one of Terry’s more affordable blanks for several reasons. I thought that the matte gray finish of his FX series rods would give a more military look and this rod should, by all comparisons of the “yuppie” brands, sell for $500-$600, but will start at $369 (fully optioned will be $489).

In case you haven’t heard of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, let me begin with their Mission Statement. “Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.” Founded in 2005 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC, with help from local Trout Unlimited (TU) and Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) volunteers, they currently have over 70 programs in cities around the U.S. and Canada.

I volunteer for the Denver, CO program, started by Clyde (Marty) Matinez in 2008. Beginning in January, the 2011 year started off at the Denver Fly Fishing Show where we co-hosted a booth with the Ft. Carson, Colorado Springs chapter. We then followed with fly tying classes at the VA Hospital in Denver. About 8 disabled veterans, mostly from the Vietnam era learned the basics by tying a Black Beauty, Woolly Bugger, Pheasant Tail, Elk Hair Caddis and Adams. Four weeks ago, we began a fly rod building class in the Nursing Home adjacent to the VA. Last week, we began a fly tying class at the VA clinic in Aurora, CO with 6 Vets with disabilities in attendance. As the weather warms, we will be starting casting classes at both the Denver VA and Aurora clinic. Out first, of many, outings will be at the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Lake Lehow on April 6th. The Vets should have an exciting day as it’s almost impossible to make a half dozen casts without a hookup.  In 2011 we provide 19 fishing trips and have a goal of 30 trips for 2012.  This brings me around to fund raising. Local trips are not a huge deal cost wise, but in order to take some of our soldiers on a trip of a lifetime to Alaska, we need to raise some money. Currently, at the 2012 Denver International Sportsmen’s Expo, we are raffling off 2 fly rods that were donated by Doug Borer Bamboo and custom builder and volunteer Jim Sawyer.

Several great companies in the industry are supporting Project Healing Waters. Temple Forks Outfitters is one of them. They donate $25 for each Project Healing Waters fly rod they sell. TFO has been selling their Project Healing Waters fly rod for several years now and, at $150, it is a great value for the money. But, like any $150 rod, it left the door open for U.S. quality and that is why I am offering my great rod to compliment the one from TFO.

There are many ways to support our troops. I have chosen to share my joy of fly fishing and the peacefulness of a trout stream or lake by volunteering to take a soldier fishing.  Project Healing Waters has taken on this venture on a nationwide scale and has made a difference in the lives of many veterans. Men and women who have a hard time finding a reason to smile will grin from ear to ear when they hook into a fish on a fly rod. I’ve witnessed this first hand. Please help them to regain the peace in their lives that they fought so hard to provide for us.

Buy a Fly Rod… Help the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings. The solitude of a trout stream or the calm waters of a lake have a healing power that can’t be explained, but also, can’t be denied!

Tight Lines———–<*))))><
Larry Snyder
Owner - FlyFishingCrazy.com
Email: larry@flyfishingcrazy.com
Phone: 303-755-2105

Healing Those Who Serve

Prices and models have changed, please check out my updated “NEW AND IMPROVED PROJECT HEALING WATERS FLY ROD FROM FLY FISHING CRAZY”  I have changed the rods to offer four different and distinct grades… or visit my Fly Fishing Crazy website –  http://www.flyfishingcrazy.com/rods/tl-johnson-rods/phw.

As a proud volunteer for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing in Denver, CO, I wanted to do more for the soldiers than my financial means and my time would allow.  I am happy to say that I have received permission from ProjectHealingWaters.org for FlyFishingCrazy.com to produce an exclusive custom fly rod to compliment the great PHW rod sold by Temple Forks Outfitters.   Fly Fishing Crazy will be contributing 20% of retail sales +$20 for this rod to Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.

As an on-line fly shop owner, I have some great resources to draw on, so I approached Terry Johnson of T.L. Johnson Rod Company in Wellington, CO with the idea of producing a Project Healing Waters custom built fly rod that will be sold exclusively through my website FlyFishingCrazy.com. Terry builds his own blanks here in the U.S. so what better choice for a custom rod to support our troops than one that is 100% U.S. made. Terry has been building rods for over 25 years and has worked for many of the big name companies before starting his own company in 2003. He is, in my honest opinion, one of the finest rod builders in the U.S., if not the world. Terry is a perfectionist and you can see it in his wraps. I chose one of Terry’s more affordable rods for several reasons. I thought that the matte gray finish of his FX series rods would give a more military look and this rod should, by all comparisons of the “yuppie” brands, sell for $500, but will start at $335 (fully optioned will be $425).

Black thread with 3 spiral gold wraps

The base Project Healing Waters rod will have Olive translucent wrappings with NCP Olive accent, but can be customized for each Branch of Service.
Branch of Service colors are:
• Army – Black with Gold Accent *
• Navy – Dark Blue with White Accent
• Marines – Red with Gold Accent
• Air Force – Blue with Silver Accent
• Coast Guard – Blue with Red Accent

* Having served in the 1st Signal Brigade USASTRATCOM, Phu Lam Signal Base, Viet Nam ’67, I have Army fly rod Serial # 001. It is an 8’6″ 4 weight built with Blued Nickel and Gunstock Walnut reel seat upgrades.  HOOOAH!

All rods are hand inscribed with “Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing”, rod length, line weight, and serial number.
They are custom built as they are ordered, so please allow 4-8 weeks build time.

Army Rod #001 with Stone Creek Halcyon reel

In case you haven’t heard of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, let me begin with their Mission Statement. “Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.” Founded in 2005 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC, with help from local Trout Unlimited (TU) and Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) volunteers, they currently have over 70 programs in cities around the U.S. and Canada.

I volunteer for the Denver, CO chapter, started by Clyde (Marty) Matinez in 2008. Beginning in January, this year started off at the Denver Fly Fishing Show where we co-hosted a booth with the Ft. Carson, Colorado Springs chapter. We then followed with fly tying classes at the VA Hospital in Denver. About 8 disabled veterans, mostly from the Vietnam era learned the basics by tying a Black Beauty, Woolly Bugger, Pheasant Tail, Elk Hair Caddis and Adams. Four weeks ago, we began a fly rod building class in the Nursing Home adjacent to the VA. Last week, we began a fly tying class at the VA clinic in Aurora, CO with 6 Vets with disabilities in attendance. As the weather warms, we will be starting casting classes at both the Denver VA and Aurora clinic. Out first, of many, outings will be at the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Lake Lehow on April 6th. The Vets should have an exciting day as it’s almost impossible to make a half dozen casts without a hookup. With about 8 or 10 trips currently scheduled around the state, we hope to culminate the season with a trip to Trail Lake Lodge in Moose Pass, Alaska the first week of September. This trip brings me around to fund raising. Local trips are not a huge deal cost wise, but in order to take some of our soldiers on a trip of a lifetime to Alaska, we need to raise some money. Currently, we are raffling off 2 fly rods that were donated by Graywolf Products and Rolling River Anglers.

Several great companies in the industry are supporting Project Healing Waters. Temple Forks Outfitters is one of them. They donate $25 for each Project Healing Waters fly rod they sell. TFO has been selling their Project Healing Waters fly rod for several years now and, at $150, it is a great value for the money. But, like any $150 rod, it left the door open for U.S. quality and that is why I am offering my great rod to compliment the one from TFO.

There are many ways to support our troops. I have chosen to share my joy of fly fishing and the peacefulness of a trout stream or lake by volunteering to take a soldier fishing.  Project Healing Waters has taken on this venture on a nationwide scale and has made a difference in the lives of many veterans. Men and women who have a hard time finding a reason to smile will grin from ear to ear when they hook into a fish on a fly rod. I’ve witnessed this first hand. Please help them to regain the peace in their lives that they fought so hard to provide for us.

Buy a Fly Rod… Help the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings. The solitude of a trout stream or the calm waters of a lake have a healing power that can’t be explained, but also, can’t be denied!

Tight Lines———–<*))))><
Larry Snyder
Owner – FlyFishingCrazy.com
Email: larry@flyfishingcrazy.com
Phone: 303-755-2105

Bob White - Photo by Byron Harris

What do you think of when you hear the term “Sporting Art”?  Hunting, fishing, still life, landscape?   Well let me introduce an artist who excels in Fish Prints, Fishing Prints, Float Plane Prints, Upland Hunting Prints, Waterfowl Hunting Prints, Sporting Still Life Prints and Landscape/Rural America Prints.

Bob White is one of the best artists of Sporting Art in the world.  In 1988 Fly Rod & Reel Magazine named him guide of the year.  Guiding in Alaska and Patagonia for more than twenty years, in 1994 as the Artist of the Year for the Alaska State Parks Foundation, Bob produced and donated the artwork for the first Alaska State Parks Foundation print.  Bob has been featured as a guide and artist on ESPN’s “Fly Fishing the World” and “Fly Fishing America”, as well as on Ron Schara’s “Minnesota Bound”.  He currently illustrates the closing columns for Fly Rod & Reel magazine, Duck’s Unlimited magazine, Gun Dog magazine and Hatches magazine.  He was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Artist in 2009.  How’s that for credentials?  Currently, in addition to his art, Bob is a columnist for Midwest Fly Fishing and regularly contributes to many other sporting publications.  He also hosts several fishing and hunting trips a year to Patagonia and Alaska.

Bob White’s art was instrumental in the inspiration for Joe Mahler when he created my logo.  Joe studied how Bob created movement in the flow of a stream and the rocks on the stream bottom.  Thanks to Joe’s talent, along with insight taken from Bob’s art, my logo of the Crazy Bear was created.  Joe is also a FFF Fly Casting Instructor and writes articles for FLORIDA FLY FISHING magazine.  He has just published a book, “Essential Knots & Rigs for Trout”, through Stackpole Books (you can find out more about Joe at MarkerJockey.com).  Almost a year ago, when Joe saw that I was offering Fish Art on my website, he suggested I contact Bob.  Well, I am pleased to say that about a month ago I finally hooked up (fish on!) with Bob on LinkedIn and sent him a message about my business.  I am extremely excited that Bob has agreed to let me sell his prints on FlyFishingCrazy.  I cannot discount these prints, but I will pay the shipping in the continental U.S.

I have carried Fish Art from Mike Savlen, Derek DeYoung and AD Maddox, and although they have a few pieces of what I call Fishing Scenes, most of their great works are paintings of Fish, either real or abstract. I carry one piece from Rebecca Haydock of a Fishing Scene on the flats of Belize.  What Bob White’s art adds to my other fine artists is Fishing Art.  His art, much like that of Canadian artist Diane Michelin, is of fishing scenes, capturing the event rather than the prize.  In reality, the prize should be the fishing trip rather than the fish itself.  Catching a fish (or thirty) is just a bonus.  Capturing scenes like drift fishing, guided fishing, the first casts of your son or grandson, Bob creates the feeling of trips you may have taken of ones that are on your “bucket list”.  There is also one of fishing legend John Gierach fishing a mountain stream “Close to Home“.  Not all of Bob’s art is available on my site at this time.  If there is a piece you saw and want, contact me.

Check out this great art from Bob White, our featured artist of 2011.

Tight Lines————<*))))><
Larry Snyder
www.flyfishingcrazy.com
Where service has a higher priority than the products.
303-755-2105
or email: larry@flyfishingcrazy.com

A few of Bob White’s Prints
Click to view slideshow.

I began this humble venture as a means of supplementing my retirement income, so I can take a fly fishing trip or two. My goals were modest… a couple hundred bucks a month, clear profit, means a lot. Not being able to afford a Brick & Mortar store and stock thousands of dollars in inventory on my retirement income, I started cold calling all the major companies in the industry and asked if they would consider me as a dealer and, more importantly, if they would drop ship directly to my customers. No after No seemed to be the theme. Now, I understand that these companies need to protect the interest of their Fly Shop dealers, but how about giving the little guy (and I’m not talking physical) a break! Not being a quitter, I decided to call Brian at Elkhorn Fly Rod and Reel. I had been fishing a 9’0″ 3wt Elkhorn Traveler rod and T1 reel for 8 years and it was always one of  my favorite outfits (and still is today). Brian has a small fly shop in Loveland, CO (recently moved to a larger and better location) and carries his own line of Fly Rods and Fly Reels. Brian was apprehensive at first, but I finally persuaded him that, although I couldn’t guarantee him any volume, an occasional sale is a sale. I must have perfected my sales pitch by then. Since I live in Colorado, I decided to concentrate locally on adding additional vendors. Rocky at Stone Creek in Greeley, CO must have felt sorry for me, too, and said yes. He gave me the name of a custom rod builder in Wellington, CO, Terry Johnson of TL Johnson Companies. I called Terry and found out that he has been in the business of building fly rods for over 25 years and knows more people in the industry than you can shake a stick at. Right away he said, sure a sale is a sale. Come to find out, he owns Fish Creek Rods as well. I just scored on a High End fly rod line but a really sweet import line as well.

That was enough to get started loading products and categories on my site. The business model I choose affords me low overhead and means I can offer competitive pricing and Free U.S. Shipping on all my products. I began with just Fly Rods and Fly Reels from Elkhorn, Stone Creek, Fish Creek and TL Johnson. As I visited local fly shops, I noticed that, in addition to the apparel and terminal tackle for fly fishing, they all carried books and fish art. So my next target was the art. I called Mike Savlen at Savlen Studios in NH and got permission to sell his Giclee prints of Saltwater Fish. Then in September I was able to sneak into the Fly Fishing Retailer’s Show in Denver and met Derek DeYoung of Livingston, MT, Matt Schliske in Fort Collins, CO and Vincent Su from Littleton, CO. I was able to add Derek’s freshwater artwork to compliment Mike’s and was amazed at the parachute flies Vincent tied with his patented 720-Vise, so I schmoozed him into letting me add his fly vise to my pages. Matt Schliske and his Rattlesnake Creek Krew buddies make some of the most gorgeous Bamboo Fly Rods you could ever lay your eyes on, and they cast as good as they look. Matt is a custom bamboo maker, but he has 4 standard models that I got permission to post on my site. Things are looking up!

I met a guy on Facebook, Joe Mahler, who is a graphic Illustrator. I sent him a message asking how much he charges for a custom Logo. He replied back with “between $1000 and $1200″. I gave a big hard swallow and replied back that, although I couldn’t afford that at the time, I really liked his work and would keep him in mind. About 3 weeks later, I got a FB message from Joe saying he had been looking at my site and he thought it was ‘Screaming for something CRAZY’ (do ‘ya think?) and that he had doodled a sketch and asked if I would want to look at it. I replied back with “Sure, but I still can’t afford it”.  He emailed me the black and white sketch and said that, in his mind, there was nothing crazier than a fly fishing bear. Right below that, he said he would be interested in taking a TL Johnson Fiberglass rod in exchange.  –SCORE– I couldn’t turn that deal down and that is where my Crazy Bear and Crazy Rainbow came from. The full logo is now available on my adult Tees and the Crazy Bear and Crazy Rainbow are available on kids Tees.

I met my next three artists on FB. Rob “Fishbone” Goins does some amazing aluminum fish sculptures, mostly saltwater, but his son in NC is doing freshwater aluminum fish sculptures and I am working on him at the moment. Rebecca Haydock and A.D. Maddox offer Giclee fish, and fishing scene, prints.

Last fall, I met Nathan Stodghill on FB and he introduced me to Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. I started volunteering at the Denver VA hospital, teaching Disabled Vets how to tie flies, cast a fly rod and taking them out fishing. I mentioned to Terry Johnson that a couple of us volunteers wanted to hold a rod building class for the Vets and he donated a pile of out of production fly rod blanks and some guides. Matt White a local member of the Fly Rod Builder’s Guild, took the lead on the class and we had 8 Vets build there own rods. Stone Creek gave me a deal on rod tubes with reel pouch, David Brittain called Lamson and got reels donated and we took the guys out to a private ranch with 9 stocked lakes and a mile of stream to try them out. This year, I added a new vendor Shane Gray, Graywolf Productions, in MI. He builds custom bamboo and fiberglass rods, but he volunteered to build a custom graphite rod for us to raffle off for Project Healing Waters. Matt White also custom built one of the blanks from Terry and that will be raffled as well in January at the Denver Fly Fishing Show.

The Denver chapter of Project Healing Waters had a booth at this year’s Fly Fishing Retailer’s Show which I worked part-time. My time has been limited, since August, because of health related issues in the family, but I was able to work the show and meet some new vendors. I met Mike Westfall, owner of Blue Ribbon Nets. He is making some beautiful, 4 wood construction, fishing nets with standard mesh or rubber net. His Jacklin Guide model with rubber net compares favorably with Brodin nets.

All in all, it’s been a great 18 months. It’s a tough bunch of businesses to compete with, especially on the Web. Try doing a Google search for “fly rod blanks”. You’ll find me on page 1. I’m still trying to find my niche, but with a name like FlyFishingCrazy.com in the fly rod business, how can I  go wrong? Kinda rolls of the tongue like MacDonalds and Hamburgers.

If you want affordable quality at Crazy prices, check me out and watch for future additions.

Tight Lines——–<*))))><
Larry Snyder

http://www.flyfishingcrazy.com

larry@flyfishingcrazy.com

I have access to a limited quantity of blemished TL Johnson LX Blanks for $131.25. These blanks retail for $342.50. Call or email me to find out what’s available. The blemish is very fine scratches in paint. Unless you know what you’re looking for, most would never notice. In no way will  it affect performance of rod. Blems are sold without warranty.

Completed LX rods sell for $685.

I also can get TL Johnson Emerger Series blank blems.  Price for blanks is $90 and for a finished blem rod, $175.

Tight Lines——-<*))))><
Larry
303-755-2105
larry@flyfishingcrazy.com