I have decided to start a fly tying business myself. I knew if I really wanted to do this it would be a large investment of my time and money.  First I would have to find the right flies to make and learn how to make them as well as where I would sell them, how much to charge, and what materials to use. These were the beginning steps for me to begin my business. I had to find the answers before I even began trying to do anything else to begin my business.

After countless hours of research and learning, I decided to give it a go. I chose to tie saltwater flies because if I tied trout flies I would have nowhere to test them. I wanted to start with a basic clouser minnow and a shrimp fly of my own design. I then needed to finish my shrimp fly design and find all the materials I needed. Once I found the materials, I placed orders and got to work. The next thing I realized that I needed is a name and so I thought long and hard and decided on Trolling Tubby Tackle. I chose this name because in my family I am sometimes called Trolling Tubby.

  Some materials arrived early and I started to tie practice clousers with crystal flash. I used crystal flash to start because my bucktail had not arrived yet. The practice ones were actually much better than I expected and did not fall apart. I was super excited about this because I knew the endless possibilities of fly patterns and sizes were just a fly away. Once the rest of the materials came I started to tie flies that were close to the quality needed for selling. These first ones I kept for myself because thy weren’t the quality I wanted to sell.  I kept practicing and finally had ones that were ready. I decided to sell the clouser minnows in three packs for $6.00 in various colors and the shrimp flies individually for $2.00. These prices were decided based on what other people were pricing similar flies.

Once I have built up enough inventory of flies I will open my shop. I had looked into selling on Etsy but the fees they charged were too high for me.  I had to look into selling elsewhere. Then I remembered that we have a shop on the Branch and Vine website. That seemed perfect because there were no extra fees and anything else of the sort. There was only one thing left to do and that was to get customers and let my business grow.

It seems that in our family, if any planned activity is successful and fun, it is immediately dubbed a family tradition. I imagine that our homeschool month here with Laura and the boys will become exactly that.

A very large tree fell across the street from a friend who decided he would find someone to bring it to us for milling.

We may be retired but summer here is not at all retiring or lazy. There’s just always something to do outside to keep up.

We’ve been watching the forecast all week and hoping for it to come true and after missing the first wave day before yesterday, we were excited to sit and watch the storm come through as predicted with all the wind and rain.

For most of us travel, has not been a big part of our lives during the past couple of years.

Most of my friends and family already know that I love fall, winter and spring better than summer.

I’ve long felt that January is my favorite month of the year. Unfortunately, it always seems so short.

Sharing is one of those things you supposedly learned in Kindergarten that should be a life skill you use all your life. 

Have you ever looked back on some small event that in retrospect was really a much bigger deal than it appeared at the time?

At the end of each month, I try to remember to go back through all the photos I took during the month and remember some of the days and events which sometimes seem so long ago.

Here we are in the midst of the late summer and with it comes the hottest of the weather we will have.  The last few days have been typical of summer weather in south Georgia.

All my life I have literally rolled my eyes at the thought of summer solstice and the first day of summer in late June.  It was June 21st this year and now that I have done a little reading on the subject, just a little, I feel somewhat better about it. 

“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound I come into the peace of wild things.

Wendell Berry