I am Keyser Soze

 

"And just like that, he was gone." Ok, Spacey probably shouldn't be featured here, but the movie and his character have always been inspirational to me.

Yes, it has been awhile since we were here and let me tell you...its a much different world today than it was way back then. But the one thing that has always been the same is that...I am Keyser Soze.

Today marked the culmination of another stage in an amazing 23 year journey in the fly fishing world as we finalized a transaction to sell our Bozeman fly shop - Fins & Feathers. It started as an idea based on the premise that there was room for an authentic, fishy fly shop here in Bozeman - despite the fact that there were several well established fly shops already in town. 

There was nothing "easy" about the road for us, we had to scrape, kick, litigate, and leverage every inch along the way. Specifically, I mean that the industry did us no favors - we had to earn the credit and respect because none was ever given.

23 years later and thanks to the help a pile of great employees, heaps of wonderful customers, and being centrally located in the middle of some of the world's best wild trout waters - I can honestly say that we "made it."

I learned a ton about business, life, friendship, lawyers, people, fishing, marketing, websites, databases, and so on. However, the most important lesson that I learned is the value of today and this moment - it's really all we have. I hope to spend more moments talking about Midges and Baetis rather than GMROI in what's left of 2022.

A bit of irony...when I opened Fins & Feathers, my most prized rod was a green stick and I drove a Toyota Tacoma. The last rod I bought was a green stick and I just bought a Toyota Tacoma. Full circle, with more speed.

To be honest, however, it just feels great to be sitting here, wondering what comes next for this guy and the life aquatic.

I want to fish and I want to fish more. I used to fish all the time, but business became "too good" and then became "too big" and my focus shifted from fishing to spreadsheets. I should be ashamed of this reality - I know how to effortlessly use pivot tables and vlookup. 

So, Im hoping that I can use some of that knowledge to do some good but not so much of it that I forget what the water smells like again. I hope to see you netting my fish, sooner, rather than later!