These are difficult times. COVID-19 has all of us on edge. Millions of us are under lockdown. Millions more are isolating themselves and practicing social distancing, limiting their personal contact with others. It’s a global pandemic, and it’s serious business. In communities across the US and around the world, we’re all experiencing it. We’re all in the same boat.
You don’t have to spend much time in any boat to realize that what each one of us does affects all the others. So it is in the fly fishing community. What we do as fly anglers — what Trout Unlimited does as an organization — affects millions of others around the world. In a very real and very immediate sense, it affects our TU Business members. These members have supported us at every level of our organization from the local chapter banquet to the lobbying in Washington, DC. Now, it’s time for us to support them because we’re all in the same boat.
We’re asking all 300,000 Trout Unlimited members to support our TU Business members in these uncertain times. Buy some gear. Book a trip. If you can’t or don’t want to go in person, do it online or by phone. But do it. They aren’t nameless, faceless corporate entities. They’re real people with real families who depend on them. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring some of them here. And we hope you’ll support them all. We’re all part of the TU Team.
Question: What’s the largest TU chapter in the TU Team? Answer: The Guadalupe River Chapter in Texas. It has over 5,000 devoted members that are passionate about the southernmost trout fishery in the United States. Texas is also home to Living Waters Fly Fishing in Round Rock, TX. The shop is family-owned and operated by Chris and Emily Johnson. These folks are the real deal.
Living Waters specializes in guiding not only the Guadalupe but other warm water fisheries such as the Llano River, San Gabriel River, and Brushy Creek. These rivers are home to native Guadalupe bass, Rio Grande cichlids and a plethora of sunfish. Chris grew up fishing these waters and now has the privilege of guiding them. Living Waters Fly Fishing is just seconds from the cool, clear water of Brushy Creek. This creek has a very special place in the hearts of many local fly fishers, and so does this shop. Make no mistake, it’s a great shop, but like Chris says: “Anybody can sell equipment, but a true fly shop teaches and invests in the next generation of anglers!”
At Living Waters, they listen, they learn and they teach. That’s why they’re the real deal. And that’s why they’re a TU Gold Level Business member.
Living Waters Fly Fishing
Chris Johnson
Round Rock, Texas
(512) 828-3474