Fly Fishing During the Coronavirus - Take Heart & Find Hope

Photo Credit - Mark Jessop

We're facing some trying times and the future is uncertain. No matter how much toilet paper and canned goods we feel compelled to stockpile, the future is out of our control and that is disconcerting. It is at times like this that my heart longs for solace, a breath of peace away from the drone of news anchors and the panic of the stock market, some semblance of normalcy and the hope that things can get better. At times like this, you really appreciate your family and friends. People that you care about and who care about you, people who will weather the storm with you and those who you would do anything for. Times like this drive me to prayer which doesn't necessarily come easily or naturally, but I need hope so what can it hurt. At times like this, I often return to the river. The river has always been a place of life and hope for me, and it has seen a thing or two. The river has seen joys and hardship, witnessed wars and homecomings, nurtured life and carried away the dead, and still, it remains. It flows, it pulls, it whispers assurances that this too will pass.

In this trying time, I invite you to join us and return to the river. Feel its reassuring embrace around your legs, and let your worry travel out past the end of your fly line. There is hope, and there will be a brighter tomorrow. Take heart and find camaraderie with the anglers upstream and downstream of you. We are in this together.