Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Does Travis Fish?

Deschutes River Redside 2019

Lately I've heard a few rumors floating around that I don't get out and fish. People saying maybe I lost my passion for fishing. Honestly I've had to ask myself; Are these rumors true? Have I lost my fishing passion?

With 27 years as small business owner of Gorge Fly Shop the question is does fishing still keep me up at night? YES, IT DOES!

My son Austin just had his 12th birthday. I asked him what he wanted and his answer was to take him fishing. At that very moment I couldn't have been more proud as a father.

Austin's 12th birthday

In the next few minutes I realized it had been a month since I last hit the water and several months had gone by since the time before that.

Where does the time go?
Father of two, I have a teenage daughter and son who is less than a year from teenage status as well. Sports, school, homework, etc. Yep! It's all real!

Being a husband and spending time with lyndsey, vacations, long weekends, etc...

Working Business owner. Go ahead call Gorge Fly Shop. I'm usually there most days of the week.

Our recent relocation
For over a year I've been consumed with the acquisition and construction of our new shop location. The hours of planning, organizing and moving cannot possibly be totaled up. The move is still ongoing with crafting work areas, stock shelves and the Big Grand Opening Party happening on June 22nd.

We now have parking, and it's free!
Are you towing your boat? Stop on by, we got room! and we dig boats!

As of this writing I am in progress building our new fly casting area, This is something we couldn't do at our old location.

Many ask us why we moved from downtown Hood River. The honest answer is we hope by removing ourselves from the masses of day to day non fisher people traffic, (which occurred daily at that location), and use our new location to be able to better focus on local anglers and free up some of our own time and energy for family and fishing.

The other problem we needed to solve is warehousing and shipping space needed for our growing e-commerce business. We now have that space as well as room to grow.

Classic Car Hobbies. Yep, it's true, I love classic cars and hot rods.

I also Hunt. Something I do with my dad, son, and daughter.

After putting a lot of thought into the rumors admittedly there is some truth to my lack of fishing however to say I've lost my passion for fishing is just a little unfair and little hurtful at the same time.

Last fall because of all the processes going on with new location Lyndsey and I had to cancel our annual redfish trip as well as our annual spring tarpon trip. A decision that still is bumming us!

Life, family business has certainly claimed my time but that doesn't mean I don't want to go fishing. As my children grow older I hope to find more time to go. I look forward to my future of fishing. My sons interest in fishing brings me great joy and as his father I wish to encourage him.

In the fly fishing industry I'm doing my best to stay current with new products and techniques. When I do get out to fish often times it's with our local guides and much of our time is spent discussing latest conditions and trends.

Giving back over the years is part of what I do as owner Gorge Fly Shop by supporting good causes like Fly Fishing Clubs, Native Fish Society, and Deschutes River Alliance and that doesn't include the support we give for local business, organizations, schools and sports. I believe in and support our local area and the future of this great sport.

So if you don't see me out there or hear about my recent fishing adventures it's not because I hung up my fly rods. My life has taken on many priorities that come before fishing. I wouldn't change the life I've made and I'm not going to apologize for it.

I have great memories of my once upon a time fishbum life, nowadays I enjoy watching my kids grow up and in the future I look forward to taking my grandchildren fishing.

Now I have a request for you. Please come out and join on June 22nd and check out our new store. We have tons of great things going on including prizes, swag, food, drink and great deals on most everything.

A Total of 10% of the days gross sales are going to get split between Deschutes River Alliance and Fly Fishing Collaborative.

Everyone is invited, so come on down and have some fun and show your support. We'll be happy to see you.

Travis