I have five rods and a few more reels. I assemble my own rods ("build" would imply a higher level of skill that I would care to imply) but it is sometimes two or three years between them. None of my rods or reels are even in the medium price range or higher. I tie all my own flies, but it is sometimes weeks or months between tying sessions. I fly fish exclusively, not because it's the only way to fish, but simply because it is the way I enjoy fishing. I get out often once the weather is ready to cooperate (sometimes before...I've been known to fish in every month of the year), but the vast majority of my fishing is done in short local trips. I'll never book a guide in Patagonia and that will be okay, not that I would turn such a trip down, mind you.

Fly fishing isn't my life, but it surely is a significant and highly valued component of my life. When I am stressed out, when the weight of the world is dancing on my shoulders, I wade into the river and wave that magic wand and time stops. The world is reduced to one small piece of beautiful reality, and I feel good.