July 15th Chapter Meeting - Chris Johnson, Living Waters Fly Fishing

by David McWilliams, AFF Vice President

The speaker for the month of June is Chris Johnson, a fly shop owner and guide here in central Texas. I first met Chris this past spring at a Project Healing Waters fishing outing. Chris and a few other guides volunteered their services that day to take several recovering soldiers on a float down the Guadalupe, and I was there to take pictures of the event. Chris’s drift boat was the biggest and driest of the boats and he was kind enough to let me and my camera ride with him.

Within eyeshot of our launching point Chris anchored up and began to articulate to his client the techniques for the day. On his very first drift – intended to be a demonstration only – Chris hooked up with a very nice rainbow, handed the rod to our soldier, and let the life changing event take its course. That would be the first of many fish that day, and it left no doubt in my mind with regards to Chris’s abilities.

Chris was introduced to fly fishing at a young age via an old video with Lefty, Chico, and the Wulffs who, as he says, “made fly fishing look ridiculously easy.” It was at that point that he set out in teaching himself the tools of the trade.

Chris’s fly shop and guide service is Living Waters Fly Fishing in Round Rock, Texas. There are plenty of species and fisheries in the region, from bass and sun perch on the Llano & Brushy Creek to trout on the Guadalupe, just to name a few.

Aside from the local attractions, when he can get away from the shop Chris enjoys targeting cutthroat in the Rockies for his freshwater fix and bonefish & permit in the Caribbean when the saltwater bug calls. In fact, his most memorable moment occurred on one such trip to the Caribbean while chasing bones in shallow water. All of a sudden permit showed up on the flat, and although he was under armed in terms of equipment, he somehow managed to make the cast, hook up, and end with a catch, release, and happy ending.

From a charitable perspective Chris’s most noteworthy involvement is with Project Healing Waters. Beyond that, his guide service, and his shop he still finds time to act as the Austin area rep for Guadalupe Trout Unlimited and as the Vice President of the San Gabriel Fly Fishers.