About Me

Hi! My name is Raymond Kelley Laughlin, but all my friends call me Kelley I have two passions in life, besides my kids, and they are fishing and rock collecting. If there's anything I'd rather be doing than anything else, it's one of these two things. Years ago it hit me that I could actually make a living by rock collecting, and I set out on a 15 year career. As I traveled around selling rocks and gems, it was natural for me to move into selling jewelry and eventually making it myself. Although I made a meager living on this, I was alone and didn't have a lot of expenses. I traveled so much that I never kept a permanent residence, and many times just squeaked by financially. However, I was free to come and go, and didn't have a boss hovering over my shoulder, so I was happy. Eventually, after several other adventures, I met a great girl, settled down, had kids and gave up my business in lieu of something that would actually support my family. As the years went by I developed several immune-response problems including interstitial cystitis, chronic pancreatitis, and a touch of rheumatoid arthritis I eventually stopped working, collected disability and became a stay at home dad. That's when fishing started taking over my life. I was stuck at home with not a lot to do and I remembered how much fun I had fishing over the years and became a total fishing fanatic, even going so far as to tie my own flies and jigs. I joined the North American Fishing Club and have met a really great bunch of guys that are as fanatical about fishing as I am. My wife and I got divorced last year (2006), and I moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It's been pretty rough getting used to being alone and getting by on my limited budget from Social Security, but there's a lot of rockhounding and fishing to do up here, and I had a pretty busy summer. There's a few pictures of my exploits on the "Fishing Pics" and "Rockhounding Pics" pages. I also posted pictures of flies and jewelry that I've created and have up for sale, along with some mineral specimens and the walking staves I make. We can work out payment if you're really interested in any of my creations. I'm also willing to work out a trade if you have anything I might be interested in. Check out my trade page to see trades I've already made. I have PayPal operating here now, so I can easily take payments for any items. Also, check out the special offer on the "Flies" page and take advantage of it!