College Park Fly Fishing Show
Project Healing Waters started 2006 by having our first-ever display booth at the annual Fly Fishing Show in College Park Maryland on January 14th and 15th. Sponsored by the National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited (NCC-TU), we were there to promote our new project and to gain support in any way we could. In addition to myself, George Gaines, 1LT Eivind Forseth, USA, SGT Sean Locker, USMC, and HM3 Jose Ramos, USN, manned the booth that weekend. Additionally, Barry Yancosek, COL Bill Howard, USA, MAJ Doug Matty, USA, and Mark Eustis leant their support.
As it turned out, we enjoyed a terrific response from attendees at the show, and support came our way in many forms – equipment, trips, and new volunteers. Dusty Wissmath of Dusty Wissmath’s Fly Fishing School donated a Scott rod, and the Angler’s Lie donated a Ross reel, which were raffled off and added substantially to our fund raising efforts. Numerous guided trips were offered, such as that from Riverbound Inc. of Princeton, WVA; Dixon Adventures of Florence, MT; Spring Creek Outfitters of Oakland, MD; and the Maine Guide Fly Shop of Greenville, ME.
All-in-all, this was a great way to start the year, for Project Healing Waters.
Ed Nicholson
Project Director
Organizational Meeting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) – February 15
Project Healing Waters held its first lunch-time meeting of the year at the WRAMC Occupational Clinic, on February 15, for the purpose of recruiting new program participants. The U.S. Army policy is to keep the Wounded Warriors undergoing rehabilitation no longer than absolutely necessary in the WRAMC environment, endeavoring to have them go home as soon as practical. In that regard, several original members of Project Healing Waters (PHW) had been discharged last Fall and were no longer directly involved in our program. As a result, we were there on the 15th to provide an outline of our fly fishing program to current patients.
After introductions by COL Bill Howard, USA, Chief, Occupational Therapy Service, I presented an overview of PHW and reviewed the activities of the past year and those planned for the future months. John Colburn, who heads up the fly tying activities for PHW, described the success of his efforts in 2005, as SGT Sean Locker, USMC, one of John’s fly tying students, demonstrated his newly-accomplished tying skills. Both Sean and 1LT Eivind Forseth, USA, spent considerable time talking about how important PHW had been in providing a positive influence on their recovery. Both Eivind and Sean have gone on to play an important part in the coordination and operation of PHW and are as much drivers of the program as they are participants in its activities
In addressing the dozen or more attendees, I emphasized that PHW was there for them for the long-haul, and that we were ready to help them learn to fly fish and arrange a schedule of fishing opportunities over the coming year. I also noted that we would be holding similar lunch-time meetings from time-to-time to talk to prospective participants and discuss various aspects of the fly fishing sport.
Ed Nicholson
Project Director
Classroom Casting at WRAMC – March 14
A second lunch-time meeting was held at WRAMC on March 14, with the main item on the agenda a classroom casting demonstration and discussion of the mechanics of casting a fly rod and line. There had been considerable interest expressed, during our previous meeting, in attending the NCC-TU Annual Angling Show on March 25, and it was felt that a classroom presentation would help the participants at the show get a head start on the casting lessons that would be offered there. With the assistance of 1LT Eivind Forseth, USA, George Gaines, and John Colburn, I described the principles and mechanics that go into casting a fly line. We also talked about some of the opportunities for fishing in April and May and came away with the start of a schedule with the particulars of the upcoming outings.
Ed Nicholson
Project Director
NCC-TU Angling Show – March 25
Fourteen new PHW participants arrived at the Angling Show in Bethesda to participate in the events of the day. It was a great turnout and, with the weather cooperating, we were able to put the classroom casting instruction to a field test. But first there were the exhibits and displays to take in, a fly tying seminar to attend, and a presentation on fly fishing to absorb. Throughout the afternoon new friends were made, and the world of fly fishing, with all its many facets, was brought into focus to the PHW crew – most of whom were brand new to fly fishing. While all this activity was happening, the PHW table was being manned by Craig Smith and Jim Scheld, who fielded questions on PHW, and signed up new volunteers.
Previous donations by three outfitters, Jay Dixon of Dixon Adventures in Florence, MT; Harold Harsh of Spring Creek Outfitters in Arnold, MD; and Brooks Sanford of Clark Fork Trout and Tackle in St Regis, MT, had all contributed trips to be raffled off at the show. Their generous contributions netted PHW a tidy sum for our travel fund. Later in the day, a drawing was held for the PHW participants, and LCPL Joe Grady, USMC, won a trip with William Heresniak, who had donated his time from his Eastern Trophies Fly Fishing operation to take the winner on a guided fly fishing float down the North Branch of the Potomac.
At the end of the day we all gathered on the casting field to have Dusty Wissmath of Dusty Wissmath’s Fly Fishing School, Phil Gay of Trout & About, and Kiki Gavin of Ms.Guided, instruct the PHW participants in the fine points of casting a fly rod. Everyone had a chance to handle and cast their rods for nearly an hour, with individual instruction by the pros and amateur volunteers readily at hand offering advice and assistance.
Ed Nicholson
Project Director
