Riverbound on the Big Cedar Creek

On 2-4 June 2006, PHW fishers, friends, and volunteers departed for a 400-mile ride to Southern Virginia, to the lovely town of Lebanon, to accept an invite from John Bass, and Jake and Donna Musick’s Riverbound, to fish their club’s private waters on the Big Cedar Creek.

Harvey Naranjo, the Activities and Sports Coordinator for the WRAMC OT Clinic, transported the group, including SPC James Stuck, USA; SPC Robert Bartlett; PFC Chris Hillesland, USA; SPC Jeremy Snider, USA; Mark Mix, a former Navy SEABEE; and Bill Johnston, a former Marine Corps Viet Nam vet. Rounding out the PHW group was Maj Doug Matty, USA, his wife Dee, and their sons, Jonathan and Thomas; and Ed and Leslie Nicholson. On Friday afternoon, after rendezvousing with John Bass, and his assistant, James, at the Super 8 Motel in Lebanon, we all headed to the Big Cedar Creek, where we met Jake and Donna, and members of Riverbound who had volunteered to serve as our guides.

The Big Cedar Creek is a beautiful piece of water, holding a large number of very big Rainbows, as well as a few Browns. Riverbound is a unique fishing club, inasmuch as there are numerous locations on the river where handicapped individuals can fish comfortably. This initiative is in large measure a result of John Bass’ collaboration with Jake. This set-up proved most advantageous to us, since two of our members were wheel-chair-bound. Our guys were just starting to get the hang of what it takes to get a fish on the line, when the skies opened up and the rain came in earnest. Soaking wet, we headed back to the motel, dried off, and then regrouped for dinner at the Cliffside, located right on the Creek. There we were hosted by Alpha Natural Resources, a local corporation, and enjoyed a delightful meal with Riverbound members, who had guided us earlier in the day.

We woke up the next morning to a blue-bird day and immediately gathered at the Creek and began some serious fishing. When the day concluded, everyone had caught fish, and I mean big fish, with kudos especially to James Stuck, the leader on the scoreboard (but then again, who was really keeping count, other than James!). We ended the day with a super catered barbecue dinner, riverside at the Riverbound Lodge, courtesy of John Bass, a fitting conclusion to a perfect fly fishing day.

Such was the warmth and generous hospitality shown by our Riverbound hosts, along with the big “subs” maneuvering the creek, that by the time we had to leave on Sunday morning, we couldn’t get our guys out of the water.

Our thanks again to everyone at Riverbound, most especially John Bass and Jake and Donna Musick, for helping to make this a very special fishing outing. We also appreciated their desire to make this type of event happen again, sometime in the future.

Ed Nicholson
Project Director