#PHWFF2Fly – Veterans, volunteers, and celebrities from across the country will gather at Rose River Farm in Syria, Virginia on April 28 – 29, 2018 for the 12th Annual 2-Fly Tournament benefiting Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc (PHWFF) and the thousands of disabled veterans the organization serves each year.  Now in it’s second decade as the flagship fundraiser for PHWFF, the 2-Fly Tournament provides vital support for our cause and serves to raise awareness for the recovery and rehabilitation of those who have made great sacrifices in the service of our nation.  There are many ways to help support this great annual event which provides vital funding and awareness for our cause and the disabled veterans we serve.  Click here to visit the 2-Fly Online Auction.

The tournament pairs PHWFF Veteran Participants from around the country with one of these top industry professionals for a day of fun, competitive angling. These professional guides do not fish, but concentrate on assisting the veteran team members during our flagship fundraising event.

Harold Harsh
I joined the Marine Corps before I was out of high school and served for 8 years with tours of duty to Beirut and Grenada. What these men and women have given to our country goes beyond anything I could ever possibly give back to them. When Captain Ed asked me to help him help them, what else could I say but yes! I have the greatest respect for my fellow warriors and will do anything in my power to help them. Semper Fidelis, Harold Harsh, Spring Creek Outfitters. Harold guides many Maryland Rivers– one of his favorites is the North Branch of the Potomac.

Richard Farino

Richard is a New York City native of over 3 decades who moved to Washington DC to open a fly fishing shop. As an avid angler who spent time fishing and guiding the fresh and salt waters of the northeast and anywhere he could wet a fly, he met John Colburn, former VP and a founding member of Project Healing Waters and was inspired by John’s devotion to PHWFF.
Richard is the son of a purple heart recipient – a Vietnam war Navy veteran who served in the Patrol Boat River Division in the Mekong Delta. He is the founder of District Angling, a fly fishing retail, guiding, and travel business in Arlington, VA. He is proud to support PHWFF and looks forward to continuing to volunteer and give back to veterans

William Heresniak
William owns Eastern Trophies Fly Fishing based in Alexandria, VA. He has been a volunteer with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) since it first began. His favorite times

on the water are spent with his daughter, Sarah or PHWFF Veterans. William does dozens of free float trips annually for PHWFF Veterans. Contact him directly if you are ever interested. William is also an Elementary Physical Education Teacher and the Varsity Field Hockey Coach for TC Williams High School in Alexandria, VA.

Jimmy Aliff
Jimmy is a Virginia native that has been working in the Fly Fishing industry since 2004. Manager of the Orvis store in Leesburg, VA he has always been fond of exposing newcomers to the sport of Fly Fishing and teaching them the tricks of the trade. Jimmy first participated at the 2-Fly tournament as a stream monitor in 2013, and has been participating as a guide since then. “Time has spent at the 2-fly tournament has provided me with some of the most memorable moments throughout fly fishing career. It is a weekend I look forward to every year, and I am grateful to have the honor and privilege to participate as a guide”.

Rob Snowhite
Rob Snowhite owns and operates Fly Fishing Consultant, in Fairfax, VA, focusing on warm water urban fly fishing education and instruction in and around the Nation’s capital. He teaches a free monthly fly tying class for the Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders. Additionally, he hosts a fly fishing podcast with over 200 episodes. Rob became involved with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing after transitioning to fly fishing as a full-time career in 2010. Rob learned to fly fish in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains around Rose River Farm. Rob is honored to guide at this extraordinary event. http://www.robsnowhite.com/

Keith Tanner

Keith was extremely excited when he found PHWFF for the opportunity to combine two of his passions…. helping veterans and fly-fishing. Keith, a former marine (‘82-‘88), fished the waters of New England his whole life, starting fly-fishing at the age of 10. He enjoys sharing his love of the sport and seeing the therapeutic benefits it provides. He’s been a PHWFF volunteer since 2010, where he helped establish a PHWFF presence in CT. He has his captains license and charters and guides when he’s not working his full-time job, as an engineer at Pratt & Whitney, where he co-founded a corporate veterans resource group, UTC-4-Vets. The group was formed to support employees who served, their families, and veterans initiatives and has established a close working relationship with PHWFF

Phil Landry
I have volunteered with the Memphis VAMC program for the past 6 years. This program has been a natural fit for me and has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I have been a professional guide in Arkansas since 2004, but before that I obtained a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Texas. Project Healing Waters has provided me with a way to use my knowledge of fishing skills and educational fundamentals in an actual “classroom setting” once a week at the V.A. By doing so, I get to do something good for people that really deserve something good in their lives. Success is an addictive feeling. It breeds confidence. I love to be able to help our veterans build confidence and use the vehicle of fly fishing to cross their “bridge over troubled waters” and improve themselves in all facets of life. I have guided many participants through the years, but this will be my first year in the 2 Fly Tournament. I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Phil guides float trips on the Little Red River, Norfork River and White River in Arkansas. He grew up flyfishing for trout in Mississippi, but all he ever caught were bass and bream. Arkansastroutbum.com

John Shipstedt
John started fishing at five years of age with his dad and his older brother when they lived in Northeastern Ohio. When he was twelve they moved to Central Pennsylvania where he could literally walk to the Yellow Breeches Creek in just a couple minutes. That is when he started fly fishing and tying flies.

A few years later they moved to Richmond, Virginia where he met both Joe Brooks and Cam Sigler and was fortunate enough to go fishing with them.

His dad enlisted in the Navy when he was eighteen years old and was aboard a destroyer in the South Pacific from 1943 to the end of the war in 1945. John learned a lot about his dad’s experiences during that time and realized at a young age about the sacrifices heroes like his dad have made for our country.

John is honored to be in the company of those who have served our country and is really looking forward to spending time on The Rose River with our Veterans at the PHWFF Tournament. His youngest nephew is currently serving in the U.S. Navy.

John has been promoting and teaching fly fishing and fly tying since he was 14 years old. He is a small business owner, guides at Rose River Farm and teaches tennis in Richmond.

Ken Zadoyko
It has been my honor and privilege to share my passion for fly fishing with the men and women who served our country. I currently work with PHWFF programs in Charlottesville, VA and Tampa, FL. I cannot think of a better way to honor my mentors and friends who helped me improve my skills. I encourage others to volunteer their time for this very important program. I have been a passionate fly fisher for the past 50 years and enjoyed working with young people during my 33 year teaching career. As a FFF MCI, I taught at the Wulff Fly Fishing School in the Catskills. Additionally I organized and taught fly casting and fly tying for adults and children for TU, the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild and NJ Division of F&G.

Kiki Galvin
My name is Kiki Galvin and I have been a volunteer for Project Healing Waters since 2007. It has been an honor and a privilege to not only guide in the 2Fly since it’s inaugural event in 2008 but also serving on the Board of Trustees from (2012-2015) as well as traveling to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center once a week to directly work with our veterans. The rhythmic and continuous fly casting stoke is very beneficial to their recovery in many ways and the hydrology of water is therapeutic and healing. I am the owner and operator of Ms. Guided Fly Fishing Services and past President of Chesapeake Women Anglers. I serve as the Vice President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of Trout Unlimited and am a Temple Fork Outfitters ambassador. My motto is “don’t be mislead when you can be Ms. Guided” www.msguidedflyfishing.net

Wesley Hodges
In 2002, I enlisted in the US Army and volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division. For eight years, three of which were overseas, I served with the finest military personnel imaginable. In the spring of 2010, I was medically discharged from the military due to injuries sustained while on active duty. Shortly thereafter, I found myself fishing the chalk streams of PA with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. It was through PHWFF that I began to focus on my future rather than my past. This led me VA Tech where I received my bachelors degree in International Studies and Spanish. It was at Va Tech where I found all my spare time consumed by the New River and the abnormally large smallmouth bass residing in its waters. Shortly after my graduation, I constructed Wesley Hodges Fly Fishing. For the past five years I have been guiding on the New River and cannot become bored with it. It is a four season fishery where smallmouth bass up to 23’’ and Muskie up to 51’’ can be caught.

I could not have accomplished this new endeavor without the mentoring and support from PHWFF. This organization, its founder, and the volunteers will always be the example that I will strive to follow when providing my services to the fly-fishing community.

Jason Baker
Twelve years ago, I saw an article in an online fly fishing forum about a new organization called Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. As an avid fly fisherman and a 10-year Veteran, it spoke me as something I needed to be part of as I was yearning to find a way to participate in the recovery of our GWOT Veterans. I reached out to PHWFF and was given the number of John Bass. John was a straight shooter to say the least and within a week asked me to drive to Asheville to speak to a group of recreational therapists about starting a PHWFF program for their Vets. He wasn’t really asking, he was telling, and I went. They soon started a program. I don’t think he gave them a choice either! We repeated our success in Charlotte and this was my first opportunity to interface with Veterans teaching fly tying and organizing trips in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. Our groups quickly reached beyond the scope of physical recovery and included Veterans spanning from Vietnam to Afghanistan who were recovering from addiction, PTSD, physical wounds, and those hoping to improve their mobility. I’ve had the absolute honor of being part of this organization and this event since it’s first gathering at Rose River Farm. I have earned the friendships of some of the most inspiring human beings and the finest people I’ve encountered in life. I have fly fished for 16 years and competed as a sponsored fly fisherman at the US Fly Fishing Championship, The America’s Cup, and dozens of regional events and qualifiers. I have guided at The Brigadoon Lodge outside of Clarksville, GA. My love of this sport has taken me to 13 countries and put huge smiles on my face catching over 100 species of beautiful and magnificent fish with the most adventurous and dear of friends I’ve made walking this Earth. However, this day each year is my favorite day on the water. It’s my most important day on the water. I feel incredibly privileged, after being a participant on this special day for over a decade, to join these great men and women who have guided these water on this incredible day for so many years. John Bass and Brian Mancini, come and help the fish cooperate and the sun shine today. I hope you look down and are proud. You flow through our hearts today, through these waters today, and through Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing forever.