Project introduces veterans to fly-fishing, a pursuit that helps lessen stress
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Call it trout therapy.
A pleasant summer day, a graphite rod and a stream alive with fish can alleviate plenty of stress.
“This is better than Christmas,” said Patrick Williams, 51, of Columbus.
Williams was one of five disabled veterans spread out along a stream bank, enjoying a few hours of tranquillity in the country courtesy of Project Healing Waters.
The organization has a simple mission: teach disabled members of the military and disabled veterans to fly-fish.
“It’s really relaxing, you know, and I recommend that disabled veterans get into this program,” said Tim Price, a 59-year-old Army veteran who has chronic joint disease and diabetes. “I love it. It’s one of the better things going.”
Price, who lives on the East Side, has long enjoyed fishing, but fly-fishing is new to him.
If not for Healing Waters, he wouldn’t have been able to leave the city for a fishing expedition at Briarwood, a private hunting and fishing club near Bellefontaine, about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
Price’s guide for the day was Tanner Belknap, an Olentangy Liberty High School student and an avid angler. Belknap offered advice, assisted with fly-tying and netted the trout that Price hooked.
At other spots nearby, other volunteers offered similar assistance to other veterans.
John Davis, program leader of the central Ohio chapter of Project Healing Waters, sees his efforts as a way to thank veterans for their service.
“Realizing that you have skill sets that other people can take advantage of and something that’s relaxing and gets you out in nature,” he said — “it’s just a natural to apply this to a really deserving population.”
Project Healing Waters was founded in 2005 in Maryland by Ed Nicholson, a retired Navy captain who was moved by the veterans he met at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while being treated for cancer.
By 2013, the nonprofit organization had programs in 48 states run by fishing clubs. The Columbus program is sponsored by the Madmen chapter of Trout Unlimited with support from several other fishing clubs.
The day at Briarwood began with some instruction on casting.
In fly-fishing, anglers fashion almost weightless lures that resemble insects or other fish prey, then cast them into the water. The line isn’t weighted by a sinker or heavy lure, as it is with other types of fishing; instead, an angler must learn how to use the springy action of the rod to project the line to the right spot.
Neil Neidhardt, fishing manager at the Orvis outdoors store in Worthington, roamed the bank of a small lake, helping the veterans learn the arm and shoulder motions that go into a successful cast.
The technique isn’t picked up in just a few minutes, but Williams, a Navy veteran from Columbus who has been treated for a mental illness, was showing no evidence of frustration.
“It’s more therapeutic than going to see my doctor,” he said.
Shawn Augustson, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, finds that the quiet surroundings and intense focus of fly-fishing ease his post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I love the solitude and the concentration,” said Augustson, 40, of Reynoldsburg.
In fact, much of the day was spent in silence — occasionally broken by shouts of “Fish on!” when someone hooked a trout.
Those moments are the best of all, said Davis, a 62-year-old substitute teacher and management recruiter who lives in Columbus.
Seeing veterans who are battling health problems lose themselves in the thrill of landing a fish, he said, is highly rewarding.
“I’ve actually had guys do jigs; that’s what it’s all about. There’s a little kid in every one of us. To be able to tap into that little kid — . . . it’s just a wonderful thing.”
@joeblundo
Call it trout therapy.
A pleasant summer day, a graphite rod and a stream alive with fish can alleviate plenty of stress.
“This is better than Christmas,” said Patrick Williams, 51, of Columbus.
Williams was one of five disabled veterans spread out along a stream bank, enjoying a few hours of tranquillity in the country courtesy of Project Healing Waters.
The organization has a simple mission: teach disabled members of the military and disabled veterans to fly-fish.
“It’s really relaxing, you know, and I recommend that disabled veterans get into this program,” said Tim Price, a 59-year-old Army veteran who has chronic joint disease and diabetes. “I love it. It’s one of the better things going.”
Price, who lives on the East Side, has long enjoyed fishing, but fly-fishing is new to him.
If not for Healing Waters, he wouldn’t have been able to leave the city for a fishing expedition at Briarwood, a private hunting and fishing club near Bellefontaine, about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
Price’s guide for the day was Tanner Belknap, an Olentangy Liberty High School student and an avid angler. Belknap offered advice, assisted with fly-tying and netted the trout that Price hooked.
At other spots nearby, other volunteers offered similar assistance to other veterans.
John Davis, program leader of the central Ohio chapter of Project Healing Waters, sees his efforts as a way to thank veterans for their service.
“Realizing that you have skill sets that other people can take advantage of and something that’s relaxing and gets you out in nature,” he said — “it’s just a natural to apply this to a really deserving population.”
Project Healing Waters was founded in 2005 in Maryland by Ed Nicholson, a retired Navy captain who was moved by the veterans he met at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while being treated for cancer.
By 2013, the nonprofit organization had programs in 48 states run by fishing clubs. The Columbus program is sponsored by the Madmen chapter of Trout Unlimited with support from several other fishing clubs.
The day at Briarwood began with some instruction on casting.
In fly-fishing, anglers fashion almost weightless lures that resemble insects or other fish prey, then cast them into the water. The line isn’t weighted by a sinker or heavy lure, as it is with other types of fishing; instead, an angler must learn how to use the springy action of the rod to project the line to the right spot.
Neil Neidhardt, fishing manager at the Orvis outdoors store in Worthington, roamed the bank of a small lake, helping the veterans learn the arm and shoulder motions that go into a successful cast.
The technique isn’t picked up in just a few minutes, but Williams, a Navy veteran from Columbus who has been treated for a mental illness, was showing no evidence of frustration.
“It’s more therapeutic than going to see my doctor,” he said.
Shawn Augustson, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, finds that the quiet surroundings and intense focus of fly-fishing ease his post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I love the solitude and the concentration,” said Augustson, 40, of Reynoldsburg.
In fact, much of the day was spent in silence — occasionally broken by shouts of “Fish on!” when someone hooked a trout.
Those moments are the best of all, said Davis, a 62-year-old substitute teacher and management recruiter who lives in Columbus.
Seeing veterans who are battling health problems lose themselves in the thrill of landing a fish, he said, is highly rewarding.
“I’ve actually had guys do jigs; that’s what it’s all about. There’s a little kid in every one of us. To be able to tap into that little kid — . . . it’s just a wonderful thing.”
@joeblundo
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