Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty U.S. military personnel and veterans. The project was started in 2003 by Ed Nickolson, a U.S. Navy captain and fly angler. While recovering from surgery he was deeply moved when seeing injured soldiers back from Iraq at Walter Reed Medical Center.

Nickolson was well aware of the restorative nature of time spent on the water fly fishing and felt the soldiers could benefit from that kind of nourishing involve-

ment. He invited a few of the soldiers to fly fishing outings and fly tying workshops. Word got around and that led to Trout Unlimited and the Federation of Fly Fishers becoming major partners in the project.

The project’s mission is to aid in the physical and emotional recovery of military men and women through the introduction and development of fly fishing and fly tying skills. Additionally, workshops are to include applying and enjoying those skills with fellow anglers on fly fishing outings.

Cleveland Ohio—Volunteer members from Trout Unlimited, Emerald Necklace 

and the North Coast Fly Fishers have organized Project Healing Waters workshops to help in the recovery of injured and disabled veterans at the VA Medical Center, Wade Campus.

The workshops are part of a three phase pilot program that will feature in its first phase a six-lesson fly tying course over a two and half month period. Each two-hour workshop covering the course will be held as an afternoon session on the fourth and second Wednesday of each month at the Wade Campus facility.

The second phase of the program will be two workshops covering the basics of fly fishing and casting. The third phase will focus on fly fishing field trips to local area trout waters.

Instructor guides are currently being developed to oversee each phase of the pilot program.

Sponsoring Project Healing Waters throughout the state of Ohio is the Ohio Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers. Supporting the federation’s initiative are members of the North Coast Fly Fishers whose efforts in getting the program up and running have been in the forefront.

Leader and coordinator of Project Healing Waters is Trout Unlimited and North Coast Fly Fishers member Paul Blanch. To sustain the Cleveland area PHW initiative Blanch needs to sign up a vanguard of experienced fly fishing anglers willing to volunteer as fly tying and fly fishing instructors.

Right now, Blanch has only four volunteers on board. More are needed to enable a framework of rotating teams. Blanch is concerned that the seriousness of purpose driving the workshops may overburden the few volunteers currently involved. To prevent this from happening, Blanch hopes to assemble a core roster of volunteers who can be on call, and who are willing to respond to a flexible interchange of schedules.

The first Project Healing Waters workshop at the VA Medical Center was held on September 9, 2009. Its focus was an introduction to fly tying. Four volunteer instructors from the North Coast Fly Fishers—Don Van Buren, George Vosmik, Adam Pawlowski, and Andy Setlock were there to work with six veterans from the Spinal Cord Injuries Unit.

On hand were Martin Kilbane, department head, and Janelle Howard, therapist in charge of the SCI program. Blanch reports both Martin and Janelle were impressed by the vets’ keen interest and eagerness to be involved in the fly tying session.They suggested patients from other depart- ments, such as the Brain Trauma Injuries Unit, could also benefit by attending the upcoming workshops.

It is well known that returning to civilian life after facing and experiencing the dangers of war can be extremely difficult. Veterans may suffer from not only physical injuries, but also from psychological and emotional distress.

Fly anglers are not therapists but they are aware of the unique calming effects, sense of accomplishment, and pleasant rewards associated with fly fishing.

Fly fishing is not simply about catching fish. No live bait is used, only artfully tied flies. Out on trout water there occurs a bond with nature—a special kind of serenity that instills a sense of comfort and wonder with one’s surroundings. For vets it offers a new and fresh experience that lends itself to recapturing what the horrors of war have taken away.

As one disabled vet put it, "There exists a kind of peacefulness; you get a little joy, because you feel comfortable. You don’t have to worry about being attacked…that there’s somebody out to kill you."

The clutches of anger and despair and feelings that there’ nothing worth doing that can overcome what battle has inflicted are quickly dismantled when a fly line goes taut and a trout throbs and strains against a vet’s fly rod. Hooking a fish on a fly, artfully playing it, landing it, and then releasing it provides extraordinary sport and excitement. After hard times in harsh lands, PHW sponsored fly fishing outings offer vets the opportunity for continued healing. The outings are refuges where they can feel safe and where sincere fellowship and good conversation flow non-stop, even after all the gear has been put away.

Project Healing Waters, which is now in its sixth year as a non-profit organization, can point to a proven track record of helping vets rebuild their lives. A new and vibrant avenue to recovery has taken shape by offering vets the restorative grace of fly fishing and the replacement of isolation with engagement of life on trout waters. As one sponsor remarked, "To those vets attending PHW workshops and outings, the peacefulness of fly fishing is a gift beyond measure."