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Pennsylvania fly fishing event helps wounded soldiers



Established under Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc., the purpose is to help soldiers with recovery after they've been injured.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) ? With a fishing rod and net, nine soldiers took up the art of fly fishing Saturday as part of the Falling Spring Invitational Fly Fishing Outing for Wounded Warriors in Chambersburg. Pennsylvania
Established under Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc., the purpose is to help soldiers with recovery after they've been injured, said Darv Stutz, coordinator of the Chambe Pennsylvania fly fishing event helps wounded soldiers rsburg group.
?The goals of this organization is to teach individuals how to tie flies, how to cast flies and it's all done in coordination with their physical therapy program,'' he said. ?It's been proven to be very beneficial.''
For instance, creating the flies helps with eye-hand coordination and casting the rod utilizes several different muscle groups, Stutz said.
This is the fifth year for the local organization, which had mostly soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan participate this year, he said.
?Most of the ones we have with the exception of one individual, they all have been out fishing for a year to four years,'' Stutz said. ?It gives the community an opportunity to say thank you and to have a better understanding of what some of these warriors have gone through.''
Troy Smith, McConnellsburg, served three tours in Afghanistan and came out fly fishing for the first time Saturday.
?Everybody that I've run into are very nice people,'' Smith said. ?They show you what to do, so I thought I'd try it.''
Smith spent a couple hours in the Conococheague Creek, but said he's still getting used to the sport.
?I'd have to do it a good many times before I really thought of staying,'' he said.
Bob Huss, a member of the Penn National Fly Fishers and Smith's guide, has been guiding with the organization for five years.
?It's great. I hear the stories of these kids that have been wounded and really feel that they're helpless,'' he said. ?Once they get into fly fishing, they realize there are things they can do.''
Huss spent Saturday morning teaching Smith how to hold the rod, how to tie a fly, how to cast and more.
Unlike normal fly-fishing rods, Smith, who only has use of his right hand, learned on a special Japanese rod that doesn't need a reel and can be used with one hand, Huss said.
Garth Pepion, who is originally from Oregon, is now at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., after serving in the military in Germany from 2007 to 2011 with a one-year tour in Iraq from 2008 to 2009.
Pepion learned of the organization after one of the coordinators came to hand out fliers at his formation, he said.
This is the third year that Pepion has participated in the fly-fishing outing, which he says is calming.
?It's relaxing,'' he said. ?It gets my mind off everything else.''
Additionally, local businesses and organizations have been ?extremely'' supportive of the group's efforts, offering volunteers or supplies, Stutz said.
Volunteers came from the Falling Spring Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Franklin County Chapter of Izaak Walton League, the Chambersburg Rod and Gun Club, and the Penn National Fly Fishers club.
Various businesses, such as The Butcher Shoppe, F&M Trust, Giant Food stores, Hamilton Hyundai, Orrstown Bank, Shippen Place Hotel, Starbucks and United Concordia offered assistance as well.
?It's just indicative of the community's support,'' Stutz said.