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WEATHERLY — Despite a light rain and a dark sky threatening to bring more, Jose Ortiz wasn’t deterred.
Standing on the banks of Quakake Creek, the Army veteran made repetitive casts with his fly rod, tossing the line with precision. Ortiz hoped to catch one of the 100 brown trout stocked in the stream by the Paradise Hunting and Fishing Club as part of the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Program on Friday.
And even though the trout were reluctant to bite, the time spent on the stream was still a success for Ortiz.
“It doesn’t matter if we catch anything. The act of fishing is just calming,” Ortiz said. “It’s peaceful. We all get away from things and get out and fish together.”
Healing Waters aids in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled veterans and active duty personnel. For many wounds, fly fishing is the ultimate remedy.
The healing begins long before the veterans take to the water. In the winter, personnel from Healing Waters come to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Plains Township and teach the veterans fly tying skills and how to cast. In the spring and summer, the work comes full circle when the veterans hit the water and fish.
Some even fish with flies they tied themselves.
“We want to get them to understand all aspects of fly fishing and as it goes on some of them start doing it on their own. It becomes a hobby,” said Heide Marie Cebrick, Pennsylvania Deputy Regional Coordinator for Project Healing Waters.
On Friday, 34 veterans participated in the fly fishing program, taking a brief break to enjoy a lunch of fried trout prepared by the members of the Paradise Hunting and Fishing Club. Locally, the program has been in existence for nine years and Cebrick got it started when her son, Grant, was deployed to Iraq in 2008.
Cebrick is also a member of the Stanley Cooper Sr. Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and the organization acts as the local club sponsor for Healing Waters.
Some of the veterans become fully involved in fly fishing while others, Cebrick said, are tentative at first.
“We don’t know where they are in the healing process. Sometimes just getting on the bus and coming to the event is a step in healing,” Cebrick said. “We don’t force it. We let them take the opportunity.”
Maria Miller, an occupational therapist at the medical center, said the veterans look forward to the fly fishing outings and the sport has many elements that not only promote healing, but allow them to forget about problems.
“There are a lot of sensory things with fly fishing – the sound of the stream, the motion of casting. It’s very calming,” Miller said. “The setting, just being in nature, just allows them to fish and engage in conversation. That’s a benefit.”
The Paradise Hunting and Fishing Club has hosted the annual Healing Waters event for the last six years. Joe Thomas, secretary/treasurer of the club, said the members didn’t hesitate to get on board. In addition to supplying all of the food and trout, 65 club members volunteered for the day, cooking food or serving as fishing mentors for the veterans.
“I’m a veteran myself and we have a lot of veterans in the club. Our door is always open to them,” Thomas said. “This program is a treasure and our members are really committed to this.”
And the veterans have become committed to fly fishing.
Standing along the creek near Ortiz, Army veteran Joe Anistranski practiced his roll casts, trying to goad a golden rainbow into taking the fly. Anistranski said he fished for bass with a fly rod and plugs in the past, but casting flies for trout is a different technique.
“This is an art. It’s more challenging,” Anistranski said. “I really enjoy it because it gets you outside with people you have a bond with. When you’re doing this, you forget about all your other problems.”
Ortiz has been participating in the program for three years and had no fly fishing experience when he signed up.
He began by learning to tie flies, tie knots and cast, and now Ortiz can fly fish like an expert.
He’s also a pretty good fly tyer as well, but he’s hesitant to use his own flies on the water. To Ortiz, those flies have a purpose that’s greater than catching fish.
They are a symbol of healing.
“I have a box of flies that I tied myself, but I don’t want to use them,” Ortiz said. “They’re too special.”
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