Wounded Warriors / Militarty Appreciation Day @ NCWRC Pechmann Ctr 2-13-13

"Okay soldiers listen up! 1300 hours formation on
the 2nd Wednesday of the month will be held in the lower parking lot of the
NCWRC John E. Pechmann Fishing Education
Center, located at the end of Reilly Rd on the west side of Fayetteville. Be
there standing tall and ready to have some fun. Civilian clothing optional".
Maybe those weren't the exact words but this is approximately what the First
Sergeant of one of Ft Bragg's Warrior Transition Companies announced to his
soldiers earlier in the week.



What a difference a little command emphasis makes.
We have been doing these Wounded Warrior / Military Appreciation Days for four
years. Attendance has been up and down with a lot more down then up. Today's
attendance of over 75 soldiers filled the parking lot and gave us hope that our
efforts are not wasted. The NCWRC provides a wonderful venue. Volunteers, many
of whom are veterans
themselves, provide the oversight and instruction. All fishing gear is provided
and a fishing license is not required.



We specialize in fly fishing and also offer fly
tying instruction for those who want to try their hand at that aspect of the
sport. Evelyn, a speech pathologist from Womack Army Medical Center, who works
with Traumatic
Brain Injuries (TBI) often brings her patients specifically for the fly
tying. The hand and eye coordination required of a good fly tyer is a challenge
for TBI patients. Evelyn and one of her patients were recently the focus of a
story about TBI in an army medical publication http://www.brainlinemilitary.org/content/2013/01/broken-brains.html




Not everyone is into fly fishing. For those folks
we have spin cast rods and bait and access to three ponds full of huge catfish.
We had a steady drizzle most of the afternoon but that did not dampen the
determination of our participants, many of whom had not been fishing in a long,
long time.



A lot of friendly rivalry about whose fish was the
largest or who caught the most fish.



By the end of the day some of the folks at the
catfish ponds where counting well past twenty.



Now that's a nice one!



Our two trout ponds saw a lot of action as well.




We have 500 trout in each pond and they are hitting
woollybuggers, nymphs and midges fairly well.



Fly fishing requires a little more finesse then
spin casting. It is a learned art or rhythm. Pechmann Center Director Kris
Smith gives a little pond side instruction.



Jeanette, our talented fly fisherwoman, who has her
name in the fly fishing record book, worked with this gentleman most of the
afternoon.



The smile tells the story.



We will close
this out with a shot of today's youngest participant. Family members are
welcome.

Our next Wounded Warrior / Military Appreciation Day is
scheduled for March 13th. (Always the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 1:00 -
5:00 pm). Hopefully the First Sergeant will call for a formation in our parking
lot again next month. Better yet, we challenge the Sergeant Major to hold the
battalion formation there. We will hold a "fish off" between companies. As an
added incentive, next month we will start pulling the trout out of the ponds -
instead of "catch and release" it will be "catch and keep". Fish fry
anyone?