There isn’t a boy or man around here who would argue the therapeutic nature of getting out on the water.
After a rough week at work, or a long absence away from the water, who among us doesn’t appreciate getting in a boat and driving or riding to a scenic fishin’ hole in the Atchafalaya Basin or Lake Dauterive-Fausse Pointe, or watching the sun come up or go down over Vermilion Bay as we fish The Cove.
If one of us has cancer, or has had cancer, we should keep in mind the powerful and beneficial side effects of wetting a line. And we should be grateful there are men who have considered the healing powers of fishing, particularly fly fishing.
Those men have scheduled a free flyfishing retreat for men coping with canceron May 6-8 at White LakeLodge near Gueydan.
The retreat is offered by Reel Recovery, a national nonprofit group that conducts free fly fishing retreats for men who have had or have any form of cancer. The organization was started in 2003 by a group of avid fly fishermen who were inspired by their fishing buddy’s ongoing battle with brain cancer, according to the website reelrecovery.org.
Fly fishing had such a positive impact on their friend the founders decided to start the program to give the same chance to other men battling the disease.
Reel Recovery’s goals are to provide a safe, reflective environment for the participants to discuss their disease and recovery with other men with shared experiences, and to provide expert fly fishing instruction enabling participants to learn a new skill, form a bond with nature and be part of a sport they can continue through recovery and a lifetime. Also, Reel Recovery wants to provide participants information about cancer-related resources, locally and nationally, to facilitate networking and enhancement management of their recovery.
“Our overarching goal is to improve the lives of the men we serve. We seek to give these courageous men a respite from their day-to-day concerns so that they might gain a fresh outlook on their fight with cancer,” the group’s mission statement reads.
There are challenges, plenty of them, but meeting them head-on and how to cope are opportunities provided by Reel Recovery.
There is an event Monday in Rockbridge, Mo., and another one April 25 in Boerne, Texas. After the May 6-8 event in Vermilion Parish, there is one May 12 in Shawnee, Colo.
This will be the second fly-fishing retreat at White Lake, according to organizers.
For moreinformation, call Rusty Dunn at (337) 344-4384, Clint Crowe at (337) 298-9000 or Dr. Skip Palmintier at (337) 804-2586.
DON SHOOPMANis outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.