Operation Desert Kayak Fish

Thanks for all your legwork on this Richard.  I think given all the run around this program has given you that we might consider something more low-key and local for now.

Brian

I met one of the guys involved when he turned out to be a client for a days kayak fishing with me in Chokoloskee.  Jim and Sally are first class people and are now new friends.  I completely forgot about the project until I read this post. 

Sally takes instruction especially well as her first snook was the largest I've ever seen caught.  38.5"   

Thanks for all your legwork on this Richard.  I think given all the run around this program has given you that we might consider something more low-key and local for now.

Brian

Brian,
i would have zero heartburn with that.. i think the important thing is to get out and DO it.. as a group, represent the local yak fishin community..no matter which way we go, if i can, i'll be there for it..

I met one of the guys involved when he turned out to be a client for a days kayak fishing with me in Chokoloskee.  Jim and Sally are first class people and are now new friends.  I completely forgot about the project until I read this post.    

total cool mon.....

I met one of the guys involved when he turned out to be a client for a days kayak fishing with me in Chokoloskee.  Jim and Sally are first class people and are now new friends.  I completely forgot about the project until I read this post. 

Sally takes instruction especially well as her first snook was the largest I've ever seen caught.  38.5"   

Jon, can you tell them to return our emails at least.  A couple of us have been trying to get a hold of them but get no response whatsoever.  It's getting a bit frustrating.

-Allen

I'll give Jim a call. 

I'll give Jim a call. 

Wow!! Y'all got it going on!!  Just talked to JonS, signed up, and read the post.

Allen and all,   Here's my email:

jim@KayakAnglersSA.org .  And my home phone (972)727-4704.

We are VERY interested in getting the HOW program going at Madigan. I have just taken over the Heroes on the Water program. We are a small organization working on growing.   As y'all have seen, getting access to the soldiers is tough. Takes a while to establish the relationship. The Military is VERY protective of the soldiers. We have found you need an active duty member in the hospital or interested unit to work on getting the soldiers together and released from the hospital for an outing. And we as Kayak Anglers provide the yaks, location, fishing equipment and food. Basically - Acitve duty or civilian with access does the inside and we do the outside.

Taking them out fishing is absolutely the RIGHT thing to do for these guys. We had a guy with Physical brain trauma go out with us in December. His unit had been hit with 17 IED's in 2 weeks. He was very shy, stuttered and didn't want to talk. What is frustrating for them is that the brain is all there, it just works VERY slow. They know that things aren't working right and it is hard to get it together. He was out on the water by himself where he had to paddle, fish, and be responsible for himself with no one else to interfere or control him.  After four hours, we were helping him out and asked him how it was. He talked totally NORMAL and was very excited about the yakking and fishin' . Went on for about 45 seconds and then we all, including him,  realized he was talking normal.  He went back to stuttering, but told us that was the first time in two years he could talk and think normally. He now knows he can be normal again. He was in limbo about that for two years. At that point, we KNEW we were doing the right thing.

Please call me and/or email me about this. We are excited about the program and the possibility of getting it going up there. Sounds like y'all have already laid a lot of the groundwork.

Jim

JonS ... that's for the hookup.  Appreciate that.

Jim, I'll be hitting you up in the near future.

-Allen

Allen     Thanks. I'm going fishing with my lovely bride (Who kicked my butt with the 38 1/2' snook) this afternoon. I am an Airline Pilot and am in and out. I usually take my computer with me, but you should here back from me within 24-36 hours. And Ken sent Roy some stuff on DesKaf.

Jim

I spoke with Jim yesterday.  We got some work to do.  I think I'm going to take this discussion private.  Don't worry, we'll pop back up here every now and then to keep you informed.  If you want to participate in the private discussions, let me know via PM and I'll add your permissions.

One more thing ... slightly related ... Team River Runners (http://www.teamriverrunner.org/welcome.php) has a local chapter.  More about the local chapter's activities was posted here recently ... http://www.washingtonkayakclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=232&Itemid=2

Simply put, they are taking veterans out kayaking, exactly what we want to do, but with a fishing component added to it.  They have both lake and river trips planned.  They also need some gear, so if you have anything extra laying around like wetsuits, paddle tops, booties, etc, that you'd like to donate to the cause, PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.  I let them know we'd try to come up with some stuff and asked that we be allowed to borrow it back if our own veteran's kayak fishing deal comes to fruition.

-Allen

Jim and I met this morning with personnel from the Warrior Transition Battalion, Soldier and Family Assistance Center (SFAC).  Looks like we have a shot at having an event this year, setting us up for more next year.  The ball is in our court to propose something.  I'm going to need some volunteers to help on this.  If interested, please let me know ASAP and I'll fill you in on the details.  What do we need?  About 5 people to participate and help out at the event in addition to help planning it.  I need the help here, or this won't happen at all.  Thanks.

-Allen