Fly-Tying ~ Birthday ~ Vets on the Water 8/10/25

Our “Vets Healing on the Fly” group met on 8/7 to tie flies for our upcoming outing to Doc’s Pond on the 23^rd of August.  We were thrown a curveball the day before, at 3:00 in the afternoon when I received a call saying we needed to find a new location because of construction at the American Legion Hall.  A huge shout out to the Newington Senior Center!  On short notice Josie and the staff at the Newington Senior Center juggled schedules and made room for us. 

Even with short notice about a location change, we had 24 vets and vols on hand who tackled the Hornberg Streamer, not any easy task, and the results were spectacular. 

See the pictures of 2 examples of the Hornberg.

One fly was tied by a vol with decades of experience, the other a vet with only 18 months tying under his belt.  I’ll bet you can’t tell them apart, I can, but I took the picture.

 The original Hornberg fly pattern was designed by Frank Hornberg in Wisconsin sometime in the 1920’s. The versatile fly can be tied, and fished as a dry, wet or streamer.  The streamer style is used to imitate a baitfish and is a good pattern in rivers and still waters.

The Newington Senior Center provided us with a great venue for fly-tying on very short notice.

Hugh, one of our vets working with the guidance of Steve H, a volunteer.

Antoine, the French Fly Fisherman and Orvis 2025 Guide of the year took some time out of busy schedule to teach 3 of our group how to make hand tied leaders.

Our new group is well underway; please make sure you hit the log in button in the upper right corner and sign in so you will be notified of upcoming posts. If you know of a vet with disabilities that can benefit from what we have to offer or you would like more information about volunteering, or supporting our organization, please use the contact button.

Sonny’s Birthday!

Today was a special day, Sonny Showman one of our program vets turned “93”.   Sonny says he loves watching old westerns, but his heart is fishing. He is excited to be part of our "Vets Healing on the Fly" program and has been active with us for 2 and a half years. In August of 2023, Sonny caught a 23” Rainbow trout on a fly at our Limestone Trout Club outing. This was the largest fish caught that day by any of our participants.

After Sonny graduated high school and went into the Army, he served his active duty with the 5th Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War.

Happy Birthday Sonny!! And thank you for your sacrifice and service!

On Friday, two of our program vets hit the water, Sean and John L  Sean has been with our program for about 10 years, and John L has been with us for 2 years.

John landed a couple of trout, you may need to zoom in.  But a fish is a fish, and he added 2 to his count for the day.    The time on the water, and the camaraderie between our vets and vols is all part of the program to assist our vets in coping with the challenges they face every day.  It is part of the healing process.

Coming up, Doc’s Pond Saturday, August 23^rd

Saturday, 8/23/25, we will be holding an outing to Doc Shildgen’s Bass Pond in Litchfield, CT for our Vets Healing on the Fly participating in our program.  Any vet interested in bringing a family member to this year’s event, please let me know so we can plan accordingly.  If you are interested, please let me know so I can get you on the list.  Float tubes and kayaks work well at this event. 

And Please Remember...

If you know of a vet with disabilities that can benefit from what we have to offer or you would like more information about volunteering, or supporting our organization, please use the contact button.