Monday, April 6, 2009

Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Tournament

This past weekend I was honored to participate in the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Tournament to raise money for a non-profit organization called Project Healing Waters Flyfishing. Twelve Wounded Warriors from units and hospitals around Virginia came down to Bridgewater, VA to fly fish with twelve fishing partners and a whole bunch of volunteers and local folks.
My Wounded Warrior/fishing partner was 1st Sgt. Sonja Elzy from Ft. Lee, VA. As soon as we realized we were not only the same age but the same diminutive height, we knew it was a great match!! We had a fantastic day out on the water and ended up catching 5 trout and missing first place by only 1" of fish! Sonja caught the first fish of the day, a 14.5" brown. Later in the day she caught two beautiful rainbows. I got the trophy for the biggest trout caught all day at 19 3/4". That's my amazing brown with our monitor, Gary Collins, who measured it and helped to release it .What an epic day and one that I will never forget.
The tournament raised over $100,000 for PHWFF. To check out a wonderful video of last year's tournament, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfUIg1GxVvU
Look out for new trout prints inspired by an incredible day at Mossy Creek.
(Thank you, G. Henry Bowser and Dennis for the great photos!)