Tuesday, August 27th the Heroes Rising Outdoors held our first fall session of fly-fishing classes. Our instructor for the day was Don T. and this course was an intro to fly fishing. He explained the different parts of a fly rod and reel including the difference of the fly line, tippet, and leader and the different weights of line. He also went over some safety precautions of fly fishing, especially when wading out in a river. We also discussed the different types of gear needed for fly fishing, the different size flies, and the difference between spin casting as 
opposed to fly casting. This was a very informative class for our participants, and they gained some valuable knowledge to help them be successful on our upcoming trip. We are excited for the ones who couldn’t make it to this session to join us on our next set of classes.
Tuesday, September 3rd our Heroes Rising Outdoors Program held its 2nd class in the fall fly fishing series. Our instructor for the day was Earlene S. and she did an excellent job teaching the 3 most popular knots and how to tie them. We watched videos, step by step tutorials, and the veterans were able to get some hands-on tying practice. We are looking forward to getting out to the park to learn and practice casting skills next Tuesday.
Tuesday, September 10th, our veterans taking part in our HRO Fly fishing program had their first opportunity to get out and learn hands on casting. We went out to Pioneer Park and taught everyone how to put their rods and reels together, and then taught them 2 different types of casts. We taught the pick-up and lay down cast and then the roll cast. It was a really hot day out, but our veterans were casting very well by the end of the 2-hour session. We are looking forward to our upcoming trip and looking forward to catching lots of trout.
Tuesday, September 17th our veterans met at Pioneer Park to hone in their casting skills for the last time before hitting Christoper Creek this weekend. They practiced both types of casts they had learned last week and were also taught how to mend a line while fishing. It was a great afternoon and a great casting session. Everyone is looking forward not only to catching some trout but also getting away in the cooler country this weekend.
Friday, September 20, our veterans met at the R Bar C Ranch on Christopher Creek for a weekend of fishing. As everyone was filtering in throughout the day, they started heading down to the creek. The creek was lower than normal and not as clear, but that didn’t keep the fish from biting. We caught several nice trout on Friday afternoon. As evening rolled around, our cooks got busy in the kitchen making some jambalaya and cornbread for supper. After supper, we all sat around the campfire for some great conversations and laughs.
Saturday morning, we arose to a great breakfast buffet before we headed down to the creek to fish. Our morning fishing session was productive, catching and releasing quite a few fish. Other than fish, we did find the crawdads were also biting. We all assembled back at camp for chicken sandwiches for lunch and sat around chatting about the morning adventures. In the afternoon we headed back to the creek, and a few of us descended into the box canyon to fish some of the fishing holes that were not as easily accessible. We had to do some scrambling and wading to get to some of the holes. We had a great time, but our effort was not rewarded with any fish downstream. Upstream, they were still catching a good number of trout. Overall, it was a very productive day of fishing. Supper came and also our fish fry that we like to have on Saturday camps with hushpuppies. We again retired to the campfire and had lots of good conversations and storytelling.
Sunday, we got up and ate a great breakfast before cleaning up the cabin and heading back to the valley. Each veteran that attended, as well as the cooks and guides, had a great time on this trip and we can’t wait for our next fly fishing outing coming up in the spring!
If you are a veteran interested in any of our programs, or would like to help volunteer as a cook/helper at any of our veterans programs, please email me at
