Since we’ve been back in Florida, Justin’s been keeping
his eyes open for a local taking veterans fishing type organization to get
involved with. We love Project Healing Waters, but with the way Justin’s boat
is setup, it’s difficult to use it for fly fishing and he’s wanting to take
people out on the boat to fish. In his searching, he recently found VetCatch
and contacted them. He told them about himself, that he was a wounded veteran,
and offered to volunteer with their organization by taking veterans out on his
boat. They responded back quickly and told him they had an upcoming trip to the
Florida Keys and wanted to know if he was interested in going. They had found a
videographer and wanted to get some photos and video of the trip to put on
their website to help people know more about VetCatch. When Justin found out
the dates of the trip, he told them he wasn’t sure if he would make it because
it was my birthday weekend. They invited me to come along too, and my parents
agreed to keep Corey for the weekend, so we started making plans.
We started down the road on Friday morning. It’s about a
4 hour drive from where we live, so we timed it so we’d arrive at lunch time.
We had a nice, relaxing lunch at a restaurant on the water and then wandered
around the Bass Pro (because if you know Justin, you know how much he loves
Bass Pro lol). After a little shopping, we made our way to the hotel. VetCatch
had booked us a room at the La Siesta resort. It’s right on the water, so once
we got checked in, Justin got out his fly rod and tried to catch some fish. The
fish weren’t biting, but he managed to catch an octopus…and then didn’t quite
know what to do with it. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and then met
up with the VetCatch guys at the marina where we’d be leaving from in the
morning. We met Bill and Jeremy, 2 of the 3 VetCatch staff (the 3rd
guy, Kyle, was still travelling), Nick, one of the trip sponsors, and Capt.
Steve, captain of the Warrior – the boat we’d be fishing on the next day. The
guys worked out the details for the next morning, and then we parted ways for
the night. Justin and I decided to go for a drive and watched the sun set
before finding a place to get some dinner. It was a great way to spend my
birthday!
Justin and I were up before the sun on Saturday morning.
Not my ideal wakeup time, but after a Dr. Pepper, I started to wake up a bit.
At the dock, we met the 3rd member of the VetCatch staff, Kyle, the
videographer, Matt, and Capt. Steve’s friend, Anna. The guys loaded everything
up and then we pulled away from the dock. This was my first time going offshore
fishing, and even though I knew I likely would get a bit sea sick, I was
looking forward to being out on the water and getting some pictures. Justin was
hoping to catch a type of fish he’d never caught before. The morning started
off kind of cool (for Florida) and with the wind from the moving boat, we all
had on multiple layers of clothing to keep warm. I was thankful that Bill had
given Justin and me both VetCatch long sleeve shirts because it added another
layer. Once the sun started coming up more, the temperature warmed up quite a
bit. We trolled along for a while trying to see if the sailfish were biting
with no luck. Then Capt. Steve took us out to a spot where he knew they’d catch
some fish. Once we got to the spot, Justin reeled in the first fish of the day –
a blackfin tuna. He’d never caught a tuna before, so he was pretty excited.
Once he caught that first fish, it seemed like the fish were practically
jumping into the boat. The guys typically had 4 lines out, and many times, they’d
have fish on 2 lines at the same time (and one time fish on 3 lines which was
pretty exciting). I think the total count of tuna for the day was 15.
Definitely a success!
Once the guys started getting tired (and I felt pretty
seasick), we decided to call it a day. We headed back to the dock. The closer
we got to the dock, the calmer the water was, and the better I felt. Bill, Jeremy,
and Kyle all crashed on the couches in the cabin of the boat (did I mention how
nice the boat was? It even had a real bathroom, beds, and a TV). Justin, Matt,
and I enjoyed the beautiful weather out on the deck of the boat. By the end of
the trip, even though we’d just met everyone, I felt like we’d known them a lot
longer. It was a really fun group of people. Out of the 9 of us on the boat, 7
of us had spent time living in Germany due to the Army. Justin, Nick, Bill,
Jeremy, and Kyle due to being in the Army and being stationed there (Bill,
Jeremy, and Kyle were there around the same time and Justin and I were but at a
different location), Matt was there as a child because his dad was in the Army
stationed in Germany, and I was there because of Justin. When we got back to
the dock, they cleaned up the boat and filleted the fish. Then Justin and I
headed back to the hotel room to get cleaned up a little before going to dinner
with the VetCatch guys. It was a nice dinner at a place on the water. After
dinner, we headed back to the room and weren’t up for too long before we were
both ready to sleep. I think I fell asleep around 9 pm which is unheard of for
me, the night owl. It was a fun, busy day and Justin and I were both worn out –
in a good way though. Justin had fished all day and had been on his legs pretty
much all of it without his surgery spot being sore. About 2 months
post-surgery, I think he’s about as normal as he’s going to get, and he’s
feeling like himself again which is a huge relief to both of us.
Before we left the marina on Saturday afternoon, Matt did
some on-camera interviews of the VetCatch guys. During this, I learned a lot
more about the organization, how it got started, and their vision for the
future of VetCatch. The “Catch” part of the name is actually an acronym. It
stands for Casting Away Troubles & Connecting Heroes. It got started after
Bill got out of the Army and had that “what now” moment like so many veterans
have. Bill, Jeremy, and Kyle all served in the same Army unit together. Bill
and Jeremy are out of the Army now, but Kyle is still active duty. After
getting out, Bill and Jeremy were talking about how serving in the military
gives a sense of pride in serving their country and a camaraderie with their
brothers and sisters in arms that you don’t find in most civilian careers, and
that’s how the idea for VetCatch got started. I know that camaraderie is
something Justin misses about Army life. He actually came to the realization on
this trip while we were driving that most of the friends he spends the most
time with now are also former military of various branches (I had realized that
a while ago). He finds it easier to be around people who have served and have
experienced similar things. I think the “connecting heroes” part of their
mission statement will be a great thing for the ones they reach with VetCatch. For
Justin, fishing has been a huge part of his healing process. He never has had
many of the emotional/mental struggles like so many have, but being out on the
water has been a stress reliever, and by relieving the stress, his body has
healed faster. He’s looking forward to both participating in future events and
volunteering by taking veterans out on his boat and helping them with “casting
away troubles” like he has on the water.
For more information on VetCatch, check out their
Facebook page and website. They’ll be adding pictures and video from our trip
soon and once they set dates for upcoming events, those will be added too.
If you’re in the Florida Keys and looking to charter a
boat to go offshore fishing, I highly recommend Capt. Steve. Here are links to
his Facebook and website
And if you’re in the Keys and need a videographer for a
wedding or fishing trip, I highly recommend Matt of DockLight Productions. I
can’t wait to see the video he’s putting together from this weekend!
Justin and I both had a great weekend, and we’re looking
forward to seeing awesome things come from the VetCatch organization and what
our family can do to help make some of it happen.
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