Overcoming Adversity: A Cancer Survivor's Journey to Recovery and New Beginnings

I was in a medically induced high as I left from the recovery room a few short weeks ago.  Doctors stood over my bed with a weird smile.  They were happy for two reasons.  I was cleared of cancer and they had seen a extremely rare tumor, the kind they have never seen, nor would see again.

Thus started my two weeks of rehab. 

My second day into recovery, a sick joke appeared on my door step.  A Sage 5wt fly rod and Bauer reel.  What was I to do? Lay in bed?  No, load up on pain killers and go fishing of course. 

A few days later, a box of fly tying materials was delivered.  One of the few purchases I made right after tax season.  Even though I have had no formal training, I figured it was time to give it a go.  I had not iced a fish in 20 years and I had a great ice fishing season, why not try fly fishing!

With a few tips from the guys at ColoradoMountainFishing, I had turned some really ugly flies into some winners.  In fact, most of the fish I have caught have been from my own vise.

                                                                    

My first fly.  Ugly.

The last fly I tied this evening.  A great success after two weeks of teaching myself how to tie.     

I have tried my flies on highly pressured urban ponds, urban streams and a few high mountain waters.  What a ride the last few weeks have been!

If you think it is too hard, you are completely wrong.  Like anything in life, it just takes a little bit of motivation.  Failure is an option, but success cannot be achieved without trying.






This blog originally was posted on FishExplorer.com.