Wounded Warrior Project James river catfish

[RANGER690]

Here are pics from today. I have some cool stuff to tell. Gotta get it all together. Look over the pics.

WWP-Catfishing - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Dayton

[racn35]

God what an awesome day WE had !!! Dude we just got home man !!! Good seeing you again buddy. I will have a special folder on my bucket accnt for the WWP pics that will be showing up......I can think of a dozen cell phones with lots of lifetime memory making pics on them. Lisa too over 40 herself !! Just saw your 50ish too - Make your plans now - WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT FOR 2008 WILL BE OCT 18TH.................

[WVBowhunter]

Wow, we had about 27 wounded warriors, family members and miltary out on the river,,,fish didnt cooperate real well, but I think most all the ones that needed to catch a fish did with only a couple skunks. The big fish was about 55 lbs, that I think came off Eddy Wileys boat (Cat Tracker) with a few more in the 40's and another 50. Total around 500 lbs of fish caught by our guys and gals in uniform.

The Capt in Charge of the Warrior Transition Unit was actually a Navy guy I had known 20 years ago in WV, that got smart and went Army...He is one helluva officer that knows his men and has compassion for our wounded warriors, and has quite good potential to become a good catter after his first at around 40 lbs

I truly right this with tears in my eyes having been humbled beyound belief working to bring a few smiles with young guys and gals that have sacrificed and given so much for our nation. The day even began with tears from everyone as they couldn't believe so many people turned out to take them fishing,,,some having never been fishing a day in their lives. We had more boats and skippers than wounded warriors and loved ones, but that in a way was also a special blessing. One young mans meds had worn off and he was starting to shake pretty badly and had to be brought back in early---but he was having so much fun catching fish and enjoying himself that he nearly begged to keep on fishing. I can only hope and pray that each and everyone of you get one chance in life to share in an act of humanity that I experienced today. Please say a little prayer for our guys and gals in the military tonight and if given the opportunity to share in a smile or laugh with our wounded warriors.

Jim

[RANGER690]

Jim, you and Earl pulled off a great deed. Thank you and Bless you. Looking forward to next year.

I took the liberty to post this as well. On three different websites. Please see it.

http://www.tidalfish.com/forums/virg...yone-know.html

Dayton

[ekim22]

I was proud to see so many american flags on boats around the river today. I was out bass fishing (not a catfisherman myself) and I made sure to give a hearty wave to everyone I saw. Ya'll did a really nice thing today.

[fishdadhunt]

Yesterday was one of my best trips one the water. It was great to meet an American hero and show him the time of his life. I have never fished for cats and I only live a few miles from the Dutch Gap landing (for some reason yesterday I was told that there are not cats there) I am hooked and can not wait to go again.Now I ve got to convince somebody how fun it is so I can go. The soldier was a great young man and he thanked me over and over and I know he had a good time. Although I have caught some nice fish on my boat, yesterday we caught some monsters the largest to date and largest total poundage. We could not officially weigh them but according to my great 1st mate Steven Stubblefield there was one around 5-6lbs, two over thirty, and one that was close to or over 50lbs. We also had two others that pulled off. I have a scale that only goes to 25 lbs and with this type of fishing i need a bigger scale. Thanks for pulling this off and I look forward to next year
Walt Brown

[Scott]

Here are a few more pictures. Great meeting everyone and thanks for all the hard work to make this event possible!

scott23192/2007-11-17_WWP - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[jonnycat]

I really wish I could of been there but other plans did not allow. You all did a wonderful deed for our soldiers. The pictures are really good. I thank you all. Have a great day---jonnycat

[RANGER690]

Click on these pics to see video of the action!





Other videos have been added to the photobucket link.

Dayton

[CATAHOLIC]

I had the honor to take out Jason Scarbrough. He was injured in a roadside bombing in Afganistan Oct 2, 2007. He is still in pretty bad shape which I won't go into details b/c of his privacy, But one thing was memory loss from the explosion. Both his memory loss is short and long term which he is slowly and pain stakingly recovering from. Saturday was the first day he was allowed out on his own since his convoy was attacked. The outing Saturday served true to the purpose of the Wounded Warrior project getting soldiers outdoors. This day had a very big impact on his life, moral and recovery. By mid day his meds were wearing off and the pain was intense and he still stood strong and didn't want to go back. Listening to him tell his emotion filled stories the one thing that angers and saddens him most is he is not with his squad still serving. He is a TRUE Warrior and Hero.
The day started with getting to know him and progressed into smiles, laughter and ended with a true friendship. He is a avid Ohio outdoorsman and fisherman (loves flathead fishing and hunting). Today he caught his PB blue of 48lbs. The rod went down I took it from the rod holder he jumped up threw the cane to the floor, forgot his adversity for a moment, grabbed the rod and for 5 minutes fought his fish like a pro. He said now he is hooked on big James river blues. He expressed that "The one thing he never wanted to forget was this day". My wife met his wife over the phone yesterday morning and got the details of his life to make it easier on him to explain his situation. She sent the pic of his fish to her over the phone and with in hours his brothers called and ribbed him because he had beaten their PB blue and flathead cats. He was so excited. He told them he got blowed up and still beat their PB and was grinning from ear to ear. It was great to see his moral increase that much in just a few hours. :grin:
He and his wife will be going with me again as soon as he recovers more. We heard from his wife today that he was still smiling this morning and still remembers the details of Saturday everytime he looks at the pics. I could go on for days about how this event effects your life, but those of you that were there know. We should all be dedicated to our sevicemen as they are to our country and to each of us. We can never repay the debt to them, but we can always support them and their families in may ways like the Wounded Warrior Project. Thanks Jim, Earl and the supporters of the Wounded Warrior Project to make this possible for me and my wife to be involved and do what we could to help the Warriors. A big thanks to Stonewall, REDCAT and Frank also for spending hours catching the bait. A big thanks to Wayne Atkinson (CRASH14me2) for letting me borrow his boat for the event after mine broke.
God Bless America