More on the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing

[Danoinark]

By DAVE PAYNE Sr.

Staff Writer

PARKERSBURG ­ As World War II drew to a close, Richwood native Williard McCroskey looked in a glacier-fed Swiss stream teeming with monster-size trout with not a single fishing fly or a rod to cast it.

Sixty years later, he has spent countless hours making sure troops in Iraq have opportunities he never had in his war.

A seven-month-old effort by The Parkersburg News and Sentinel to provide fishing flies for servicemen in Iraq has netted nearly 1,000 flies, 456 of which were tied by the 90-year-old man from Tennessee.

McCroskey, who moved to Cleveland, Tenn., about four years ago, has kept the students of the Baghdad School of Flyfishing well-supplied with fishing flies.

The fly fishing school was founded November 2005 by Navy Lt. Joel Stewart, who saw it as a way to offer military personnel a skill and a brief escape from the stresses of a war-torn Baghdad. Stewart returned to the U.S. earlier this year and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Jones has taken his place at the schoolás helm. The eight-week classes are open to personnel from all military branches.

Classes are held at a palace formerly owned by Saddam Hussein, and the students fish in the former dictator's palace ponds, which Hussein had stocked with ornamental fish.

For McCroskey, the fly-tying is personal.

He said he can remember what it is like to be a soldier overseas with a desire, but no means, to fish. He spent the last two years of World War II in northern Italy and was in Switzerland immediately after the war. While there were plenty of fish around, catching them wasnát an option.

"I feel obligated in a way. When I was in World War II, there were rainbow trout swimming all around me. There I was, 3,000 miles from my fishing rod. I can imagine what it is like for them to be away from home like and not being able to fish," he said.

McCroskeyás efforts, as well as those of others who have donated fishing flies are appreciated, Jones said.

Flies sent in by readers of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel are the primary source of fishing flies for the school and McCroskey's flies have been a major part of that, Jones said.

"He has been the most prolific contributor to our fly boxes, hundreds of flies, Iám not exaggerating. We had to buy more boxes to hold them all. His flies are well-tied and perfect in color and proportion. I hope to be tying as well when I am 90. Heck, I hope to be tying at 90," Jones said.

Before the first shipment of flies arrived earlier this year, instructors were scrounging for whatever makeshift materials they could find for flies ­a situation that has drastically changed, Jones said.

"Each graduate gets a box of new flies, courtesy of these guys," he said.

McCroskey spent more than 80 years of his life living along the South Fork of the Cherry River in Nicholas County, but moved to Tennessee after his health prevented him from fishing how he wants.

McCroskey's daughter, Judy Johnson, said her father has been thrilled to help out soldiers overseas since he has been unable to fish in recent years.

"He knows what it is like to be far away from home. Fishing was such a big part of his life, he was so excited to help out. It has given him purpose. When you are 90, you don't feel like you have a lot to contribute to the world. This has given him purpose," she said.

McCroskey has been tying flies all of his life, although he has refused to sell them, Johnson said.

"When I was a kid, we had a collie. He would cut the dog's fur and use it for flies. He is a purist. He only used a fly reel and only fished for trout. One reason he quit (fishing) was because he can't get in the water and wade and fish up and down the stream. In his mid eighties, he fell and realized he couldnát be in the mountains anymore by himself. Once that was taken away from him, he quit," said Johnson, who is assistant principal of Jefferson Elementary School.

Pictures of McCroskey's flies are posted on the school's Web site, http://www.baghdadflyfishing.com.

"This fly tying has given dad such an avenue," Johnson said. "He can look on the Internet and see pictures of people holding these fish in Iraq. It's great for him that he can do this and see the end result."

Johnson said McCroskey and his enthusiasm has been an inspiration to those living in his senior-living community many of whom have been inspired to collect items for care packages to be shipped overseas.

While McCroskey is unable to fish, he still keeps busy passing on what he knows, whether by telling stories or teaching children how to tie flies, Johnson said.

"He loves to share that," he said.

Donations of fishing flies can be sent to Iraqi Freedom Flies, c/o Dave Payne Sr., Parkersburg News and Sentinel, 519 Juliana St., Parkersburg, WV, 26101

[Don]

Inspiring post Dano.

Enjoyed it....Don

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Thanks for posting the article Dano.

John