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Men with cancer find hope through fly-fishing

Reid Tulley
rtulley@skyhidailynews.com
Participants in the recent Reel Recovery retreat at Bar Lazt J Ranch near Kremmling fish the Colorado River.
Photo submitted by Steve Batty |

Reel Recovery

You can find more information about the group, volunteer and donate, sign up for a retreat or check out pictures from past retreats at the organizations website reelrecovery.org.

When Stewart Brown, better known simply as Stu, was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 48, he found solace while fly-fishing the quiet streams and rivers of Colorado.

“While he was on the water, he never thought about cancer,” said Stan Golub, executive director of Reel Recovery.

So Brown, Golub and two other men, all avid fly-fisherman, started Reel Recovery in 2003 to give men who are battling cancer the opportunity to experience the healing power that Brown felt while fishing.



On the very first Reel Recovery retreat in June 2003, which took place in Loveland, Brown told a group of three men, “Your greatest gift is what you give yourself.”

That comment was made three days before Brown was to go into surgery for a brain tumor, surgery from which he would never make a full comeback.



That comment has become the mainstay of the group, which provides men with cancer the chance to learn how to fly-fish while giving them an opportunity to connect with and talk to other men who are battling cancer, all at absolutely zero cost to participants.

Not only do the program’s participants learn to fly-fish, they also get to build a “unique band of brothers,” Golub said.

“They tell us things they have never told anybody, including their spouses and families,” he said. “We put them out in an environment where they have time to bond and create the friendships that allow for opening up and sharing experiences.”

Since that first retreat in June 2003, Reel Recovery has expanded to become a national nonprofit with 151 retreats under its belt, 25 of them in Colorado, and has served more than 17,000 men with cancer nationwide. The group now conducts retreats in 18 states and completes around 23 retreats a year.

Reel Recovery recently finished a retreat at the Bar Lazy J Ranch just outside of Kremmling, where participants got the chance to fish the clear, calm, trout-filled waters of the Upper Colorado River. The group first came to the Bar Lazy J Ranch in 2009 and has returned every year since.

The program provides participants, usually around a dozen a retreat, with free food, lodging, fishing instruction and “courageous conversation.”

While the fishing is the hook that gets these men to the retreats, it is the camaraderie, the opportunity to share stories with men who are facing similar predicaments, that makes these retreats so positive in their lives.

“Hopefully they leave with a renewed sense of hope, a commitment to life and a new group of friends to lean on when they need it,” Golub said.

Volunteers run the retreats, and the program is funded by fundraisers, businesses and private donors.

When Brown was hospitalized after the group’s first retreat, he wrote a letter to Lance Armstrong, who called Brown and said he wanted to meet him. After meeting Brown and hearing how much good the retreat did for the men who attended, Armstrong’s foundation cut the group a check to fund another retreat for that year.

After that initial check, Armstrong’s foundation later provided the organization with enough grant money to maintain operations for three years.

Brown died a week after hearing the news about the grant money from Armstrong’s foundation. But he died knowing that his legacy and Reel Recovery would live on.

Brown’s legacy did live on, and the group has grown into the national organization it is today.

The program is now in its 10th year and is running strong. Its annual fundraiser in Denver takes place on Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Creek Restaurant in Centennial to help raise money for future retreats.

Though the group won’t be conducting another retreat until the spring of next year, they welcome all men with cancer to their retreats.


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