Not only were members of the Whidbey Island Fly Fishing Club swapping some good fish stories at their last meeting, they got a chance to find out how they can lend a hand — in a very literal sense — to wounded active duty military personnel and disabled veterans.

Guest speaker for the evening was Jesse Scott, a retired Air Force pilot who lives in Arlington. Scott is the inventor of the Evergreen Hand, a device he created to help wounded military and veterans tie fishing flies.

While it may seem odd to think of the wounded tying flies, there’s a very good reason for them to do it – it’s great therapy.

“I was at Madigan Army Medical Center (in Tacoma),” Scott said. “The patients there are not fly fishing people, but tying the flies helped cause their fingers to be able to start manipulating things again.”

Scott and several other volunteers from other fly fishing clubs from around the area would go to  Madigan regularly to help teach the wounded soldiers and veterans how to tie flies.

“They were tying some of the ugliest flies you’ve ever seen,” Scott laughed. “But it was simply used as therapy, because their fingers and arms didn’t work very well.”

Then Scott met Army Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Johnson, a self-taught fly fisherman who had an interest in tying flies. But Johnson had taken a bullet to the shoulder while on deployment and wasn’t able to use his left arm.

“That’s what caused the Evergreen Hand to be here today,” said Scott. “It takes the place of a missing or disabled hand.”

Scott’s first device was constructed from wood.

“It took a lot of cutting wood, bending wire and throwing it all out and starting over,” Scott said. “It’s been a slow, slow, slow evolution.”

As Scott has made contact with members of other fly fishing clubs, he’s been able to make some valuable contacts who have helped him make significant improvements on the Evergreen Hand. The wood has been replaced by high-density plastic, dowel rods have been replaced by stainless steel. A curved rod on the device acts as an elbow, Scott described, while a metal plate serves as a wrist. Magnetic tools that attach to the plate are the fingers.

The device has proved so successful in helping with occupational therapy, it has earned the support of the Federation of Fly Fishers, which has provided a grant of $2,300 to make 125 of the devices.

“We’ve gotten the cost down to well under $25 per unit, so now we can build more of them,” said Dean Childs, a member of the Olympic Penninsula Fly Fishing Club who is working with Scott on the project.

“We’re also planning to make a professional DVD on how to use it,” Childs said.

Scott has also connected with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing,  a national nonprofit organization that provides basic classes and clinics for wounded and injured personnel on fly fishing, fly casting and fly tying as well as providing fishing excursions to the wounded and disabled.  Scott said he would set up his invention in the Healing Waters booth at conventions, and people told him he should patent it.

“But I want people to make them, I don’t want to make money from them,” he said, putting up a picture of a Vietnam veteran with two prosthetic arms using his device. “There’s a guy with no hands tying flies. That’s the pay-off for me.”

Scott, who will turn 80 on June 26, said he sees even more potential for the Evergreen Hand on the horizon.

“So far all our users have been battlefield-injured, but our market has broadened to include stroke victims and people with other types of disabilities,” he said.

It takes about two days to put one of the devices together, but Scott said he’s getting faster. A good thing, since he has to make 125 of them with the potential for more. They will be shipped to occupational therapy centers at military and veterans hospitals around the country.

“It’s looking pretty good,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’ll do it.”

Goin’ fishing?

The Whidbey Island Fly Fishing Club meets the second Wednesday of each month at Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue on Race Road, south of Coupeville. Call
360-969-1241 or email fishrswim1@gmail.com for information.

The club will also be holding a “Fly Fishing 101” class at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 23 at the Coupeville Library. The free community outreach will teach fly fishing basics to anyone.

Paintings by local artist help raise money for Healing Waters

It’s hoped paintings by a member of the Whidbey Island Fly Fishing Club will generate a good amount of money for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, a national nonprofit organization  which offers its services and programs to military and veterans hospitals across the country.

“The whole thing was started by Bridgit (Sims),” said Dean Childs, a member of the Olympic Penninsula Fly Fishing Club. “She came to me a year ago with the idea of doing paintings to raise money for Healing Waters.”

But Childs took the idea one step further. He took the original, brightly colored paintings of fishing flies, and made four prints. Then he enlisted the aid of eight famous fly-tiers from around the country who tied the flies depicted in the paintings.  The paintings and prints have been framed along with the matching flies, making a striking piece of art, especially for those interested in fly fishing.

“We plan to sell them for as much as we can get for them,”  Childs said. “We’re going to make them known all over the country.”

“I just love the idea,” Sims said. “At this point in life, it’s just wonderful to be able to give back. It’s given me a whole new perspective.”

One of the fly tyers was 81-year-old Harry Lemire, Childs said, who passed away shortly after he finished the fly.

“In fly fishing history, everybody knows him,” said Childs.  “We’re hoping having big names associated with the paintings will help raise the ante.”