Fishing for a physical and psychological workout

ANGLING

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Susan Kim was 65 when she caught her first fish. It didn’t break any records, but it was a phenomenal catch.

A week after enduring 7½ hours of back surgery in August 2017, Kim’s physical and psychological therapists at UPMC had her casting a line into the Allegheny River from a wheelchair rolled to the edge of a wharf.

“It was just a little sunfish,” she said, “but I was the only one in our group who caught a fish and I was so proud of myself.”

Providing cures for the common nature-deficit disorder has always been part of the mission at Venture Outdoors, the nonprofit concierge of al fresco recreation that accommodated Kim’s trip. The group organizes outings — nature hikes, biking journeys, paddling adventures and, increasingly, fishing trips.

UPMC didn’t invent fishing therapy, but by taking advantage of the planning and organization that goes into Venture Outdoors activities they helped Kim to reel in another step in her recovery.

In 31 days of May, Venture Outdoors has scheduled 10 organized fishing opportunities. They range in necessary skill level from fly fishing a green drake hatch on Yellow Creek with guides Dale and Cindi Kotowski, to urban bobber-and-bait fishing on Pittsburgh’s North Shore with Venture Outdoors’ TriAnglers. The sessions run 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through September on the wharf under the Clemente Bridge. The free program provides rods, tackle and assistance for anyone who wants to fish. Island Firearms donates the live bait; anglers 16 and over need a valid state fishing license. TriAnglers’ 2018 schedule started last week.

UPMC physical therapist Charlene Subrick got back into fishing at a noncredit Community College of Allegheny County fishing class taught by Karen Gainey, who coaches at the TriAnglers events.

“I just needed a diversion, something relaxing to do after stressful days at work,” said Subrick. “I recognized right away what this could do for some of our patients.”

The therapeutic work she does requires more than just stretching muscles, she said.

“For some of our people, grasping something in their hands is a major challenge. Balance, hand-eye coordination. Cognitive skills, keeping focused on something for more than a few seconds,” Subrick said. “Fishing does all of that.”

She got a $10,000 grant from The Beckwith Institute, which funds innovations in health care, to develop a fishing therapy program that provides adaptive gear such as onehanded rods, chin-control cast-and-retrieve mechanisms and “sip and puff” outfits operated by blowing into a tube. The state Fish and Boat Commission gave Subrick authority to lead small groups without fishing licenses.

At the start of Subrick’s fishing outings she guides three patients and six UPMC staff members to the TriAnglers’ riverfront spot in the shadow of PNC Park. Generally, she said, they arrive at the end of the scheduled TriAnglers activity so that Gainey and the therapists can have more time with each patient. This week the fishing therapy program will begin its second year.

“It’s not just the fishing, it’s all of it,” said Subrick. “Learning community-outing skills, crossing streets, getting on the T. They practice skills they’re learning at Mercy Hospital. It can be a real confidence-building experience.”

Kim said it starts with getting out of the hospital and into the warm air. Holding the rod handle firmly and operating a push-button spin-cast reel was a workout for some. Kim moved herself around in a walker; therapists insisted she sit in a wheelchair to cast.

“The trip itself is a learning experience. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh all my life. I had never ridden the T,” she said. “Charlene kept us hydrated with water and popsicles. We all had a hat. It was relaxing until I had my fish on — then it was exciting. I want to do it again.”

Kim said one patient told her their fishing trip was the first time since her accident that she felt “normal,” like no one was staring at her.

“When you have a disability you’re aware of it every day, every moment,” she said. “Some people say ‘Oh, woe is me.’ But fishing and all the things that go with it shows you that you can still do what someone else can do. You can do for yourself. That was the biggest thing.’