Veterans take part in annual fishing tourney
DANBURY — Peace and calm radiated from the 10th annual Candlewood Lake Veterans Fishing Tournament, even as fierce wind gusts picked up at 2 p.m., just as the weigh-in took shape.
The veterans, representing all branches of the U.S. military, really didn’t seem to mind the swirling sand, or the battle to keep the tournament tents secured. Sgt. Joe Kowalski, known as “Sarge,” tallied the results without flinching.
Kowalski reported that the “lugger” came in at 21.24 pounds from the small and largemouth bass caught by Mike Kelsey and Mike Iovino.
The team was one of 25 U.S. military veterans and volunteer boat captains who took to the water on Tuesday as part of an event the Gaylord Sports Association, Connecticut BASS Nation and the Major Steven Roy Andrews Fishing Outreach Program — a nonprofit that helps veterans and at-risk children develop a love for fishing — organize each year.
Just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Ray Clary, 65, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force before he went on to work in the U.S. Forest Service for over 30 years, said he started “fishing when I was old enough to hold a pocket-knife…”
Clary is a Native American; “Cherokee and Delaware by birth and was adopted when I was a little fella by the Ogalala Sioux …,” he said. “I have been fishing with Sarge ever since they started fishing here — I have been here.”
“The fish don’t yell at ya; you could talk to the fish, raise commotion . ... Even when I go trout fishing, there is many a times I don’t even wet the line, let alone catch a fish, I just
sat and watch people,” added Clary, who lives in Beacon, N.Y.
Therapy in fishing
A 13-year veteran of the Marine Corps and Cheshire resident, Kowalski said fishing was just something he and his lifelong best friend and fellow veteran Steven Roy Andrews always did together before Andrews died in 2000.
Suffering from PTSD and physical injuries from his years of service, Kowalski explained how a conversation with his counselor led him to see fishing in a new light.
“What are you doing with your time?” Kowalski recalled his counselor asking.
“Well, I am fishing a lot,” the veteran responded.
“You need to do more of that,” the counselor said in response.
With that simple exchange, fishing suddenly felt therapeutic for Kowalski, who remembered being out on the water a short time later thinking, “if this can help me, maybe it could also help my fellow veterans,” he said.
The idea was solidified in a 2011 conversation with a friend during a visit to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.
Restless at the time and looking to fight, Kowalski visited Quantico and asked his friend, a sergeant major in the U.S. Marine Corps, if he could re-enlist.
The commanding officer explained to him that wouldn't be possible – he was 60 pounds overweight, not to mention the 30-plus knee surgeries he endured at that point.
“Your fishing program is the most important thing you can do for the Marine Corps,” the sergeant major told Kowalski.
That conversation put Kowalski on a mission to help. He estimates his non-profit has been the conduit for 345 fishing trips with fellow veterans seeking the type of peace he has found out on the water.
With fishing equipment donated by local sponsors, he explained how he takes the time to teach the art of fishing, giving them an eight-point lesson on the drive to the water before showing them those skills in action. There are also conversations about their time in the military and what they experienced.
“It helps me get through my [stuff ],” Kowalski said with an expletive added to his sentence. “That makes me feel good.”
Once the day is over, Kowalski said the veterans he hosts on the local lakes take their fishing equipment home with them to use it as a tool to help them find their own peace — and he has no doubt of its important.
After one recent trip, a fellow veteran texted Kowalski a picture with him and his son holding a fish together.
“Sarge, thanks for giving me my family and my life back,” the text said.