That afternoon, I fished the Madison with a Grey’s streamfly #5 - easy to throw and still soft enough to lay the line down very gently. I caught four Browns from 8″ to 13″, and two rainbows, one about 10″ and the other 19 or 20″. I caught all but one fish on size 12 Elk.

We set up camp at Madison campground, cooked a hearty dinner of pork chops, sweet corn and rice, then walked up the GibbonRiver. The campground is located at the junction of the Gibbon River and the Firehole River, which come together to form the Madison. After a short walk upstream, the fish started to show themselves and Hoppers were what they wanted. For about an hour and a half, and with a few small rainbows and one brown, I started my trip back to the camp.

Elk were on the hills on both sides of the river. The bulls were rounding up harems of cows, some buffalo were grazing down along the banks of the Gibbon.  There was no doubt I was in Yellowstone again, one of the most beautiful spots in the world!

After riding  south along the Teton Mountains, we got to Jackson Hole, stopped by High Country Flies to talk abut the Snake and surrounding tributaries.  It seems like there are endless rivers and small roads and the fly fisherman who doesn’t mind walking could spend a summer and probably not fish it all. The Snake was no exception - Hoppers and bright stimulators on top did their job.

We set up camp along the Hoback River.  I walked up the river with a 4 weight Hardy rod to see lots of small cutthroat trout. 

I caught one about 18″, lost another slightly smaller and missed one nice one.  I had never caught a cutthrough before that and it was sure a nice change from all the years throwing 12 weight rods and catching tarpon, permit and bonefish.  It’s all great and it’s all beautiful!

A group of injured veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan participated in a day of fishing and dove hunting Thursday, September 3, hosted by Cody “the Slam Man” Kittleman and his partner, outdoorsman Mark Hoke.

The day-long event was held in cooperation with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), on the Kittleman farm in West Friendship, MD, as part of an effort by Kittleman and Hoke, of Laurel, MD, to help returning injured service personnel resume their lives once again. 

“These young men and women are the true heroes of America,” said Kittleman, who planted a seven-acre field of sunflowers on the farm to attract doves for the hunt. “We need to embrace them and let them know how much they mean to all of us, and help get them back into society.”

 Nine shooting stations were sponsored by local businesses to help defray costs of the event, which included a cookout and crab feast, weapons and ammunition for the hunters. It was the fourth annual “handicapable” dove hunt sponsored by Kittleman and Hoke for returning injured service personnel, who have also sponsored four deer hunts and three goose hunts over the past few years. Last year’s deer hunt on the farm incluced 37 volunteers and 13 disabled veterans.

 Sgt. Robert Bartlett, an Army Calvary Scout Sniper, was one of the injured vets participating in the dove hunt. Bartlett was on a recon mission in Iraq May 3, 2005, when a roadside bomb exploded ripping his face virtually in two. He lost an eye, collapsed lung, massive internal bleeding, and severe burns.

 On the way to the hospital in Balad, Bartlett’s heart stopped twice, then once again in the military hospital where doctors did not expect him to live. But today, more thabn 40 surgeries later, Sgt. Bartlett is determined to forge a new future that will include graduate and post-graduate education, a new wife, and a family. He tells everyone he can about “the good things that are happening in Iraq” and the accomplishments of our men and women in uniform.

 ”Why are most of us doing so well?” Sgt. Bartlett asked. “Look around. The support here. It means a lot. It is a wonderful thing.”

 Men and women like Sgt. Bartlett go through more than “just” trying to rehab from their wounds. Post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) is a serious problem, he says, pointing out that there are numerous programs and resources to help.

 Some soldiers return from the war unable to continue in the jobs for which they were trained prior to deployment. For many, the physical injuries make it difficult to function, or even be seen in public. All too often, they suffer financial hardships, contributing to marital difficulties, divorce, suicide.

 But Sgt. Bartlett is not one of those. “I don’t have a single day of regret,” he told me. “I lost friends over there. I have to live for them.”

 Army Sgt. Terry Tessena, Woodbridge, VA, injured his back in Iraq when his unit was assaulting a house, chasing insurgents. A vertebrae was crushed, forcing him to return to the U.S. in February 2008, where he had three surgeries.

 There was a lot of “down time,” for Sgt. Tessena. Pain. Depression. “Realizing that you’re now worth what you were before. But these guys come and take you on fishing trips, hunting, and they take away the pain and the pain killers, and they bring you back to remembering what you really can do.”

 Fortunately for Sgt. Tessena, he is doing better and hopes to deploy again, probably next year to Afghanistan. “I’m ready to go back,” he said. “I want to get back into the fight.”

 For Army Sgt. Jason Nielsen, shot in the back by a sniper as his unit responded to the report of a roadside bomb, the resulting spinal cord injury left him in a wheelchair for a year and a half, and doctors said he would not walk again.

 But as he spoke, standing, he prepared to head for his designated blind for the dove hunt. Walking.

 Sgt. Nielsen has a family - a wife and three children. Retired from the Army with a medical discharge, he is now going to college to get a business degree.

 ”Events like these…they are a great outlet for us,” he said. “Hunting and fishing has always been a passion for me. My future was pretty bleak. I was never supposed to walk. But the PVA got to me, and they helped show me what I could do, no matter what the injuries. I wouldn’t be able to do these things, but people showed me tht I could. It means everything to me. Everything.”

Hot off the presses! This is last-minute, but I wanted to get the word out as soon as I heard.

Outdoorsmen Cody Kittleman and Mark Hoke will be sponsoring the fourth annual dove hunt to help disabled veterans Thursday, Sept. 3 at noon on the Kittleman farm, 3106 Fox Valley Drive, in West Friendship.

Planned with the cooperation of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the event is part of an effort by Kittleman, a world class saltwater fly fisherman, and Hoke, a Laurel turkey and waterfowl hunter, to support efforts intended to help returning injured service personnel resume their lives once again, according to a press release.

“These young men and women are the true heroes of America,” said Kittleman, who planted a special seven-acre field of sunflowers on his property in where the hunt will take place. “We need to embrace them and let them know how much they mean to all of us and help them get back into society.”

Nine shooting stations, each sponsored by local businesses to help defray costs of the event, will be provided for the veterans within the field of sunflowers, which have been cut to attract the doves.

Prior to the hunt, participating veterans will have an opportunity to fish for large mouth bass in a stocked lake on the Kittleman property. A lunch of steamed crabs, roast beef, hamburgers and hot dogs will be served from noon to 1 p.m., the release said.

According to Kittleman, a number of local and state lawmakers are expected to attend the event, which also will involve representatives of the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.

Though it will be the fourth annual “handicapable” dove hunt sponsored by Kittleman and Hoke for returning injured service personnel, they have also sponsored four deer hunts and three goose hunts over the past few years. Last year’s deer hunt on the farm included 37 volunteers and 13 disabled veterans.

Known as the “Slam Man,” Kittleman is a world class saltwater fly fisherman, based at the Turniff Island Lodge, in Belize. He holds 18 “grand slams,” the world record, for catching at least one tarpon, one permit and one bonefish in the same day.

Kittleman works with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc., a LaPlata-based group dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings, and teaches fly tying classes at Walter Reed Medical Center whenever he’s home. He often helps to take veterans on fishing excursions to locations in the area.

You can read more about Kittleman at his Web site, www.theslamman.com.

Read the article at at ExploreHoward.com .

If you’re wondering how the fishing was, well - it was as good as the company! For the past twenty-five years, I’ve been dreaming of redfish, skinny water, and my fly-rod. We spent most of the time driving down the ranch looking for schools of feeding red fish on the flats, which we walked off the road and waded. How can it get any better than that? Some of the flats must have been close to a mile long and, when the tide was just right, there were literally thousands of reds, and at least one black drum, that ate a gold and purple spoon fly, that were hungry and eager to take our flies.

Saturday morning David thought was should be fishing around Matagorda Island, on which he just happens to own a Quonset hut. As soon as you get on the island or Pen as the guys would call it, you can see how much thought and effort went into this great place. The water in the surf on the east side of the Island was clear and it was beautiful to see spotted trout, jacks, and, yes, sharks, swimming in the clear water. At times I don’t think the sharks were fifteen feet off the beach - never would I have thought they’d be this close and this visible. They caught about ten trout. I was shut out … the fish must have known I was a Yankee!

Our party included:

- David de Roode, an owner of Matagorda Peninsula (”the Island”)
- Jay Cliburn, an owner of Matagorda Peninsula and Cliburn-Welder Ranch
and the host of the weekend
- Jason Tramonte
- Fred Heyne
- Scott McKnight
- John Stevens
- David Johnson
- Chris Stallings
- Derrick Johnson
- Barrett Webster
- Christian Chamberlain
- Stephen Kenne
- Dusty Wilkerson
- Brad Hermes
- Jonathan Plumhoff
- Matt Harris
- James Easterling
- Greg Bruce

Click here to help the Paralyzed Veterans of America

Cody is featured in an article from Deer and Deer Hunting magazine. Click here to read the article.

In this, the high season for good deeds, it would be an oversight not to tip the hat to Mark Hoke of Laurel, who can’t resist sharing his blessings with others.

From left, Doug Beckley, Andy MacDonald, Mark Hoke, Charlie Smith and Alan Earl at a goose hunt that Hoke organized for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. (By Angus Phillips For The Washington Post)

Hoke, a burly marble-and-tile man by trade, is an avid waterfowl, deer and turkey hunter who likes to pass along the benefits of his passions. The more challenging the circumstances, the better he seems to like it.

Read the entire article in The Washngton Post website.

Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page E05

It’s hard to wax lyrical about the joys of the season when others are suffering so sharply at Mother Nature’s hand. But you live where you live and certain traditions are not to be overlooked.

So at noon on the first day of September last week, bird hunters across Maryland wrenched themselves from the terrible TV pictures out of New Orleans and Mississippi and the awful news in the paper to do what Marylanders have done for generations: They went dove hunting.

Cody Kittleman, the owner of a Howard County farm, takes aim on opening day of Maryland’s dove season. A Labrador retriever named Nellie helped make the day successful for a group of hunters, some of whom had to shake off the rust. (By Angus Phillips — The Washington Post)
Doves inaugurate the fall bird season hereabouts, and the day is as much a social event as a sporting one. I had an invitation to hunt on a Howard County farm owned by Cody Kittleman, whose family has lived in these parts for many years.

Cody Kittleman, the owner of a Howard County farm, takes aim on opening day of Maryland’s dove season. A Labrador retriever named Nellie helped make the day successful for a group of hunters, some of whom had to shake off the rust. (By Angus Phillips — The Washington Post)

Despite the brilliant sunshine and cool, autumn-like breezes, it was a somber occasion for Kittleman, being his first opening day since the death of his father, the late State Sen. Bob Kittleman (R-Howard). “Dad died last year on September 11,” said Kittleman, a brawny house-builder and former charter boat captain with a bushy blond beard and long blond ponytail. “I sat up with him for 30 hours until he passed away. Then I came back here and went out into the field and shot doves for a while.

Read the entire article on the Washington Post website.