Welcome to the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Fly Fishing's homepage - click on the logo for the latest update!

"Updated August 12, 2008"

If you are stationed in Iraq - Send me pictures of your fish and I'll put them in the gallery. There are some great stories out there, please share 'em!

If you don't know about Project Healing Waters, you owe it to yourself and our wounded Veterans to check out the link below:

August 12th, 2008

     Hello all,
         It is hard to believe, but time flies quickly and another BACSFF leader has safely completed his tour and is home with his family. Brian turned over the lead to Scott Henry, who has been helping him run things. His final report follows:

     Greetings to everyone from Baghdad! Fishing continues to grow among the troops here and the club has been getting more and more requests lately. We sponsored another tournament over the 4th of July weekend and many more smaller requests. Many of the club 'core' continue to meet and drag in tons of fish whenever we can sneak out of work for an hour or two. The heat (120+) has definitely shifted our fishing techniques to look for some shade!...but hasn't stopped us completely. Thanks again to all of the outstanding Patriots out there that continue to send us donated gear, magazines and care packages.

This month also wraps up my time as the (unelected!) president of the club here in country. My year is up and I will be rotating home soon. Leadership has been passed to the very competent hands of CW4 Scott Henry, an avid fishing buddy and friend who will continue to provide great support to our service members over here. We even had a semi-official TOA (Transfer of Authority) ceremony....and snuck into one of the Generals offices for an official "passing of the ceremonial poles"!

     Thanks again to all of you for your outstanding support to the club....keep it up. Words cannot describe the joy and excitement you bring to young warriors faces when you hand them a rod and reel and they get to spend a little time "away" from things with a line in the water.

FISH ON! Brian

     Scott sent me some recent photos from a Sunday outting, they landed a couple nice carp and an asp:

     Irene Baldwin sent in some more pictures of the Soldiers she is helping out up north. They seem to be putting the gear to good use, if not a bit confused on what to catch, but I hear frogs put up a heck of a fight!

     SFC Howard West shared these photos of fish he caught up in Tikrit back in 2005 - nice fish Howard, thanks!

     That's it for now, as always I'll keep the updates coming.

Fish on! Joel

July 23rd, 2008

     Another Baghdad fishing tournament was recently held on Camp Victory. The tournament was part of Task Force Thunderbird's Fourth of July Celebration. TF Thunderbird is the theater Signal Brigade. Brian didn't make an official tally, but estimates about 50 folks took part throughout the tourney. Not too many "huge" fish but quite a few were taken, lots of smaller carp, catfish and asp. Pictures are below.
The club provided all the rods/reels to use, plus two brand new Shimano Bait casting reels, several 'pro' team fishing shirts and rod/reel combos that were awarded as prizes. All of the prizes the club donated were courtesy of Operation Catch Fish.
     I want to take a minute and thank Brian and his gang for all the work they do to keep things like this going. This is a labor of love, done in what little off time they get, and I know what a difference it is making to those on the receiving end of their generosity. Of course, none of it is possible without the support of all those generous people who keep the club supplied. We are ever grateful for those who have enabled this organization to thrive in a unique and hostile environment.

Tournament staff                                                          Registration
   

Gotta love those asp                                       Don't let it get away!
   

This won the prize for smallest fish                                   He is being careful with that Wels Catfish
   

Another nice asp                                           Slimy little suckers, aren't they?
   

Winners and their prizes
   

I got this letter in a couple weeks ago and had to share it with all of you:

"To the wonderful guys who started the BAC, and to all of you who are still there:
     My son, Nicholas Baer, is a medic at Camp Cropper, and has been there for about 2 months.  Today, while we were on Windows Messenger, he told me to check out your site.  I know that he and I were both laughing, and I don't know about him, but I was near tears.
     Here were some of the bravest, most dedicated men in the world, who face danger at almost every move.  And what were they doing?  FISHING!!  That tells me so much about Americans, about our military; and I was ecstatic.  All I saw were smiles on these guys.  For just a few moments, they were not in the middle of a terrible war; they were Americans, doing what a lot of Americans do.  God love all of you.
     One of the most touching pictures amongst the July 4th Update, was the soldier with his fly rod in his mouth, his weapon in his right hand, and his fish in the left.  Words can't begin to describe the story that picture tells.
     I know that Nick will be joining you folks soon, and I told him to let me know if there is anything I can do on this end.  I happen to be a retired military man, and spent my share of time in Vietnam.  So I do have an idea of what you guys are going through.
     Good luck to all of you.  May the fish keep biting, and keep your heads down.
 
With love, appreciation, and sincere regards to all of you.
 
Don Baer
Charleston, SC
 

     The latest boxes stuffed with gear from dozens of generous folks are on their way. I have added them to the sponsor list and the pictures that follow show what they sent.

This batch of plastics came from                                                                           
           Kamakazee Lure Co. in Idaho                               This tackle came from the Oak Dale Fire Fighters
   

These flies and gear came from San Diego Fly Fishers                         This box came from Sportsman's Warehouse
   

     

     That is the latest from Baghdad. As always, I will post the reports and pictures as I get them in.  

Fish on!  Joel

If you don't know about Project Healing Waters, you owe it to yourself and our wounded Veterans to check out the link below:

Here is another group of Soldiers that get out on the water when they aren't wearing Army Green. Take a moment and check out their website.

Don't forget to check our the rest of our sponsors - we couldn't do this without them.
BAC&SFF Sponsors

If you haven't seen it, the clip below from FOX news shows our guys in action.

Fox News Story on Operation Catch Fish

Number of Visitors since 29 August 2006

Baghdad Time & Temp

Disclaimer:  "This is a private website that I created and funded myself. It has no corporate affiliation nor is it, in any way, officially related to
the Government of the United States."