W. Diggs

On Thursday May 1st I arrived at the airport in Bluff City, TN and was instantly contacted by Joe Roland informing me of where he was located outside of the airport. I was pleasantly surprised because the organization and attention to detail regarding this trip was exceptional. The WWIA constantly made contact with me leading up to my arrival and made me feel at ease. From my first conversation with Mrs. Corrina who was and is very kind to my first interaction (via phone) with Mr. Brazinsky. Every Guide and Host ensured all aspects of this flyfishing trip were taken care of. I have never flyfished before so I was a little hesitant, but that all quickly went away when we arrived at Pappaw’s Fishing Pad. Mr. Roland and Mr. Chambers great humor, patience, kindness and friendship made for a stress free environment. They immediately started with great hospitality with a lunch and introduced themselves further. Meanwhile, sharing some of their stories as we did ours. From there we were taken to the side and given detailed (but not overly complicated) instructions and guidance on proper flyfishing. We were then taken out to the water where bot of our Hosts watched and instructed us, making me absolutely fall in love with flyfishing. The next two days, we went out on boats and flyfished on the Watauga River. Wow, what an enjoyable time. I felt at peace and relaxed and the period of instruction the day before really made it stress free. It would have been miserable trying to flyfish for the first time off a boat. Every morning Mr. Roland and Mr. Chambers had breakfast ready and smiles on their faces. Lunches and dinners were no different, great guys with an awesome history of military service themselves. Overall, I can’t thank WWIA enough for such a stress free and enjoyable trip, what a great organization. It has been a very long time since I laughed so much in the course of a few days, slept so good, and felt at peace at the waters edge. To Mrs. Corrina, Joe Roland, Greg Chambers and Greg Brazinsky, thank you so much! FYI – being an infantry guy, I loved the WWIA OPORD.