Flyfishing Mountain Streams as a Disabled Person

I have thought quite a lot about the problems of the disabled and the difficulty they find in accessing streams where they can fly fish. Several life experiences led me to the point where I could see a need for this avenue for not only the disabled from an accident event or those who might suffer from some form of birth disorder or illness but also for the elderly. I have watched my own father age and now he has a hard time wading the area streams too. Another life changing even in my personal life was when I became injured and had to restrict my activities also. Suddenly I had a personal interest in looking at ways that a disabled person can still enjoy the outdoors. We tend to think its an all or nothing endeavor and often because of that, we miss out on opportunities whereby people with limited mobility can excel also. When I started to look into this issue more it reminded me of a funny occurrence in my own life before I was hurt. I never thought on that day that what happened would be of any value but I am finding that the more I think about it, the more ideas I get as to helping the physically impaired do more things outdoors. One day, when we were on a family vacation, my son Kody and I were driving up one of the small creeks along the dirt road and my brother in laws were following us in their truck. We had joked about how easy it was to catch trout to those two and as we came down the road, I saw a place where the stream was right next to the edge of the road and told my son, "I bet I can catch one right out of the window". He laughed and the bet was on. I pulled over and stuck my fly rod out the window and about two casts later had my first trout. My brother in laws behind us could not believe their eyes and of course, they have remembered that to this day and it often is told by them to other people. Was that luck? Maybe getting one in two casts yes, but I knew that there were fish in there and that no one fished that as its right beside the road. Below you can see a picture of that spot and its easy then to see how that was possible. As you can see, the road is right alongside a gorgeous clear water trout stream with pools and riffles that hold trout year round and would be easily accessible to even a wheelchair bound individual. I often remarked that I should start a guide service and find those spots where a person with disabilities can catch a trout on a fly rod. All of the access I have seen provided by government agencies has been on the area lakes and while I do appreciate the efforts, it does not provide stream side fly fishing to those who might want to pursue that aspect. I also had the opportunity to visit my cousin in Avon/Vail and noticed that there are often concrete walkways right alongside the streams even going through town. While you might laugh at fishing right in town, I have found those spots to be overlooked and underfished. With just a little bit of assistance, people of all abilities can find a spot to fish.