Expand your toolkit with therapeutic fly fishing. For our November Rally Point, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. joined us to explore how they provide physical and emotional rehabilitation for active-duty service members and Veterans. Learn how casting a line can offer physical and mental health benefits, provide a tranquil space for reflection, teach resilience and build community.
Jarod Klucho is a Marine Corps Veteran and alumnus of The Ohio State University. He has been the Program Lead of the Columbus program of Project Healing Waters since fall 2019. The chapter hosts approximately 30 fly fishing events a year for disabled Veterans in central Ohio.
Jeff Reinke grew up in Central Wisconsin in a region known as the Sand Counties, which were made famous by the naturalist Aldo Leopold. He grew up with an appreciation of nature, hunting and fishing, along with all the other things boys did growing up in a community of paper mills and farms.
In his daily life, Jeff is an Architect who practices in Healthcare and Senior Living with some projects in regional VA’s. He lives in Arlington Heights, Illinois which is a Northwest Suburb of Chicago. He and his wife Deborah Sheehan, who is also a healthcare architect, raised two children who are now adults. When time permits, he and Deb love to travel, fly fish, and enjoy a glass of wine from that region.
Jeff loves fly fishing and starts at an early age (8 years old) on the small lakes in Central and Northern Wisconsin. Once high school was complete fly fishing took a pause in Jeff’s life while attending college and starting his career. It wasn’t until he was 40 years old that he finally “got his feet wet” once again. Jeff fishes for many species in both fresh and saltwater including larger species like muskies (second place in the 2016 Treeland Premier – his first tournament), tarpon, bonefish, and shark, all on the fly. Jeff’s biggest tarpon was 6 foot and 135 lbs.
All of this has led Jeff to Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. In 2015 as the Education Chair for his Trout Unlimited Chapter, Jeff took on the responsibility as Program Lead to build a new program for North Chicago. Today this program is attended regularly by 35 veterans during the day and has welcomed 75 veterans through the year in the evenings. These efforts were recognized in 2019 as Jeff was asked to serve as the Midwest Regional Coordinator. In late 2019, Jeff accepted the offer to join the Field Advisory Council and Chaired that Group until October of 2022. Additionally, Jeff sits as Trustee on PHWFF’s Board of Trustees and continued his commitment to TU by becoming Chapter President for the Gary Borger Chapter which sponsors the North Chicago Program. Jeff maintains a seat on the Illinois Council of TU.
Jeff’s is an active listener and a creative problem solver. His approach has always been one of collaboration and his skill with reading an audience has served him well. As he would tell you “When you design a hospital, you must be able to speak with the person driving the earth mover and then meet with the person who just invented the mechanical heart. It takes that diverse group of people and everyone in between to build a hospital.”
