In late August, 14 women rolled out of a caravan of vehicles in the Russell Gates fishing access site and made their way to the bank of the Blackfoot river decked out in waders, sharing smiles and laughs along the way.
After getting paired with their respective guide for the morning, they set out and dotted the river to practice their casts on moving water.
Participants in the retreat meet their river helper to fish on the Blackfoot River at the Russell Gates Memorial Fishing Access.
The women started the weekend as strangers, but shared a common bond of previously receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. They were brought together by the annual Casting for Recovery western Montana program to build community while learning to fly fish.
“This group is incredible, we all often use the term magical when it comes to this dynamic of the group,” said Tammera Nauts, a psychosocial facilitator for the program. “It sounds so cliche, but I mean it’s an apt description, it really is.”
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Participants in a Casting for Recovery retreat learn to fly fish on the Blackfoot River.
Casting for Recovery is a nonprofit organization that provides outdoor retreats for women with breast cancer at no cost to the participants. With over 40 retreats across the United States, they’ve worked with over 10,000 women since launching in 1996.
For many years, women were not encouraged to engage in physical activity after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. Don McKenzie proved otherwise after his research on the impact of exercise by rowing in canoe-type crew reduced the risk of recurrence by up to 40%.
Britany Wheeler casts on the Blackfoot River with river helper Josh Rosenberger.
There are two retreats for women in Montana, one serving western Montana and another in the southwestern region of the state.
In western Montana, the retreat takes place at Lubrecht Experimental Forest and the participants spend time getting to know each other while also learning how to cast, tie knots and how to use different flies. On the last day of the retreat, the women are paired with an individual guide, referred to as a river helper, and they put their new skills together in real time.
This year’s participants ranged in age from 30 to 80 years old, from Missoula, Hamilton, Helena and Kalispell. Some were actively receiving treatment while others were years removed.
“Even though they’re not going through active treatment, they’re often the ones that will say whoa, I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk about what my experience was with other women who had been through it too,” Nauts said.
Nauts participated in the program in 2019 and has been a clinical therapist for over 30 years.
River helper Mark Collins ties a fly on the line as participant Anne McNallen gets ready to cast on the Blackfoot River.
A breast cancer diagnosis impacts every facet of a woman’s life, including her self esteem, family, finances, employment and intimate relationships, Nauts explained.
“The one common factor running through the mix, no matter how long you’ve been out, is the isolation,” Nauts said. “Unless you can talk to somebody who’s been through it, it’s really hard to talk about it.”
In fact, about 70% of the women who attend Casting for Recovery retreats have never been to a support group.
Jan Ruff-Strait of Kalispell patiently waited for years to be picked to attend the retreat. She was both excited and anxious for the weekend.
“It’s just like all the women that are here understand what you’re going through. It’s just a camaraderie that you don’t have with other people,” Ruff-Strait said. “So loving, supportive, giving, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
Participants and their river guides fly fish on the Blackfoot River during the last day of the weekend retreat. The participants, who have all dealt with breast cancer, spent the previous days connecting with each other and learning how to cast, tie knots and identify insects.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and had a recurrence in 2015. She currently has Stage IV cancer and is doing chemotherapy treatments.
She had never gone fly fishing before and was the only participant to reel in a fish on the Blackfoot this year.
“I’ve never even touched a fish before in my life and I touched one, and it was so soft,” Ruff-Strait said. “That was really neat, that was really exciting.”
Ruff-Strait was paired with river helper Geno Centofanti of Hamilton. Centofanti first began volunteering with Casting for Recovery when he lived in California in the early 2000s.
At first he was nervous, “what do you say to a lady that has breast cancer?”
Now, the retreat is something he looks forward to every year.
Katie Beall talks with her river guide, Dave Allison, on the Blackfoot during the retreat.
“I look forward to that, I definitely enjoy it and you know what, the little bit that I can give, hopefully it helps,” Centofanti said. “That’s kind of what it’s all about.”
Ruff-Strait plans to continue fly fishing in the future and encourages other women who have received a breast cancer diagnosis to look into the program.
“If they have the chance to do this, this is a once in a lifetime chance,” Ruff-Strait said. “The program, the way they have it set up, is incredible and it’s so individual-centered.”
Katie Beall of Helena was just diagnosed with breast cancer in March. She applied for the retreat after learning about it from her boyfriend’s family, who are big into fly fishing.
River guide and Casting for Recovery staff member Rhonda Baldwin, left, shows participant Jill Harpham some techniques for fly fishing.
“Helena doesn’t have any support groups and I’ve been really wanting to connect with women who understand what it’s like to go through breast cancer,” Beall said. “I’ve been missing community.”
Beall found that community she craved through Casting for Recovery. After the weekend wrapped up the women created an online group to keep in touch and plan fly fishing trips in the future.
“It feels like sustenance, it feels like love, it feels like a sisterhood,” Beall said. “This group just underscores the importance of finding a community and connecting. It’s too lonely to go through if you don’t have people who know exactly what you’re going through.”
River helper Renee Gibson, left, steadies Peggy Doerfler as she learns to fly fish on the Blackfoot River in August. The pair were taking part in an outdoor retreat with Casting for Recovery, a nonprofit organization that provides outdoor retreats for women with breast cancer.
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