Fly Fishing Retreat Helps Breast Cancer Survivors Heal

Stephanie Atkinson spent 10 years searching for fellow stage IV breast cancer survivors who understood her journey. She found them waist-deep in North Georgia mountain streams, learning to cast a fly rod.

Casting for Recovery brings women diagnosed with breast cancer together for free weekend fly fishing retreats in the North Georgia mountains. Founded in 1996, the national nonprofit operates on a simple belief: the gentle motion of casting a fishing line helps heal both body and mind after breast cancer treatment.

Last November, Atkinson joined other survivors at Smithgall Woods State Park on Duke's Creek. She put away her phone, asked her family not to contact her, and focused entirely on the women around her. Most had never held a fly rod before.

"I started bawling," Atkinson recalls of an earlier support group where no one else had stage IV cancer. "I thought, 'You're not my people. I need to find my people.'"

At the retreat, she finally did. One woman shared her same cancer type but different side effects. Another's masses had metastasized to multiple locations. Each story was unique, yet profoundly familiar.

The weekends include volunteer physicians, nurses, social workers and dietitians who discuss nutrition, mental health and physical recovery. Seventy percent of participants have never attended a support group before. The organization covers all costs for meals, transportation, lodging and activities, serving approximately 800 women per year.

Dr. Lynn Howie, an oncologist who volunteers at retreats nationwide, sees remarkable grace in participants. "One of the things that always strikes me is the degree to which they're balancing the needs of their loved ones and family, in addition to their own particular needs," she says.

Atkinson lives what looks like a normal life despite Gamma Knife radiation, a craniotomy, and daily medications. She works full time and stays active, though balance and fine motor skills challenge her. The constant CT scans and bone scans remind her that stage IV means living with uncertainty.

"Anyone can get hit by a bus, but stage IV people see the bus coming," she explains. Yet at the retreat, surrounded by women who understood that reality, she found something unexpected: peace.

Sunny's Take

Sometimes healing happens in the most unexpected places. For Atkinson and hundreds of women each year, a quiet stream and a fishing rod become more than recreation. They become a bridge to connection, understanding and hope. In Georgia, many past participants now donate to send other women on these life-changing weekends, creating a beautiful cycle of support that extends far beyond the riverbanks.

"It was the best thing that I've ever done," Atkinson said.