The fly fishing community is truly capable of amazing things.

Harlon Sands, or as his friends call him, Harley, has been guiding for bonefish in the Bahamas for over 25 years and is a guide at Bair’s Lodge on South Andros, Bahamas. On May 1st, Harley found out that he had lost everything in a fire. His family was fine, but he had lost his skiff, his vehicle, and his home. The local community rallied around him, but the expenses to replace everything lost were stacking up. That’s where the team at Nervous Waters, Bair’s and the fly fishing community at large jumped in to give the beloved guide and friend a helping hand…in a massive way.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched and the results were incredible, in just 9 days, the campaign reached its goal. We reached out to the manager of Bair’s, Kyle Schaefer, for a statement regarding the amazing success of the campaign:

“Over Harley’s 27-year career he’s fished with hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the world.  After the fundraiser launched it was immediately apparent how loved Harley is.  After just 9 days the fundraiser was shared on facebook 157 times and became a trending campaign on GoFundMe.  This amazing, tight-knit fly fishing community rallied around Harley to pick him back up.  The fundraiser generated over $25,000 dollars quickly exceeding our goal.

I waited a couple of days to share the campaign with Harley, by then it had picked up some serious steam. When I showed him the campaign tears came to his eyes and hope-filled his spirit. This campaign showed Harley just how much love the fly fishing community has for him. The fact that so many people care about him put wind in his sails and raised his spirit. He’s getting back on his feet and because of all the support he’s going to be just fine.
Harley extends the sincerest of thank yous to everyone that has pitched into the campaign and to everyone that has kept him and his family in their thoughts.”
Images courtesy of Bair’s Lodge.

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