The Water We Share: How Reeling in Serenity Uses Fly Fishing to Support Recovery

Fly fishing has a strange way of meeting people when they need it most.

For some, it becomes a place to slow down. For others, it becomes a reason to get outside, reconnect, and find some stability during a difficult stretch of life. Reeling in Serenity has built its mission around that idea, creating opportunities for anglers to share the sport with people in substance use recovery through fly fishing retreats and time on the water.

Marble has partnered with Reeling in Serenity through a fundraising auction led by Andy Weiner. Andy is the President of Reeling in Serenity, author of Down By the River, and an advocate for several other nonprofit organizations. We sat down with him to better understand the roots of Reeling in Serenity and the community behind it.

A Community Connected Through Fly Fishing

Andy’s previous work includes California Trout and Casting for Recovery, among others. Through that experience, he has seen how different organizations can support distinct causes while still being connected through fly fishing.

“[Fly fishing] is a sport that lends itself to helping others, helping the resource, and being part of this amazing community of fly anglers,” Andy noted.

That spirit of collaboration played a role in Reeling in Serenity’s early development. Casting for Recovery shared its nonprofit framework with the organization, helping speed up the process and allowing the team to begin reaching people who could benefit much sooner.

That sense of camaraderie was especially evident in Reeling in Serenity’s founder, Rebecca Sue Klein.

Learn more about Becca

Remembering Rebecca Sue Klein

Becca faced challenges most of us can hardly imagine. She battled cancer multiple times, worked through her own journey with sobriety, and faced difficult personal circumstances along the way. Through it all, she found peace in fly fishing.

Even while continuing her fight with cancer, she remained committed to sharing that experience with others.

“But she, being the person she was, she did everything with energy and commitment as she did when she was fully healthy,” Andy reflected.

Becca passed away in 2025, but the impact she created continues through the organization and the people it reaches. She also kept making time for adventure right through her final months.

“Even in her final months, she was fulfilling her bucket list… fishing for permit and swimming with dolphins and doing so many amazing things,” Andy said.

Her story is a powerful reminder that fly fishing can be worth sharing.

A guide nets a fish for an angler with a bent fly rod

Why It Matters to Anglers

Most of us are not going to start our own nonprofit, nor do we need to. But as anglers, we are part of a community built around a sport that has helped people through pivotal moments in their lives. For those navigating mental health challenges, physical illness, substance use disorders, or difficult personal circumstances, time on the water can offer something steady to return to.

“To me, part of the beauty of fly fishing is how so often you don’t have to use words at all. You are in that space of comfort — not even always solitude, but within your mind and within the space of a river, a watershed, and giving yourself over to that environment,” Andy said.

And even if those challenges are not part of your own life, chances are they have affected someone close to you.

“If somebody doesn’t have someone within say one degree of separation, let alone at least two, I think they are a very rare person,” Andy shared when speaking about substance use disorder.

The cause is particularly personal for him. Andy’s father, a recovering alcoholic and author of A Day at a Time, helped form his own connection to the mission behind Reeling in Serenity. Together with Becca’s drive to help others, that connection helped shape an organization powered entirely by volunteers and donations, with the goal of bringing people in recovery onto the water.

“We’re a 100% volunteer organization. It’s a point of pride for us,” Andy said.

A guide steadies an angler by the hand while wading a river

How to Get Involved

There are plenty of ways for anglers to get involved. Organizations including Reeling in Serenity, Casting for Recovery, Project Healing Waters and The Mayfly Project all create opportunities to volunteer, raise money, or help introduce people to fly fishing.

Depending on the organization, volunteers can help directly on the river, assist at retreats, or support fundraising efforts. Auctions and raffles are another simple way to contribute.

For Andy, the reward is not complicated.

“For people who have fly-fished for many years, we understand that. And the joy of introducing somebody to that experience and seeing somebody open up to it — that’s as good as it gets,” Andy said.

You might even land a pair of Marble sunglasses while doing some good.

View the Reeling in Serenity 2026 Auction

Rebecca Sue Klein and Andy Weiner are good reminders of what can happen when people choose to share something that has had a meaningful impact on their own lives.

At Marble, we are proud to support organizations like Reeling in Serenity in the way we can, by contributing our eyewear, helping raise funds, and using our platform to point more anglers toward the work already being done.

Many of you are likely already involved with organizations in your own communities or have introduced someone new to the sport yourselves. For those looking for a place to start, Reeling in Serenity’s current auction is live through September 26, 2026, alongside opportunities to volunteer and support future retreats.

Let’s do some good and help get a few more people on the water.

And of course, DON’T LOSE YOUR MARBLES.