FATC/Altar Retreat May 2026
“Many go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not the fish they are after.” Henry David Thoreau.
Our fifth FATC/Altar retreat was completed this May 2026 in the Minnesota Driftless area near Lanesboro, MN. The FATC sent nine members to the retreat as they had the opportunity to stay in a beautiful lodge in Whalan, MN right along the Root River. The FATC members were Larry Mangels, Jim Craig, Ted Madden, Al Blair, Lou Forbringer, Bob Born, Denny Garner, Derrik Kassebaum and Steve Darr. Kenny Klimes and John Muckerman, who were at the Altar retreat a week earlier were guides for Altar along with Mike Toft, Scott Hayes, Steve Ebling and Altar President Eric Camfield. Our chefs were Terry and Mary Rempert.
Let’s talk about the retreat first. First, what is a retreat? In its simplest form, a retreat is a devoted period when a person withdraws from their regular environment, whether physically or mentally, to focus on personal growth, introspection, relaxation or spiritual practices. At Altar, they value immersing us in creation filled streams, rivers, teaching, reflection, community and great food! Our daily routine was pretty much set with breakfast at 7:30am, teaching/conversation and personal reflection until 11am, then fishing adventures until 4pm, dinner by 6:30pm and evening discussion until around 9pm. A full day for everyone! Our retreat was full of questions. Questions that Jesus asked while here on earth. Questions that we needed to ponder on how we would answer them. The notebooks that Altar provided each participant had myriads of pages for guiding us through the retreat.
During the retreat on the second day, we had the honor of Jason Randall, fly fishing educator, expert, and guide, teach us some of the latest techniques to become a better fly fisher. He even fished with us all on the river to explain the techniques to make us better. Thank you to Jason for coming out our way from Wisconsin.
The fishing for the three days was difficult due to rainstorms that rolled into the area the two previous days before the retreat. The root river was blown out with high water and muddy conditions (bad luck). But we did fish some streams that were not part of the Root River which brought us plenty of trout. Many browns were caught – mostly in the 8 -12-inch range, with a few pushing 14 to 15 inches. On the third day of fishing, we tried to fish the Root River but unfortunately it wasn’t ready just yet. Catching was tough but not impossible. The top fly was the Walt’s worm, which is not a worm at all. It is more like a scud/sow bug pattern or a caddis larva. Other flies worked well. Most guys found out the flies we use in Missouri work great in Minnesota rivers as well.
Overall, it was a very successful retreat. Especially when you consider several guys were back for their second Altar retreat. If you have never been to an Altar retreat don’t miss the next opportunity to go. They change their syllabus often and each time it gets better and better.
Here are some comments from the guys that attended (words from the horses’ mouths):
I feel blessed to have been able to attend. I definitely benefited from Jesus’ time and getting to know such wonderful Christian men. Thanks, Kenny, for stressing the benefits of attending this retreat.
My wife asked me to give her the short version of the trip. I said, “I learned and intend to apply my learnings to evolve as a person.” She responded by saying “Well, I’ll just have to evolve with you.” Perfect!!
Awesome time together and great retreat and devotional study. Spot on.
Really enjoyed our time together and getting to know you all more. Thanks for sharing this!
Restful, rejuvenating and best of all reflective. I am using my return home to make a fresh (re-)start of the actions I committed to take. Feels good already. Spending quality time with all of you was especially fulfilling for me. Thank you.
All – what a blessing to be you all and grow together in faith and brotherhood. I started with my commitments today and will refine them in the days ahead.
