Veterans Service Partnership Couples on Slough Creek!

The 5th annual Veterans Service Partnershp couples trip to Slough Creek and Yellowstone Park is in full swing! We've had a wonderful week with beautfiul weather and fine fishing for some nice, fat Yellowstone cutthroat trout.  Our group of newbie veteran couple fly fishers are picking up the sport and are making great progress, and our  TU volunteer guides are working hard to teach techniques to build "on stream self-sufficiency."  The veteran couples are learning how to fly cast, mend line, read water, tie their own fishing knots, and how to net and handle trout.  Our goal is have each couple participant progress to the point they can go fishing together and share the experience.  We're definitely well on our way to reach our goal this week! 

The attached image shows Dyan, a brand new fly fisher, with her first trout on a fly rod, a nice 19" Yellowstone cutt.  Dyan worked on this fish for nearly an hour.  She carefully observed the trout intermittenltly feeding, finally saw it take a fall Baetis, changed to a small olive Comparadun, and on her second cast put the fly right on the drift line.  The trout rose, she hooked it, played it, landed it, and released it.  Very cool!  

The Veterans Administration states on their website that spouses and families are the "first line of defense" for the veteran in recovery from injury and the stress related to their service, and our experience with these couples fly fishing trips prove this out.  "You have given us something as a couple that we didn't even know we needed. We are very excited to continue this sport together and to share our knowledge with our sons."

 If you would like more information on the TU VSP program, visit www.tu.org/veterans or contact national VSP Coordinator Dave Kumlien at DKumlien@tu.org