Couples Fishing Retreat
June 4 - 10, 2023
Health Guidelines: TAPS will make every effort to ensure safe and healthy gatherings. We will continue to monitor COVID variants and may require testing onsite and/or other protocols based on local regulations and CDC guidance. At this time, we do not require proof of full vaccination and masks are optional. Should we have to make any changes you will be notified right away.
All adult surviving couples, grieving the loss of a loved one who served in the U.S. Armed Forces are warmly invited to join the Couples Fishing Retreat on the Upper Delaware, with preference given to New York families.
Surviving couples include but are not limited to: surviving parents, surviving siblings and siblings-in-law, surviving romantic partners and their current partners, surviving grandparents, surviving children and their partner, and so on.
Photo: FUDR
OVERVIEW
In partnership with the Friends of the Upper Delaware (FUDR) and Trout Unlimited (TU) Northeast, TAPS survivors will join fellow survivors and other couples representing military, fire, emergency medical service and law enforcement (first responders) and frontline medical communities on this incredible inclusive fly-fishing event as a way of these organizations saying thank you for the service couples have given to their communities and country.
Qualified guides at Friends of the Upper Delaware (FUDR) and Trout Unlimited (TU) Northeast will provide their expertise in fly fishing education and support our physical safety in a variety of outdoor spaces. Visit the Friends of the Upper Delaware or Trout Unlimited Northeast for more information.
SCHEDULE
June 4: On this travel day, you will arrive at the West Branch Angler Resort, get settled into your room, then meet your hosts and connect with other couples on the Retreat over dinner at the River Run Restaurant on the campus of the Resort.
June 5 & 6: After breakfast, participants will receive their complimentary fishing gear then meet their fishing instructors at the pond on the West Branch Angler Resort campus to practice fly casting. After a box lunch by the river, instructors will guide couples, wading in the home waters of the resort. Early June is “premier hatch season” when mayflies flutter up from the surface of the river. With luck, there may be rising trout to stalk. Then, after the day’s instruction and wade fishing everyone gathers for dinner at River Run Restaurant.
June 7: A free day for rest and your choice of activities in the beautiful western Catskills.
June 8 & 9: Experienced fly-fishing guides take each couple on day-long float trips, where you will fish and take in the incredible wildlife like many waterfowl, deer mink and more, along with hopeful catches of the famous Delaware River brown and rainbow trout. A box lunch is provided on the river, with dinner and stories of the day’s adventures will be shared back at the River Run Restaurant each night.
June 10: After breakfast, participants will share “see you laters” and travel home.
ADVENTURE LEVEL
This retreat is rated as a medium-intensity adventure. We'll be active and everyone will have an opportunity to challenge themselves. Activities will involve light physical exertion. Much of our time will be spent outdoors fly fishing and enjoying the incredible scenery of the incredible Catskills in New York.