Tim O, has agreed to become a program lead, that makes 5 of us. Tim O has agreed to become one of our program leads. Tim has been a vet participant for a few years now and has really taken to the program. With this new title, come the same perks, all the program leads have come to expect. Get there a little early, stay a little late, be at the end of the line for pizza and food to see what you are going to get. Thank you Tim! One of the cabins at West Branch Angler, on the De

John L our keynote speaker The 2026 FVTU 25th annual banquet was last night and it was a great success. We had 23 vets and vols on hand. If you add in the significant others, we had 32 or about a fifth of the total attendance. We didn't all will a raffle, or have the high bid on the auction items. But... We all had a great time. The friendships and bonding in our group really shows. The keynote speaker for the evening was our own John Lynch. John shared his personal story cov

Casting Clinic held sponsored by US Electrical Wholesalers, Inc. In preparation for our upcoming fishing outings, 24 Vets and volunteers attended the VHF casting clinic on Thursday, March 12, 2026 at the Middletown Parks and Recreation Center gym. The session was led by The French Fly Fisherman and Orvis 2025 Guide of the Year, Antoine Bissieux. We also welcomed a new Vet to the Program, Bill L. Special shout out and thanks to Electrical Wholesalers Inc. - Central Distributio

That's it, I've officially had it ! Calendar spring is here, March, April, May, but the snow hasn't stopped, and we are expecting more tomorrow. The optimists out there have said, don't worry, the sun is getting stronger and it will melt quickly. I just want it to stop. OK, enough of my little rant... Captain Bob put together the instructions, kits and demonstrated the process of tying the Elk Hir Apple Caddis. This is a perfect fly for early May on our local waters. Next

Antoine Teaching the Teachers What a great session 29 attendees for this morning’s session.  We had 15 vets and 14 vols all tyin the basic Pheasant Tail nymph and the Pheasant Tail dry.  It doesn’t get more basic than that.  With just a hook, thread and a pheasant tail feather. The crew learned the real basics of the fly from Antoine, the Orvis 2025 Guide of the Year, and Capt. Bob, our go to fly guy. Our Senior division hard at work From this fly, the possibilities are endle

Just a small group of 21 on the coffee hour Zoom this week Well, I guess we crossed over to the dark side. Today 21 vets and vols we had a Coffee hour Zoom call. The topics discussed were bass ponds, Silver Lake, and Crystal Lake specifically. Then we got off topic and one person said they had seen some ice fishing going on, that's when it all fell to hell. They started talking about drilling holes and jigging, and how thick the ice is. Thank God we were able to move the conv

It was a long day starting off at 6:00 AM at negative 6 degrees.  The car was preloaded the night before, and it was a 30 minute drive to the site of the expo.  It took the better part of an hour and a half and for 3 of us to set up our fly-tying pop-up shop.  Two more of our team showed up, John F, Antoine, Tim O, Darin and I were ready.  A huge thank you to the team.  We couldn’t do this without you! Then they came, fly tyers, fly anglers, 300 plus visitors came through the

4 degrees 14" snow, not fun Tying the "Squirminator" Well, it was a first, last night we met at night to tie flies at the American legion Hall in the evening, 6:30 until 8:30.  We’re hoping that a few of the vets that have conflicts during the day due to school, medical or work will be able to join us. We had 12 attendees show up, considering the temp was a balmy 14 degrees and there is still some ice and snow from the major storm we just had, it was a success.  Like anything

Antoine (vol) and Sean (vet) Weather hasn't been the best for travel but a number of our vets and vols made the trek to the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, MA, about a 90 minute drive. We connected with a few notables, Chris Parisi, the owner of "The Local Fly Shop". Chris will be hosting a fly tying night at his shop on January 26th. Tim Flagler, world renown fly tyer, has agreed to do a demo on one of our upcoming Zoom coffee hours with the vets. John and Ted, 2 of our vol

Antoine Orvis 2025 Guide of the Year The Secret Mystery Fly Tomorrow we are meeting at the American Legion.  Antoine, the 2025 Orvis Guide of the year will be leading this session showing vets and vols alike how to time his unnamed mystery fly.  Antoine has been using this on the river with great success. Baton Rouge Dr Slick On another note, we received 2 unsolicited donations.  One of these unexpected deliveries came in from Baton Rouge, LA. We’re getting’ noticed!  We rece

Antoine, Captain Bob and Eric are 3 of the vols that spent the time helping us move this excess gear. We participated had a successful time at the Farmington Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited's annual tag sale. We raised funds for the program unloading some our excess materials. It was a lot of work and busy as Hell, but we had a great time, shared a lot of laughs, met some new anglers that may be interested in joining or supporting the program, and we got rid of some unneed

2025 goes out to sea with 2026 on the horizon with all its possibilities Sean and John successfully brave the cold with fish to the net Vets Healing on the Fly took off the week to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah with families and friends.  So, we had no call, but a couple of our diehards, John and Sean were on the river and they caught multiple fish. For those that do venture out, please be careful out there.  Remember Hypothermia and frostbite can happen before you know it

Artist Rendering of our own Santa John What a great event!  37, yes 37 vets and vols showed up at the American Legion Hall for our annual Fly-Tying Holiday gathering.  In addition to tying flies, we enjoyed a pizza lunch from Yannis, a local Greek/Italian restaurant.  We had door prizes awarded, and every vet ended up walking away with a prize.  Some of the prizes were a vintage 1992 LL Bean field watch restored and refurbished by our resident watchmaker, Antoine, Custom tied

One of this year's highlights, Carl received a Quilt of Valor from Kathy, and her daughter. Great call this week, we hit a new high mark, 21 attendees plus Kate and Stowe.  Lot of talk about the upcoming Marlborough Fly fishing Show, the hardy anglers in the group (Jeff and his Salmon), and upcoming changes to the program.  It was good to see some of the guys who haven’t been on for a while.  This week, we are meeting to tie flies at the American Legion on Thursday.  This is

Great call this week, just a small motley crew of 20 having some laughs and catching up.  Please mark your calendars and save December 18 th .  This will be our annual Fly-tying/Holiday Gathering session.  Captain Bob is working on a fly of his own creation that will blend right into the upcoming holidays.  As usual, we will have a few special surprises for our vets and a special presentation for one vet in particular.  The tying session will be followed by a pizza lunch.  We

We took a Thursday off for everyone to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday with Friends and Family.  We hope you had a great time and had a chance to relax.  Please mark your calendars and save December 18 th .  This will be our annual Fly-tying/Holiday Gathering session.  Captain Bob is working on a fly of his own creation that will blend right into the upcoming holidays.  As usual, we will have a few special surprises for our vets and a special presentation for one vet in partic

What a great Fly-Tying session we had.  25 vets and vols met at the American Legion Hall and tied the “Little Black Stonefly”.  The results were outstanding.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Vets who didn’t even know what a vice was a year or two ago tied some real masterpieces.  Check out the pictures and you’ll be amazed. We picked up two new vols to work with our group, Paul and Dave.  Paul is a premier fly tyer and instructor which will help our vets perfect their ski

Thursday, we held a weekly Zoom call with 19 of our vets and vols.  The biggest topic this week is related to the lack of stripers.  They are overfished and baitfish are becoming less available based on harvests from the commercial sector.  Stripers are on the decline, we need to look at them with a conservation effort in mind, slot limits exist but Catch and Release is the way to go.  Commercial groups are fighting further tightening of the catch, but at least we can do our

Only 26 vets and vols showed up to tie flies at the American Legion.  Back when I first became associated with this group, I remember having as few as 6 vets and vols attend a tying session.  All we had were 2 suitcases of assorted materials, and a few vices.  Back then we were meeting in a small storage room at the VA.  Boy how things change over the years.    Flies tied by one of our vets, Mike P Our next in person meeting will be Fly Tying at the American Leg

Another week and another Zoom call, 18 joined us this week when we discussed Redds, how to identify them and how to fish during spawning, the proper way to release a fish, and bear encounters on the river and at home.  The call was quick paced and full of great advice with a few laughs by the group. John L, one of out vets says he's been loosing a little weight recently, but he can still haul ass Down the river. Pictured on the right in his guide boat getting ready for a day