DRIFTERS DRIFT HPD KIDS DAY CLINIC

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1 DRIFTERS DRIFT NEWSLETTER OF THE HIGH PLAINS DRIFTERS FALL Board President ; Brett Edwards Vice-President; Tim Papich Secretary Tim Papich Treasurer; Don Butt Fund Raising & Fund Raising; Dale Anderson Newsletter; Steve Hall Trips; George Brown FFF Liaison & membership; James Baird Asset Manager & Meeting Dir; Von Fransen Training; Brett Edwards IT/webmaster; David Sanders At Large; Geoffery Bostic Paul Boals HPD KIDS DAY CLINIC By Ron Herro On July 28 th, 17 children and 12 adults attended the HPD Kids Day fly fishing clinic held at the Kassler Learning Center and Lake Lehow in Littleton. It was a pleasure to see the enthusiasm on the faces of the children and their parents and grandparents as they participated in the various seminars consisting of Entomology, Knot Tying, Equipment, Fly Tying and Fly Casting. What made these seminars exciting for the children was the opportunity to have a hands on experience during the seminars.

2 In addition to being exposed to an introductory fly fishing clinic in the morning, the children were given a fly box including several flies and were also treated to a lunch after their classroom work was completed. Anticipating fishing in Lake Lehow after lunch, the kids finished their lunch in short order and headed to the lake for an afternoon of fishing. While fishing with flies they tied themselves (San Juan worms) earlier in the day, many children caught fish. You can only imagine the joy the children experienced catching a fish on a fly they tied themselves! Besides the primary benefit of exposing children to the sport and joy of fly fishing, a secondary benefit included the fact that many of the parents expressed interest in joining HPD. What a wonderful tradition our fly fishing club may have initiated for many families in attendance at this clinic; fly fishing as a family sport! A tradition worthy of passing down to the following generations.

3 Special thanks go out to the following volunteers: Poly Andrews of the Butterfly Pavilion, Diane Spencer-Herro RN, Robin Knox, Mike Sutton, John Peterson, Steve Simms, Ralph Rhodes, Brett Edwards, James Baird, Tom Schoeba, Doug Geerdes, Von Fransen, and Jeff Jablonski. Of course special thanks are extended to Mike Vella who planned and organized this very worthwhile event. Without his hard work and efforts, this special day would not have been the success it was. Tight lines! Ron Herro FYI; for the first time HPD hosted 2 kids days events this year. Both were free of charge to the kids. Paid for by HPD funds from member dues, raffles and auctions and the labor from many volunteers.

4 ATTENTION!! The High Plains Drifters will again have a booth in the 2014 Denver Fly Fishing Show. This is the biggest Fly Fishing event of year and the greatest opportunity to promote our club. Club members will be ask to volunteer to work the HPD booth, if you will be available for this event a show schedule will be posted on the HPD website next month. Location: Denver Mart Date: January 3, 4, Show Hours: Fri 10-6; Sat 9-5:30; Sun 9-4:30 *************************************************

5 SEPT 18 MEETING REID BAKER FROM FREESTONE OUTFITTERS RED & JERRYʼS SANTA FE & OXFORD SOCIAL HOUR 6PM PROGRAM 7PM Do you think that when the snow starts falling itʼs time to put your fly rod away? Think again. On Wednesday September 18, Reid Baker, Guide Manager for Freestone Outfitters in Denver will present on Cold Weather Fishing Tactics in Colorado. Learn tips and techniques for successful days of fishing during these colder months and extend your angling calendar to 365 days a year! Growing up on the trout and steelhead waters of Oregon, many of Reidʼs earliest memories revolve around fly fishing trips with his father. Since becoming a professional guide, he has come to understand how much he truly lives to watch his infectious excitement for the sport rub off on others. When not guiding, he travels the world, fly rod in hand, constantly amazed by the remarkable people and places fishing has shown him. Freestone Outfitters is an Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide Service, specializing in public and trophy private water on the South Platte and Colorado River Drainages. HPD Sponsored Trips for 2013 Pertinent trip information will be given at club meetings and through the Newsletter, Evite and on the club s web page Sept The Rio Grande By combining a fishing destination with activities our significant others enjoy Michael Lenzini has led two very well attended trips to this area. Sept The Green River - It has been a few years since the club has been to the Green so we decided to head back, but we are going in the early fall. Doug Geerdes will be the captain. Oct The San Juan River Another popular destination the club has not visited in awhile, but an area worth putting on the books. Geoff Bostic will be trip captain.

6 HPD Christmas Party and Auction December 7th 6 to 9 PM Location: University of Denver Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management Events Center Our Annual Christmas Party is being held at The Knoebel School of Hospitality Events Center, which is a new building on the DU campus and a great venue for our party. There will be room for 120 people, cash bar, Tuscan themed menu, which includes coffee, tea and dessert. As usual we will have auction items and trips from local fly shops and guides. Please plan on attending and socializing with other HPD members and their spouses. The cost will be $15 per person.

7 San Juan River Trip October 11th through 13th The San Juan River just below Navajo Dam in New Mexico is one of the finest tailwater fisheries in all of North America, the 4.25 miles of San Juan below the dam holds over 80,000 trout. Fish over 20" are abundant but the average San Juan River trout is around 17". Fooling these trout requires tiny flies, 6X or finer tippet, and just about a perfect presentation and an angler must pay close attention to all the details such as line management, indicator location and weight. Missing any one of these details can be the difference between a great day and an ok day on this river. The San Juan trip is scheduled for Oct 11th thru Oct 13th, Navajo State Park has a large camping area with sites with full hook-ups to primitive sites (this is the New Mexico side of the park). The sites at the park range from $18.00 to $8.00. There are also several nice motels and inns that cater to fisherman, the Fishheads San Juan River Lodge and the Quality Waters Inn with rooms ranging from $94.00 per night (1 to 2 persons) $ per night (3 or more). Please feel free to contact me (Geoff Bostic) at for more information on this trip.

8 THE GREEN RIVER DUTCH JOHN, UTAH September 19 th thru the 24 th, 2013 Headquarters Dripping Springs Captain Doug Geerdes (H) or (C) Come and fish the Green River with me in the fall. The river will be down by then and with low flows the fishing is great. I love the Green this time of year, lots of grasshoppers and dry fly action. The Browns will be getting ready to spawn and they know winter is coming and they really want to put on the pounds. There are miles of water to wade fish and there are guides available for floating the river. Dripping Springs campground has 26 campsites (no electric, no water hook-ups or dump stations. There are flush toilets and water faucets throughout the campsites. 22 of the campsites will hold up to 10 people per site and the cost is $19.00 per day, not per person. The other 4 campsites are group sites that holds from 40 to 60 people. At this time of year, the campsites are first come first serve. No reservations. If you want to stay at the Flaming Gorge Lodge (about 20 minutes from the campground) you will need to contact them yourselves to make your reservation ( ). The Lodge has both motel rooms for one or two people and there are condos with kitchens that will sleep up-to four people. There is a restaurant at the Lodge. The fly shop at Dutch John has cabins and RV hookups (electric, water and sewer) and they are handled by The Flaming Gorge Recreation Services ( ). There is a restaurant and pay showers at the fly shop, as well. The fly shop is Trout Creek Flies at Dutch John and about 5 minutes from the campground. We will have a social hour on Saturday night at my location at the Dripping Springs campground. Snacks will be provided by the trip captain but you are welcome to bring something to share. Bring a chair and your drink. If you are camping you are responsible for own meals during the trip. When you respond to the Evite please indicate if you are camping or not, so I can have a head count as of how many will be using the campsite. I will be going over on Wednesday the 18 th to get a campsite and set up. If we need more than, 1 I will try to homestead another one. Please also indicate when responding to the Evite if you are looking to partner with someone and carpool.

9 Yampa River Trip Report (Sept. 5-8) by Paul Boals We battled lightning, wind, and rain during the course of our trip. In the end, we said goodbye to a tent that me and my wife have had for over a decade. On Friday night the winds reached a speed that the aging tent poles could no longer hold up against, but with the help of some duck tape and an extra tent stake I was able to make due for the rest of the trip. Our perseverance didn't go without reward. The fishing was everything you could want from the Yampa. Me, my wife Lisa and Russ Adsit stayed at the campground, while Brad Wrubel and his dad Bill stayed at a place in Steamboat with their family. The most consistent action came from hopper dropper rigs using a large stimulator on top and small mayfly patterns like a size 22 black RS2 a couple feet below. On Saturday things opened up a little with fish being taken on San Juan Worms. Our trip to Lake Crosho in search of grayling was not as good as I was hoping. Fishing on Crosho was slow and the grayling had moved deeper into the lake. After a few hours we decide to go back to the river and stay with a good thing. Fish caught during the trip average from 16 to 22 inches, including a very nice male brown trout Lisa was able to catch. The Yampa still remains to be my favorite river in the state and I look forward to more trips here in the future.

10 Taylor River Trip Report By Von Fransen On August 1 st, Colorado Day, James Baird and I headed up to the Gunnison Basin for the Taylor River Trip. This was the first time the club scheduled a trip to the Taylor. Our plan was to do some wade fishing that afternoon. We had a guide scheduled for the following day. Larry Lester and Geoff Bostic were planning to come up late the next day. As soon as we crossed Monarch Pass we ran into a heavy driving rain. It kept up all afternoon, so we had lunch, checked into our cabin at 3Rivers Resort in Almont and spent the rest of the day sliding around the roads and getting familiar with the area. Two months earlier George Brown and I had taken an overnight trip to scout the area so I, as trip captain, could brief members on fly shops, lodging, restaurants and camping facilities. What we found was what may be one of the best kept secrets in Colorado for fly fishing. Just 3 ½ hours from Denver the entire Gunnison watershed abounds in trout and salmon fisheries. The Taylor River in particular is a productive trout stream. Known for its Green Drake hatch in late July and early August the Taylor River Trip was timed to hit the peak of the hatch. This is classic tailwater spilling out of Taylor Reservoir and has produced record rainbows. One, caught in 1997 was 34 inches and weighed an estimated 22 pounds. Ten pounders are common in the stretch just below the dam. The river continues 19 miles through Taylor Canyon from the dam to Almont where it joins with the East River to form the Gunnison River. The area is also one of the most beautiful in the state. Not a single Lodgepole pine was infected with the Pine Bark Beetle; perhaps a result of the winters. Gunnison records 40 below and the Taylor Reservoir has reported temperatures to 60 below. The next morning broke bright and clear a Bluebird day. We met our guide, Dave Pinkerton, at the Willowfly Anglers Fly Shop in Almont. The Willowfly Anglers is an Orvis endorsed fly shop and is ranked #5 in the nation on Orvis s list of the best of the best. They run 17 guides out of that shop and it is definitely a busy place. Given the choice to fish the reservoir, the tailwater below the dam, drift or wade we had opted to wade fish the river at the public accessible areas. Where Dave took us first was a spot just above some private water where the stocked fish from that area migrate to the waters above. It was near a put-in for white water rafters and, as such, wasn t regarded as prime trout water by other anglers. But it was for us! We spent a couple of hours limbering up our rods with inch Browns when Dave said we needed to see another secret spot. It was an area that was fenced off with private property type barbed wire but was actually a DOW area. Could have fooled us. But it was productive see pics. We had actually booked Dave for a half day, but around 11 AM the trout started rolling and The Hatch Was On! We spent the next 3+ hours having a fine old time. Yep- Green Drakes. Dave was having so much fun he blew off the time limit and we got back to the fly shop around 3. We had great tales for Larry and Geoff at dinner that night. The next morning we took Larry and Geoff back to the public areas we were introduced to and started with a succession of 6 inchers that moved progressively to 16 and stayed that way. All Browns, never caught a Rainbow on the trip. For more intriguing details of the Taylor River Trip pull James, Larry, Geoff or me aside at a HPD get together.

11 Frying Pan Trip By Larry Lester and Camden Miller Work prevented all of us from getting away early, but by one st of June Tim, Camden and Larry were headed up I- 70 to Glenwood Springs. We arrived by late afternoon and visited the local fly shop to find the best spot to hit that evening. The recommendation 7 th Street Bridge in Glenwood Springs since the Green Drake hatch was just getting underway. A quick dinner and we were on the river by seven and we did enjoy some nice action with a few Browns netted and Green Drake imitations were the ticket. Saturday the three of us were joined by Rick Reynolds and we fished the Frying Pan while Jeff, Paul and Brucewho came up late Friday evening floated the Roaring Fork from Carbondale to Glenwood Springs. The action for these three was reported as very good. We asked for a short report, but nothing ever came through. But they did pass on fishing the Frying Pan the next day and did a repeat float so the fishing must have been pretty good. The Frying Pan proved a bit difficult for the three older HPD members, but one young Camden Miller had no problem landing numerous fish. We did catch a few nice fish, but no hogs like we had hoped. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular. We met up with the floating trio in Basalt for dinner and then we hit the 7 th Street Bridge to see if we could repeat the good fortunes of the previous evening. Green Drakes were the ticket and again we stayed until dark. Sunday we explored the Roaring Fork, but the water was too high to safely wade the river so we returned to the Frying Pan and Camden once again showed that he is a talented fly fisherman. Later we moved over to the Crystal and fished the waters behind the fish hatchery with moderate success. back to the 7 th Street Bridge. The Quality Inn sat right on the Colorado so Camden and Larry fished there and caught a few Browns. Monday we left early and fished the Colorado at the Pump House camp grounds. We had to be back in Denver before six so Tim could teach a class, but we had about four hours of fishing and we made the most of the time we had. Numerous Browns and White fish had no problem making the last day on the water a very rewarding one. I asked Camden to write a piece here it is. THE FRYING PAN AND ROARING FORK TRIP: with spring runoff in full swing, a lot of the rivers around Glenwood Springs were roaring. The Frying Pan however was low and fished well. The picky fish on the Pan were hard to learn for a beginner like me, but with time and a wide array of flies I managed to find out what they were eating. Smaller than #18 was about it, although a few were caught on San Juan worms, small stoneflies, and dries. The first day on the Pan I managed to pull out over 15 fish!

12 Picky fish on the Pan were hard to learn for a beginner like me, but with time and a wide array of flies I managed to find out what they were eating. Smaller than #18 was about it, although a few were caught on San Juan worms, small stoneflies, and dries. The first day on the Pan I managed to pull out over 15 fish! In the evenings big green drakes were hatching off by the 7th street bridge on the Roaring Fork. That led to some nice fish on dries. We fished the Frying Pan, the Roaring Fork, and the Crystal River over the next few days with fish caught on each of them. The last day on the drive home we fished the Colorado River by the pump house. This was a great day with a lot of good size fish caught by everyone, including my first ever whitefish. This trip was all around a fun trip that isn't too far away or too expensive to take. thanks, Camden miller P.S. Thanks sooooooo much for taking me on the trip it was really fun and I learned a lot. ************************************************************* Photo Contest Don t forget to take your camera with you when you head out to go fishing. There are three categories and each HPD member can submit only three pictures per category so start snapping those pictures. CATEGORIES: 1. The Fly Angler, the Fish or Both - Any cold or warm water fish either caught on a fly or swimming freely in their native waters. Please no straight on shots showing your best friend and his trophy fish. 2. Flies and What They are Imitating - Close up photography of insects and/or their imitation. Be creative. 3. What Surrounds Us While We Are on the Water - Look around you and show us what you see while out fishing for the day. Animals, birds the water and other fisherman. Do not submit pictures from a vacation or day trip to the beach with friends. DEADLINE: All entries must be submitted by November 3rd. Digital pictures can be sent by to larry.lester@hotmail.com. Please indicate the category, date and place the picture was taken. Please only submit photos from 2013.

13 *********************************************************************************************************************** CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR A SHORT VIDEO I MADE; STEVE S ARKANSAS RIVER VIDEO ************************************************************************************************************************