The Evergreen Trout. MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR: Volunteer Opportunities Abound by Ron Belak, Newsletter Editor

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1 The Evergreen Trout MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR: Volunteer Opportunities Abound by Ron Belak, Newsletter Editor May/June, 2013 As we pull waders, rods, reels, and fly boxes from winter storage, let us not forget the opportunity to share our fishing knowledge with others. Members have always willingly shared information on favorite fishing spots and flies with other members, but perhaps of greater importance is the sharing of knowledge with the next generation of anglers. This will ensure that our tradition of fly fishing and protecting cold clean waters is carried on long after we are gone. We have already had two successful volunteer activities Earth Day at Evergreen Lake and our annual spring clean up of Bear Creek. From a booth at the Evergreen Lake House on Earth Day, ETU volunteers promoted Trout Unlimited and its mission, provided tips on saving water, tied and distributed flies to passing children and adults, and provided a live aquatic insect demonstration. Bugs are always a good attraction for children both boys and girls. About 25 adults and children participated in our annual clean up of Bear Creek. The next of our future events is a Youth Outdoors Skills Day at the Pine Valley Ranch Park off County Road 126 in Pine. This activity is aimed at youth from 7 to about 16 years of age and runs from 8 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, May 18. Youth can enjoy exposure to shooting, archery, wildlife viewing, and of course, fishing. ETU volunteers provide instructions on casting, fishing, and fly tying. On the same weekend, Staunton State Park is planning their grand opening and needs volunteers to assist with children s fishing clinics. Then, another Youth Outdoors Skills Day is scheduled at Evergreen Lake on Sunday, July 21. Activities will be similar to those at Pine Valley. ETU takes the lead in two other activities here in Evergreen. On Saturday June 8, ETU together with the Evergreen Recreation District will sponsor our annual Buchanan Ponds Fishing Clinic. Fully stocked ponds will await the young anglers. In addition to fishing, we will provide instruction on fly tying, aquatic entomology, ethics, and conservation. On July 4, we host our biggest event of the year the Evergreen Lake Fourth of July Fishing Festival. Yes, this really is on July 4 so you need not call and ask. Our chief engineer, Rich Reynolds, directs us in constructing a mesh barrier across Bear Creek just upstream from the lake. Colorado Parks and Wildlife then stocks hundreds of trout upstream. After a brief introduction to conservation and casting safety, the children eagerly fish the stream. Oh, we ll need help with the barrier so please stay tuned. ETU will also assist Mount Evans Hospice in fishing instructions at Camp Comfort. The activity is held at the Easter Seals Camp off I-70 near Empire and is open to children who have recently lost a loved one. Dates are June 29 and 30 and July 27 and 28 (Saturdays and Sundays). We also participate in fly tying and fishing instructions for children at the Mount Evans Outdoor Lab on weekdays during the spring. To obtain more information on any of these activities, call or the contacts listed on p. 2 of this newsletter under Upcoming Events. I hope to see you at an activity or two. Have a productive spring season. O FALLON PARK RECEIVES ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS, article by Rich Reynolds photo by Wildlands Restoration Volunteers Those of you who have been around ETU for a while remember our stream restoration project in O Fallon Park completed back in We spent $183,000 rechanneling and deepening Bear Creek, creating pools and riffles, stabilizing the banks, strategically placing rocks, planting willows, and installing educational signage. Just recently, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) added to that in a Page 1 major effort that will enhance the environmental integrity of the park. WRV is a Boulder-based nonprofit that provides an opportunity for people to come together, learn about their natural environment, and take direct action to restore and care for the land. They have worked extensively with Denver Mountain Parks in the past. Fellow ETU (article continued on p. 4)

2 EVERGREEN TROUT UNLIMITED P.O. Box 1974 Evergreen, CO President Mike McGinnis , Vice President Terry Walters , Secretary Jim Wilborn , Treasurer Steve Murray , Newsletter Editor Ron Belak , Webmaster Karen Christopherson Programs Mike Goldblatt Education and Events Jim Wilborn (contact information above) John Ellis , Len Wheaton, Conservation Projects Chris Schauder, John Ellis (contact information above) Membership Anne Walters , Fundraising Karen Christopherson and Terry Walters At Large Rich Reynolds , Wayne Kosloske , Larry Drury, The Evergreen Trout is published in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Please send submissions to the newsletter editor by the 23rd day of the preceding month. The editor reserves the right to edit for length and content. All articles and photos are copyrighted by the authors. UPCOMING EVENTS May 3, 4 and 5, 2013: Free fishing at Buchanan Ponds for members who have participated in at least two volunteer activities. Check with Jim Wilborn at or jpwilborn@hotmail.com if you are unsure if you are on the list. May 4, 2013: 25-year celebration at Blue Quill Angler, see May 7, 8, 9 and 14, 2013: Fly tying at the Mount Evans Outdoor Lab and assisting with fishing instructions. Contact Jim Wilborn at or jpwilborn@hotmail.com. May 14, 2013: ETU Board Meeting, Tuscany Tavern in Evergreen, 6:30 PM. May 15, 2013: ETU Chapter Meeting note departure from normal time and location. Dan Wright will provide spey and regular casting instructions at Buchanan Ponds. 6 PM start. ETU to provide sandwiches and pop. See p. 5 for a description of the event. May 17, 18 and 19, 2013: More free fishing at Buchanan Ponds. See above for details. May 18, 20013: Youth Outdoor Skills Day at the Pine Valley Ranch Park, Pine, CO. 8 AM to 3 PM. Contact Terry Walters at or twaltershome@msn.com. May 18 and 19, 2013: Opening weekend for Staunton State Park on Highway 285. Help needed with kids fishing clinic and other outdoor activities. Contact Dick Wheeler at or richardwwheeler@gmail.com) for more information or to volunteer. June 6, 2013: Fly tying at the Mount Evans Outdoor Lab and assisting with fishing instructions. Contact Jim Wilborn at or jpwilborn@hotmail.com. June 7, 8 and 9, 2013: More free fishing at Buchanan Ponds. See above for details. Please note that angling on June 8 will be restricted to after 4 PM. June 8, 2013: Children s Fishing Clinic at Buchanan Ponds. 7:30 AM until 2 PM. Contact Len Wheaton at or John Ellis at or jellis@enb.com. June 11, 20013: ETU Board Meeting, Tuscany Tavern in Evergreen, 6:30 PM. June 19, 2013: ETU Chapter Meeting, Beau Jo s in Evergreen at 6:30 PM. Brian Heinold, aquatic entomologist, to talk on applying entomology to fly fishing. See p. 5. June 21, 22 and 23, 2013: More free fishing at Buchanan Ponds. See above for details. June 29 and 30, 2013: Camp Comfort, Easter Seals Camp at Empire, CO. 7:30 AM to 5 PM (until 2 PM on 30 th ). Contact Mike McGinnis at or mossyshoal@aol.com. July 4, 2013: Fourth of July Fishing Clinic at Evergreen Lake, 8 AM to 3 PM. Contact Mike McGinnis at or mossyshoal@aol.com for more information. ETU RECEIVES COMMUNICATIONS AWARD FROM CTU ETU received the prestigious John Connolly Outstanding Communications Award at Colorado Trout Unlimited s annual spring rendezvous in Redstone, Colorado. ETU competed with the other Colorado chapters for this recognition. The award is given to chapters that display exemplary communications skills, including an informative periodic newsletter, an attractive and well designed Web site, and an ongoing phone tree or communications with members. Many thanks to Ron Belak for publishing the newsletter, Karen Christopherson for maintaining the Web site, Terry Walters for preparing fliers on chapter meetings, and Mike McGinnis for maintaining the list and circulating all the fliers and other notices. CTU also awarded ETU the Leo Gomolchack Grant of $1,000 for temperature monitoring in Bear Creek. Page 2

BIMONTHLY FLY: THE EL LOBO, by Mike McGinnis fly by Mike McGinnis, photo by Ron Belak The El Lobo cannot be found in any fly tying manuals or magazine articles, but it has an interesting history.

Lobo Landing on the Little Red River was a popular resort with cabins, campground, boat dock, and public boat ramp. Mr.

3 BIMONTHLY FLY: THE EL LOBO, by Mike McGinnis fly by Mike McGinnis, photo by Ron Belak The El Lobo cannot be found in any fly tying manuals or magazine articles, but it has an interesting history. The El Lobo was first developed by Parvin Romines of Memphis, TN when he owned Lobo Landing outside of Heber Springs, AR in the early 1970s. Lobo Landing on the Little Red River was a popular resort with cabins, campground, boat dock, and public boat ramp. Mr. Parvin had Shell No Pest Strips all over the dock, capturing flying insects of all kinds. He was particularly interested in the bug life that washed up against the screens on the upriver side of the boat dock. Sow bugs by the hundreds collected on these screens and deflected off the screens to waiting German browns and rainbows that lurked nearby. Parvin collected these bugs and began tying the El Lobo. It was meant to be a dry fly, but when wet it sank slightly and hit the top and middle of the feeding column. This action mimicked a sow bug that had been set adrift from the moss that covers the bottom of the Little Red River. I spent many a day with my Uncle Ralph catching loads of fish on Parvin s pattern. My Uncle passed away, I moved on, and the pattern was lost for nearly four decades. Now let s fast forward to a few years ago when my cousin-in-law came out to Colorado for a visit. As we discussed fly fishing, he asked if I ever used that old pattern that he and I had used with Uncle Ralph. I told him I searched high and low for anyone who knew about the pattern but couldn t find a soul that remembered the El Lobo. Even the old timers knew nothing. He said to me, Well I ve got three of them in my fly box, and you can have them if you want them. With a forty-year old pattern in hand, I hightailed it over to the Blue Quill, and Steve Parrott and I nailed down the materials. I once again began the tradition of tying the El Lobo sow bug/scud pattern. I tie both a dry and wet version of the El Lobo. I like to fish the wet version low and slow, right through or directly above the moss beds. Since my rediscovery, I have caught tons of fish on it. Here is the pattern for the wet version: Hook: No. 12 through 16 Dai-riki 320 or a scud hook Thread: black Uni-Thread 8/0 Weight: 0.15 to 0.25 lead-free wire Back: turkey tail feather or brown Thin Skin Body: Wapsi Sow-Scud Dubbing in pink, olive, golden olive, or rainbow or similarly colored Ice Dub Hackle: Whiting medium dun I now have about twenty versions of the El Lobo, both wet and dry. I vary the size between 12 and 16, but smaller versions work just fine. I typically use original colored sow-scud dubbing, but I like to tie some with olive, rainbow and golden olive. I sometimes use Ice Dub. The only difference between the dry and wet El Lobo is that I weight the wet with either.015 or.025 lead-free round wire. I also tie it with various bead heads, including gold, tungsten, chartreuse, and hot orange. Pat Dorsey told me it s a nice caddis pattern as well. Tying instructions are easy. If you re not using a bead head, simply wrap your lead-free round wire on the hook. Secure the wire with your thread. Take your thread back down the shank to right over the hook point. Tie in your turkey feather or Page 3 thin skin (occasionally I ll tie in antennae). Secure your hackle. Now, wrap your dubbing back toward the hook eye but not too close. Secure the dubbing. Wrap your hackle toward the eye and secure it. Then take your turkey feather or Thin Skin over the top and right down the shank toward the eye and secure it. Two whip finishes and you are done. Uncle Ralph with a nice rainbow caught on the El Lobo. Photo supplied by Mike McGinnis. Mike McGinnis is the president of Evergreen Trout Unlimited. Rumor has it that he was off in Arkansas last week testing yet another version of the El Lobo. His Letter from the President will appear again in the next issue of this newsletter. This article is copyrighted by the author. If you have a favorite pattern, please share it with us. Contact Ron Belak at or ronbelak@msn.com. Please provide a quality photo of the pattern, tying instructions, and strategies on how to fish it. If you cannot photograph it, please send me a sample of the fly, and I will photograph it. If you are not into writing instructions, call me and walk me through them so that I can write it for you. We especially need new patterns for stream and river fishing.

When I arrived at 8 AM, I was surprised to already see tons of materials staged and three pieces of heavy machinery, and several dump trucks were already working.

4 O FALLON RESTORATION, continued from p. 1 Wildlands Restoration Volunteers photo members Wayne Kosloske, Tom Lockwood, Ron Davis, and I assisted about 50 volunteers from WRV with their O Fallon project on Saturday, April 13. When I arrived at 8 AM, I was surprised to already see tons of materials staged and three pieces of heavy machinery, and several dump trucks were already working. The volunteers were downing some breakfast goodies, energizing themselves for the tough manual labor awaiting them. Bob Finch, Director of Natural Resources for Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR), explained that the thrust of the project was similar to other high use Denver parks protect the streams and surrounding habitat, control and limit use, decrease vehicular traffic, and make it easier to maintain the park and enforce rules. DPR has completed or is working on similar projects at Corwina, Pence, and Little Parks. Mr. Finch promised to keep ETU in the loop, and at his request, I explained to the group ETU s role at O Fallon in improving stream habitat and our future plans. By the end of the day, the volunteers had accomplished an incredible amount of work. Entire parking lots and portions of others were closed to vehicular traffic, ultimately limiting total parking to 41 spaces in 3 lots. This is a major attempt to limit park use; hopefully we will not see the nearly 1,000-person parties that frequent the park on summer weekends. With the use of heavy equipment, these closed parking areas were dug up, and volunteers spread topsoil, seeded, and raked them. Volunteers also planted hundreds of willow cuttings, container trees, and shrubs to stabilize the stream bank. They also erected buck rail fencing and moved rocks to prevent vehicles and people from entering the restored former parking areas and several social trails that they also restored. Additional work days are planned at O Fallon, including finishing the current project, hopefully by early summer. DPR plans on testing and monitoring the groundwater between the old toilets and Bear Creek since such older toilets have been known to leak in the past. If problems are found, they plan on replacing the toilets in the future as funds permit. DPR, with our approval, will move our educational kiosk to a more appropriate place after all the work is completed. Stay tuned for future opportunities to work with DPR at O Fallon Park. Check out their Web site at Wildlands Restoration Volunteers photo of Ex-ETU President for Life Rich Reynolds BUCHANAN PONDS FREE FISHING ETU members who have participated in at least two volunteer activities last year or this year can fish Buchanan Ponds for free on designated days. These days are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the first full weekend of the month and the third weekend of the month until the pond or hell freezes over, whichever comes first. Seriously, if you are in doubt whether you are on the list, please see the March/April 2013 issue of this newsletter on our Web site or check with Jim Wilborn ( or jpwiborn@hotmail.com) for updates since April. Please plan ahead. Free days are listed on p. 2 in Upcoming Events. If you show up before 4 PM on June 8, you will be conscripted into service at the Children s Fishing Clinic that will be taking place at that time. FLIES NEEDED FOR BUCHANAN FISHING CLINIC We need volunteers to tie some flies for the Children s Fishing Clinic at Buchanan Ponds on June 8. Dave Schumacher is coordinating the tying and says that he needs flies ahead of time to fill about 30 boxes that we give to the children. He needs some San Juan Worms, midge pupae, Elk Hair Caddis, RS2s, ants, Hare s Ears, Wooly Buggers, and Adams. Dave also needs two or three volunteers to assist the children in tying flies during the morning of June 8 at Buchanan Ponds. For the specific number of each pattern he needs or to volunteer with tying instructions on June 8, contact Dave Schumacher at or daveflyfish@comcast.net. Page 4

DAN WRIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE CASTING ON MAY 15 Dan with a very nice steelhead On Wednesday, May 15, Dan Wright, Guide Coordinator and Director of Fly Fishing Schools at the Blue Quill Angler, will join

Because we thought it would be a little confining at Beau Jo s, we have moved the casting demonstration to Buchanan Ponds, and we have moved up the meeting time to 6 PM.

Dan is an International Federation of Fly Fishers Master Certified Instructor and a Certified Two Hand (Spey) Casting Instructor.

5 DAN WRIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE CASTING ON MAY 15 Dan with a very nice steelhead On Wednesday, May 15, Dan Wright, Guide Coordinator and Director of Fly Fishing Schools at the Blue Quill Angler, will join us for a fun evening of casting demonstrations. Because we thought it would be a little confining at Beau Jo s, we have moved the casting demonstration to Buchanan Ponds, and we have moved up the meeting time to 6 PM. Dan will cover all levels of fly casting from the basic cast through intermediate casting to advanced casting techniques such as the double haul. Dan is an International Federation of Fly Fishers Master Certified Instructor and a Certified Two Hand (Spey) Casting Instructor. Dan has many years of experience teaching fly casting and almost all other aspects of fly fishing. We will meet at the lower Buchanan Pond adjacent to the Buchanan Recreation Center in Bergen Park promptly at 6 PM. ETU will supply sandwiches, chips, lemonade, and water. Bring any other food you care to enjoy. In addition to Dan s demonstrations, attendees will be allowed to fish the ponds for some trophy trout. Depending on the weather, the midges may be hatching. BRIAN HEINOLD DISCUSSES AQUATIC ENTOMOLOGY AT THE JUNE 19 CHAPTER MEETING Brian Heinold will speak on aquatic entomology at our regular chapter meeting on Wednesday June 19, Brian has worked in the field of aquatic entomology since 2001 with more recent positions as an aquatic entomologist at Colorado Parks and Wildlife and as a research associate at Colorado State University, where he received his master s degree in the field in Brian s main interest is in the diversity and distribution of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies in the mountain streams of Colorado. He has also done research on the occurrence of rare winter-emerging stoneflies (snowflies) in Colorado and recently completed a study of the aquatic macroinvertebrates of the Upper Colorado River to better understand the effects of the Windy Gap Dam on aquatic life. Brian will talk on the life cycles of aquatic insects and how they affect fishing as well as how to successfully seine for them. Please join us at Beau Jo s Pizzeria in downtown Evergreen at 6:30 PM for dinner and libations, followed by a short business meeting and the talk at about 7:15 PM. Brian will collect some insects ahead of time for our enjoyment (Visual enjoyment, that is; we ll be careful to isolate them from the pizza). This is a photo of my sister JoAnne on the San Juan River about to land a swallow that took her fly on a backcast. Many swallows were skimming the water that late afternoon. We cut the line and let the bird get on with its life. If you have a photo of a particularly large, colorful, or unique fish (or bird) that you would like to share with us, please e- mail the photo to ronbelak@msn.com along with a description of the fish, what you caught it on, and where it lives. Should you not want to disclose your favorite fishing hole, that s fine. Just give me a general location, like the Gore Range or the Colorado River. So what did the swallow take? A PARTING, FLYING FISH TALE, by Jim Wilborn Page 5

I Get It... By Mike McGinnis, ETU President

Newsletter of the Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited www.evergreentrout.org The Evergreen Trout I Get It... By Mike McGinnis, ETU President August 2010 Vol. 29, No. 7 I haven t been involved in ETU very