The Evergreen Trout. November/December, 2013 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: ETU S STATE OF THE UNION REPORT by Mike McGinnis

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1 The Evergreen Trout November/December, 2013 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: ETU S STATE OF THE UNION REPORT by Mike McGinnis I am taking this opportunity to write the president s report that I would normally deliver at our annual chapter meeting in November. However, we are hosting John Fielder at our fundraiser on November 16 so I will leave the show all to him. Don t forget to mark that event on your calendar and to purchase your tickets at We have a very strong chapter, and you are aware of the various awards that we won over the last several years. Currently our chapter has 443 members! ETU had about 26 official events, including our Bear Creek clean up; weekends at Camp Comfort; our children s fishing clinics at Buchanan Ponds, Evergreen Lake, and Pine Valley Ranch; Earth Day; special events like the grand opening of Staunton Park; and our many class days and the open house at the Jeffco Outdoor Education Lab. The number of events is staggering, but what is more impressive is our spirit of volunteering. We could not pull off these events without you, our chapter members. Our secretary, Jim Wilborn, has preliminary tallied up the number of volunteer hours, and it exceeded 700 hours (see article on p. 6)! Our members give their time and effort so that others can enjoy the beauty of what we enjoy so much fishing, the great outdoors and the camaraderie. I praise all of you for your efforts. In the last issue of The Evergreen Trout, I wrote about a potential stream restoration project on upper Bear Creek. That project still has potential but has been put on hold as we are still measuring the effects of the great flood in September. Flows have dropped considerably. However, the watershed is still saturated and some springs that normally flow only in the spring have woken up. This includes some springs that have not flowed in several years. The Evergreen Metro District (EMD) and the Bear Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) performed some sampling and monitoring during the week of September 25. The ph, temperature, dissolved oxygen and conductivity in Bear Creek and Evergreen Lake were in expected ranges for this time of year, which is good news. EMD and the BCWA tested for E. coli after the flood on September 23 in Evergreen Lake and found that the water was safe for human contact. As of this writing, we haven t received the results of nutrient sampling. Bear Creek in O Fallon Park, September 13, 2013, photo by Ron Belak. Note that Bear Creek temporarily had two channels. The Evergreen Lake area suffered structural damage from the flood, but the dam was never in danger of failing. EMD and the BCWA have documented the formation of a sediment island at the lake inlet area, and they are awaiting quotes for a bathymetric and sediment survey. There was also major damage to the access road along the inlet channel, which is below the bridge leading to the Lake House parking lot. This is where we set up our equipment and tent for the Fourth of July Children s Fishing Clinic. EMD is looking at bids to rebuild this access road. The wetlands at the lake also took a beating but did manage to stop a large amount of sediment. Just below the dam, EMD is looking at bids to clean up the stream section in Ross Grimes Park. (continued on p. 2) IF YOU ARE READING THIS NEWSLETTER, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU Please let us know that you have read this newsletter either by replying to the sender (Ron Belak) of the that contained this newsletter or by sending a separate to ronbelak@msn.com. We need to determine how many of the 378 recipients of this newsletter are actually reading it and ascertain the best methods for communicating with members. If you have time, you may also tell us what you like or don t like about the newsletter. We would also greatly appreciate any contributions to the newsletter, particularly for the BiMonthly Fly column and the Nice Fish Photo column. Page 1

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 UPCOMING EVENTS The Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the third Wednesday of each month except July and December at Beau Jo s Pizzeria in downtown Evergreen. Join us for dinner and chapter business at 6:30 PM and a program at 7 PM. November 1, 2 and 3, 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. November 6, 2013: ETU board meeting at Rich Reynolds home, 5360 Three Sisters Circle at 6:00 PM. Call Rich at or mdirich@msn.com for more info. November 15, 16 and 17, 2013: More free fishing at Buchanan Ponds if the ponds are ice-free. But don t expect much. The fish are a little slow this time of the year and not much interested in feeding. Ice should be forming around the edges of the ponds. November 16, 2013: SAVE THE DATE for ETU s Fundraiser at Hiwan Country Club. Noted photographer John Fielder will give a presentation on his latest work on Denver Mountain Parks and lands preserved with GOCO funding. Doors open at 4:30 PM. Silent auction and book signing by Mr. Fielder. Hors d oeuvres and cash bar. Proceeds are used to run the organization and to fund upcoming projects. See page 4 for additional information. December 7, 2013: Holiday party at the McGinnis home, Elk Range Road in Kerr Gulch Highlands. Members, spouses and guests are invited. Please see p. 5 for details. There will be no chapter meeting in December. Programs Mike Goldblatt mike@lamtree.com Education and Events Jim Wilborn (contact information above) John Ellis , jellis@enb.com Len Wheaton, Conservation Projects Chris Schauder, cschauder@evergreenmetrodistrict.com John Ellis (contact information above) Membership Anne Walters , awaltershome@msn.com Fundraising Karen Christopherson and Terry Walters At Large Rich Reynolds , mdirich@msn.com Wayne Kosloske , wayne@fds-llc.com The Evergreen Trout is published in January, March, May, July, September and November. Please send submissions to the newsletter editor (ronbelak@msn.com) 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. PRESIDENT S LETTER (continued from page 1) Upper Bear Creek also sustained damage. There were two sections where the creek jumped the bank and established a new course. This is private property, and the Army Corps of Engineers has indicated they will try to fast-track any permits that deal with urgent creek maintenance. Several septic systems and private sewer lines connected to the EMD sewer system were flooded in the watershed. EMD staff have indentified and alerted owners of these lines. There was no immediate damage to EMD s collection system. EMD crews have cleaned and inspected all sewer mains and manholes that were flooded, and they report that they are in working order. In the July/August 2013 issue of The Evergreen Trout, I wrote about ETU getting a GOMO grant to purchase temperature loggers for our continuing efforts to monitor Bear Creek. We lost all six of our loggers in the flood. EMD and the BCWA have been able to verify that 9 of their 21 temperature loggers have been found. ETU will replace our loggers through fundraising efforts, like the John Fielder event. We have no data as of yet on the effects of the flood on the fish population. Despite the 1400 cfs flood stage of Bear Creek, we are hoping that some of the trout moved to the edges of the stream and hunkered down behind boulders and trees and are moving back to the stream channel as the water recedes. Additional fish can always be stocked, and other fish will eventually migrate back upstream from Bear Creek Reservoir. Of even more importance is the effect of the flood on the trout s food supply the macroinvertebrate population. These little guys and the rocks that they cling to could easily have been scoured and swept downstream. Ron Belak reports that he visited O Fallon Park last week. Although he saw no fish, he reported that most of the streamside vegetation that we planted survived, many of the structures are intact or suffered minor damage, and there is an abundance of cobble-sized rocks in the streambed under which bugs can hide. He overturned a dozen and a half rocks downstream from our improvements and found two large stoneflies,a half-dozen Baetis nymphs, and a single midge larva. This is very good news, indeed! Page 2

3 BIMONTHLY FLY: THE GROUSE SPIDER, by Ron Belak Fly and photo by Ron Belak I had absolutely no idea what this particular fly was when I first used it, but it sure was effective. My brother had given it to me probably in the early 1970s, and I first used it in I was fishing to cutthroat trout that had just finished spawning in a high lake in the Flat Tops. Over about an hour and a half, I tried almost everything in my fly box to no avail. I d get follow ups but no strikes. Then I tried this peculiar looking wet fly. On the first cast I connected with a nice cutthroat. Then I took about three more before I snagged bottom. I was hopelessly stuck but did not want to lose the fly because it was the only one of that pattern that I had. So off came the pants, and I waded out and freed the fly. Back then, I did not tie flies so I dropped off the fly at the Blue Quill where Randy Smith said that he would tie a dozen for me. He did, and I came back a week later to pick them up. Randy could not find them. It was ironic that I waded out without pants into a freezing high lake to retrieve a fly that was to be lost in the clutter of a fly shop. Randy diligently searched for about 20 minutes before finding the flies under a bunch of crap beneath the counter. I m sure somebody stored them there just to make room on a cluttered counter top. Because of this experience, I soon learned how to tie my own flies so I would not worry about losing them (or have to take a swim again for a snagged fly). I finally identified the fly as the Grouse Spider by comparing it to a picture in the iconic classic Trout, by Ray Bergman. This type of wet fly was popular back in 1938 when the book was first written, and the book is chock full of fancy color plates of wet flies. Trout was still sort of a bible when I picked up a 1976 edition. Even today, there is good information in it on fishing tactics and trout behavior, but like the gear and patterns in the book, the Grouse Spider is most definitely from a bygone era. The original Grouse Spider is a soft hackle, but unlike most soft hackles it has a tail. My rendition of this pattern substitutes pheasant tail fibers for the grouse hackle and makes the pattern more of a generic wet fly. It is most effective when stripped like a small streamer in stillwater, but it also works when fished on a dead drift in running water. Here is the recipe and some instructions for tying my version of the Grouse Spider: Hook: No. 14 Dai-riki 710 Thread: black 6/0 Tail: India red saddle hackle fibers Rib: gold medium round tinsel, Body: orange scud (26) Ligas dubbing, but traditionally orange silk was used Hackle: pheasant tail fibers tied in beard style, but traditionally tiers used a turn or two of English grouse soft hackle Attach the thread just in back of the eye and wind back to the bend of the hook. Attach the tail. Tie in a strand of gold tinsel at the bend of the hook. Next, form a thin noodle of dubbing on the thread and wind forward to within an eighth of an inch from the eye of the hook. Wind the tinsel over the dubbing and tie off. Then tie in the pheasant fibers beard style (I tie in the dorsal fibers and then reverse the fly in the vise to tie in the ventral fibers). Form a thread head. Tie off, whip finish and cement. 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, call me and walk me through the tying and I will write the article. TU STALWART AND TROUT EXPERT, ROBERT BEHNKE, PASSES AWAY Dr. Robert Behnke, noted trout taxonomist, conservationist and professor emeritus at Colorado State University, passed away on September 13, 2013 at the age of 83. Dr. Behnke is best known for his classical taxonomic work on trout, which relied heavily on physical attributes such as color and spotting patterns. He worked tirelessly on the conservation of native trout species, particularly the Greenback and Lahontan subspecies of the cutthroat trout. Readers probably best remember Dr. Behnke for his columns in Trout magazine, the official publication of Trout Unlimited. Many of these have been reproduced in his book entitled About Trout: The Best of Robert Behnke from Trout Magazine. His two books Trout and Salmon of North America and Native Trout of Western North America are considered bibles on the natural history of trout. He and his work will be sorely missed. Page 3

4 FALL BENEFIT FOR EVERGREEN TROUT UNLIMITED an afternoon of fun featuring photographer & author John Fielder presenting photos and stories from his latest works Saturday, November 16, 4:30 to 7:00 pm Hiwan Golf Club - Evergreen CO The event includes: John Fielder: presentation and books autographed by the author; a portion of proceeds benefits ETU Silent Auction: items including trips, artwork, lodging, equipment, and gift certificates Gourmet appetizers, door prizes and cash bar Tickets $30: All proceeds go to Evergreen Trout Unlimited, a 501(c)3 organization (more information and tickets can be obtained at NICE FISH PHOTO, by Mike Goldblatt GOOD NEWS ON PEBBLE MINE The Upper Tularik River is part of the world s largest sockeye fishery and would be impacted by the Pebble Mine. Photo by Ron Belak. Here is a photo of a 22- or 23-inch brown that I caught on the Beaverhead in Montana on a Fat Albert a grasshopper pattern. I would like ETU to plant some of these browns in Buchanan Ponds so that I wouldn t have to drive so far. TU reported that Anglo-American, the largest financier of the Pebble Mine, pulled out and left Northern Dynasty as the only remaining shareholder. This casts doubts on the viability of the project, but we are not out of the woods yet. Page 4

5 ETU Holiday Extravaganza Food! Fabulous Prizes! Fun! And Fish Stories! All ETU members and guests are invited When: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 5 pm Where: Mike and Val McGinnis s home ETU will provide entrée and beverages (microbrew beers, fine wines, pop and bottled water) If your last name begins with: A F Bring a salad G L Bring a side dish M R Bring an appetizer S Z Bring a desert (or dessert it s smaller and tastier!) Directions to the McGinnis residence at Elk Range Road ( ): PLEASE NOTE that many cell phones do not work in this part of Kerr Gulch so your GPS system may not get you here. In addition, many of the electronic mapping systems do not post images of the private Elk Range Road, and other electronic maps may be inaccurate. Last year, several members who relied on electronic navigation failed to find the McGinnis residence and missed out on loads of fun. Bring a copy of this. From Bergen Park head north on Evergreen Parkway to the intersection with Kerr Gulch Road (3/4 mile south of El Rancho). Turn right on Kerr Gulch and travel for about 3.5 miles to Elk Valley Road and the sign for Kerr Gulch Highlands. Take a left and drive about 250 feet to Highlands View Drive, and then take a right. Continue about 1 mile up the switchbacks to Elk Range Road and take a left. Proceed about 250 feet. Driveway is on the left. Park in the driveway and on the road. From Kittredge head east on Highway 74 to the east end of town and turn left on Kerr Gulch Road. Drive about 1.2 miles to Elk Valley Road. Turn right and drive about 250 feet to Highlands View Drive and then take another right. Continue about 1 mile up the switchbacks to Elk Range Road and take a left. Proceed about 250 feet. Driveway is on the left. Park in driveway and on road. DON T FORGET OUR FAMOUS BUCKET RAFFLE! Bring something anything to contribute to the holiday spirit. All new and gently used donations are welcome, both fishing and non-fishing items. The more stuff you bring, the more fun we have. Page 5

6 ETU VOLUNTEER EFFORTS EXCEED 700 HOURS, by Jim Wilborn This has been a great year for Evergreen Trout Unlimited volunteering. We sponsored at least 26 events from April through October of These events involved 80 volunteers with over 700 hours of donated time. Events included improvements at O Fallon Park; Earth Day; Children s Fishing Clinics at Buchanan Ponds and Evergreen Lake; outdoor skill days at Pine Valley and Evergreen Lake; Camp Comfort; Bear Creek clean up; and fly tying or fishing with Jeffco Outdoor Lab and Evergreen Middle School. Several individuals were extraordinarily involved, including Ken Wilbert who participated in 11 events and Keith Festag who helped out in 8 events. Close behind Keith were Mike McGinnis, Rich Reynolds and Jim Wilborn pitching in at 7 events. Warren Johnson, Gregg Squire, and Terry Walters were at 5 events. Numerous others participated in from one to four activities. Ford Oliphant demonstrates how to tie a fly at the Children s Fishing Clinic at Buchanan Ponds in Photo by Ron Belak. Those who volunteered for two or more events this past year have earned the privilege to fish on the designated free days at Buchanan Pond next year. Board members often headed up these events as well as their regular duties. These duties involve an impressive number of tasks that occur behind the scenes, and as such often go unnoticed by most of our chapter members. These tasks involve attending Colorado Trout Unlimited meetings; participating in Bear Creek Watershed Association meetings; interfacing with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Denver Mountain Parks, Evergreen Metropolitan District, and other non-profits and conservation groups; and writing and distributing the newsletter and communication. All of these activities take time, so if you can volunteer to head up just one of our many volunteer activities, it would free up board members to do more of these behind-the-scenes activities. We are also actively looking for a couple of members to join the board to fill two vacancies. These vacancies are the newly envisioned Volunteer Coordinator and the Treasurer position. The Volunteer Coordinator would ensure that there is a chairman for each activity and that he or she has the necessary resources and staff to successfully conduct the activity. As you all know, most of these events are one half- to one-day projects, so any one activity is not a large commitment of time. The Treasurer will replace Steve Murray, who is stepping down after 14 years of service. Steve took over this post in 1998 and needs a much deserved break. The Children s Fishing Clinic at Evergreen Lake in Photo by Ron Belak. Ron Belak informs me that he would like to thank those individuals who contributed to the newsletter in These individuals include Mike McGinnis, who writes the president s letter; Mike Goldblatt, who secures information on speakers and who also contributed to the Nice Fish Photo and BiMonthly Fly columns; and others. These others include myself (Jim Wilborn), Rich Reynolds, Len Wheaton, Skyler Yanish, Dean Knoll, Dick Wheeler, Peggy Linn and Terry Walters. A hearty thanks also to Karen Christopherson who posts the newsletters to our Web site and maintains the Web site throughout the year. PARTING TALE, by Ron Belak Back in early October, I needed to contact John Ellis for input on some Trout Unlimited business. I left voice mails on his home, work and cell phones, and also left him two messages. A week passed and I had not heard from him. John is busy, but he usually responds in less time than that so I concluded that he must be out of town. John called me the next day and apologized for not getting in touch with me sooner. Sure enough, he was out of town. In Boston, he said. Being the smart aleck that I am and knowing that John probably has not run a mile since he graduated from high school, I asked, Doing the Boston Marathon, eh? Yes, he shot back. And not missing an opportunity to extend the humor, he added and thank God it was at sea level! Page 6