It has been an unusual summer for

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1 Newsletter of the Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited The Evergreen Trout August 2008 Vol. 27, No. 7 The Drag-Free Drift [Hal Garwood, ETU president] It has been an unusual summer for fishing with hot days and minimal runoff for Bear Creek even though there s been good runoff in other parts of the state. I heard that the Arkansas has been great this year. I hope some of you had the opportunity to fish that outstanding drainage. Bear Creek had some days where the creek was in a critical state below the dam. Karen Christopherson, our local expert and website guru, put out an alert message about the conditions. The flow was getting low and the temperature was getting high. She cautioned that if you had to fish the creek, (to some it is a matter of life and death that they have to fish even though doing so would be harmful to the fish population), be extra careful landing trout. That means, do not fight the fish just for the fun of it, but get the trout in ASAP! Do not pick the fish up for trophy pictures. Those 12 inch brown trout pictures are really great to show your buddies, especially when you are holding it straight out as long as you can stretch your arms to make it look like a 17 inch trout, WOW! You know who you are, please be careful as you do not have to take a picture of every fish you catch. On the last free day at Buchanan Ponds, the staff was concerned about the temperature. A couple of evenings before, John Haile reported the temperature at 68 degrees. I agreed to come early to the pond and take some temperature readings on that Friday. It turns out both the lower and the upper ponds were reading 66 degrees at 6:00 AM. I told the staff that it was up to them on whether to stop fishing. My suggestion was to cut off fishing no later than 8:30 AM in the morning. I also suggested they do the same for the weekend. The fish in the ponds are in part paid for by ETU. Since the ponds are catch and release, I felt it prudent to protect the fish because of the high temperatures. Since the theme of my piece was protecting our fish, I got on my high horse and got carried away talking about handling, taking pictures, and releasing trout. I decided to make it a separate article. Look for it later in the newsletter. We had our largest and most successful Buchanan Youth Fishing Camp to date. I will be reporting details about the camp later in the newsletter. Our involvement in Camp Comfort was a success for both weekends. I want to express gratitude to Phil Waters, Rich Reynolds, and John Ellis for heading up the many volunteers including John Haile that helped this year. I have been dropping the ball lately and these guys have been stepping in and making sure that the planning and ETU s contribution had been up to par or better. We could not do these community projects without our volunteers, so kudos to all of you for your help. ETU has been helping out with Camp Comfort for many years. It is one See Drag-Free Drift on page 2. Inside this edition: Tie one of these on... 3 Help Pick the Best Flies... 2 How to Handle Fish... 6 Support our Raffle...4 Chapter Contact Info... 2 Fishing Report... 4 How ETU Helps... 5 Upcoming Events... 8 The Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the third Wednesday of the month at Beau Jo s Pizzeria in downtown Evergreen (across from the Little Bear). Join us for dinner, chapter business, and classes at 6:30 pm followed by the program at 7:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

2 Drag-Free Drift, from page 1. of the most rewarding events we participate in. Step up next year and volunteer to help, because ETU will continue supporting Camp Comfort for years to come. Remember that tickets are on sale for our Bear Creek Fantasy Raffle. See one of the board members. This is going to help with future projects. You probably do not know this, but ETU does not get a penny of National Trout Unlimited s annual renewals. We do get some monies for new members, but not much to speak of. We rely on our fundraisers to keep the chapter solvent. If the prizes are not something you can use, look at it as a contribution to keep our chapter running. We will be stepping up the selling of the tickets, especially during the next General Meeting. The lucky winners will be chosen at our meeting in September. For next General Meeting, we have Dr. C.E. Bert Cushing as our guest speaker. He is a renowned Stream Ecologist, Author, and Fly Fisherman. He has been studying streams world-wide for over 45 years. This is a meeting not to miss. Gentlemen with so many experiences are really fascinating to listen to. Don t be late as it will probably be crowded. See you at the next meeting, Evergreen Trout Unlimited P.O. Box 1974 Evergreen, CO President Hal Garwood president@evergreentrout.org (303) Vice President Len Wheaton (303) Treasurer Steve Murray murray_sp@msn.com (303) Secretary John Haile johnhaile@aol.com (303) At Large Mike Goldblatt mike@lamtree.com (303) At Large Rich Reynolds mdirich@msn.com (303) Help Us Pick The Top Dozen Colorado Flies [John Haile, ETU board member] Help ETU select the top dozen must have flies for fishing Colorado rivers and streams. As part of our Fly of the Month program, we re asking members, top guides and well known tiers to help us pick the best of the best to have in your fly box at all times. We also will be using your suggestions to help select the flies we will be featuring each month over the next year. Already we ve seen an RS II in the newsletter, and this month we ve got another favorite that s a strong candidate for the must-have list: a flashback pheasant tail. When I have your suggestions in hand, I m going to ask the ETU membership to vote for the 12 best. The final 12 will end up being posted on our web site for viewing by people from all over the country who will be coming to fish in Colorado. It will be a nice service for fellow anglers. So, send me your suggestions. And remember, there are no right or wrong answers. The johnhaile@aol.com Program/Members Randy Huiting rhuiting@comcast.net (303) Newsletter Design and Editing Joe Kerper editor@evergreentrout.org (303) Special Projects Hugh Gardner hughgardner@gmail. com (303) Youth Education John Ellis jellis@enbcolorado. com (303) Youth Education Jim Wilborn jpwilborn@hotmail. com (303) Webmaster Karen Christopherson kc@coloradofishing. net (303) At Large Wayne Kosloske (303) At Large Tim Haller troutguy@speedtrail. net (303) Colorado Trout Unlimited Office (303) Trout Unlimited National Office (800) Editorial Policy: All newsletter submissions must be received by the newsletter editor by the last Friday of the month. All items are subject to editing/space limitations. Articles are copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. Contact the newsletter editor for additional information. z 2 8

3 Tie One of These On: Dale Darling s Pheasant Tail Flashback [ John Haile, ETU board member] Some flies you just know will deliver for you, and so you fish them with confidence. And because of that confidence, it seems you catch even more fish. When I came to Colorado a few years ago, the first fly that reached that status for me was the Pheasant Tail Flashback. And I still turn to it when all else seems to fail. As we work toward naming our top dozen must have flies to fish Colorado waters, the Pheasant Tail in some form is going to make a lot of folks lists, if not the final list. It s just a great fly for pulling a trout out of the riffles on a warm summer day. And it s a classic mayfly nymph that can be tied not only as a flashback, but without the flash, with a gold bead, a mercury bead or any permutation of the above. Dale Darling s version is a little more complex than some. He has copper or gold wire for weight and durability, Flashabou down the back for a little extra sparkle, and a partridge feather for the legs rather than pheasant tail. It s a great fly. Dale spoke to an ETU meeting a few years back and tied this fly for us. I ve been using it ever since and have caught a bunch of fish with it. The Flashback Pheasant Tail works as a great Baetis nymph imitation, so watch for those hatches. Also, pull out the PT Flashback when you are on a section of stream with a gravel bottom and lots of riffles. While it can be fished anywhere in the water column, it will usually get the best results along the bottom. Pheasant Tail Flashback Recipe Hook: Standard nymph, dry or Tiemco 200R, # Thread: UTC 70 Brown or light orange Tail and body: Pheasant tail fibers Wire: Small to medium copper or gold wire (choose size depending on size of fly) Wing case: Flat pearl mylar or Flashabou Thorax: Peacock herl Legs: Hen back, partridge or other soft fibers And why does it work so well? Some folks think it is because the rust color of the pheasant tail fibers is so similar to the color of many invertebrates in the stream. Then there are the tiny fibers on the pheasant tail and peacock herl that See Tie One On on page 7. Dale Darling s Pheasant Tail Flashback: By the Numbers photos by Dale Darling

4 Evergreen Fishing Report [Mike Goldblatt] Where have YOU been fishing lately? Let Mike Goldblatt know at com or give him a call and let him know about your latest trip. I explored some new water July I fished the Little Snake River which flows north out of the Routt National Forest near Steamboat Springs and then turns west and straddles the Colorado/ Wyoming line for many miles in extreme northwest Colorado. This is very remote, beautiful country, with more large aspen trees than you ll see anywhere. The Little Snake is a pretty large river for one most of us have never heard of, averaging about 50 ft. across where I fished it. There are many cattle ranches in the area and the ranchers draw the river down in summer for irrigation, so timing my trip between the end of runoff and the summer draw downs was critical. I was probably a week too late for optimum fishing, but it was well worth the 4 hour drive. The flow was down to about 120 cfs from an ideal 250 just a week earlier. A big attractor dry with various droppers brought no action, so I had to rethink the situation. The fished had moved to the deeper holes, especially ones with cover, like a large downed cottonwood tree. A double nymph rig placed deep in the holes drew strikes from hungry, strong rainbows Clear Creek is fishing exceptionally well right now (late July). Flows are down in the 300 cfs range around Idaho Springs, and I could not keep them off a red Copper John dropper the other day. Just because this river is 15 minutes away doesn t mean it s not worth fishing. The brown trout population is excellent, and although the size of the fish is not huge, there are plenty of them, and they are fresh and strong right now with the good flows. There is plenty of public water, all the way from the high country down to Golden. The Roaring Fork has finally come down to a fishable level as I write this in late July. It has been fishing very well the past couple of weeks, with Green Drakes hatching in evening, and lots of great mayfly and caddis activity on top during the day. A dry dropper rig is all you need on a float trip, and if you can be on the water at dusk, the fish, including the big boys, should be slurping up the drakes. In general, the river fishing in Colorado should be exceptional all the way through fall. There is still some melt off coming down from the highest elevations and August should be better than usual, so get out there. z photo taken from Support Evergreen Trout Unlimited s Raffle Take a Look at What you Might Win Having not been into the fund raising mode for a couple of years since the O Fallon project, the Board has decided it is time again to have one of the Chapter s World-famous raffles to supplement Rod and reel pictured are representative only and not the actual rod and reel offered for this raffle. They look really similar though the treasury for day-to-day expenses. Donations have been acquired (arms twisted?), and we have put together a special Fly Fishing package designed for small creeks like our very own Bear Creek. Grand Prize for the lucky individual will be a nearly new 8 6, 2 piece, 1-weight Orvis Silver Label TL mid-flex Rod set up with an Orvis Battenkill Reel, backing, WF Floating line, leader, and a Fly Box with 2 dozen flies put together specifically for Bear Creek. The estimated Retail of this one of a kind outfit is $350. 2nd Prize will be a Full Day Guided Fly-Fishing Trip by renowned guide Tad Hunter of Colorado Trout Hunters. Winning trip is for 2 persons with gear and lunch provided (guide gratuity is not included) and has an estimated Retail value of $375. 3rd Prize will be 1-night lodging the Highland Haven Creekside Inn right here in Evergreen with estimated retail of $160 per night. The Drawing for the Raffle will be Wednesday, September 17, 2008, at the Chapter s Monthly General Meeting at Beau Jo s Pizza at approximately 8 p.m. Tickets for the Raffle are $5.00, or 5 for $20.00, and can be purchased from any of the Chapter Board Members. Proceeds of the Raffle are used to cover the Chapters costs we incur for event we sponsor throughout the year such as the Fishing Camp, Camp Comfort, Newsletter printing, and meals for Speakers at the Monthly Meetings.

5 A Trappers Lake Tale 2008 [Len Wheaton, ETU vice president] The late ice-out at beautiful Trappers Lake really threw our ETU rendezvous at the lake a sinking fast-ball. We always hope for, and try to plan, the callibaetis hatch high point. This year the July Fourth holiday seemed to obviate a group trip at the best time. As it developed, John Ellis had committed to a family trip over the Fourth and so he sampled Trappers with his son and reported good fishing but not a peak. Consequently, Wayne Kosloske and I made a Thursday, Friday, Saturday outing on July 17, 18, 19 and are able to report a fine trip with excellent temperatures, the usual noonday rain shower, sufficient clouds for good hatches and really minimal mosquitoes anywhere! The campground was about two thirds full and Thursday and Friday saw very few flyfishers, lots of horseback riders and many hikers. Saturday produced quite a number of tubers but did not overcrowd the fishing. The callibaetis hatches were very good Thursday and Friday but noticeably thinner on a gin-clear-weather Saturday. We caught many healthy, fighting fish and felt there was certainly a larger average size. A few large males still wore their brilliant red spawning colors. Wayne took a few with nymphs but we were most successful with dries that could mimic the black upright wing of the typical Trappers callibaetis dark body. We certainly were lucky to catch the end of this fine hatch and enjoy such generally idyllic weather. Regrettably this was not a fun ETU group adventure but perhaps 2009 can recapture the way we used to do it... Got a few Big ideas for our newsletter? Found a new places to fish? Developed a crazy new fly that WORKS? Have some advice for members new to the area? Then please them to the editor. Right now. editor@evergreentrout.org How ETU Helps: Buchanan Annual Youth Fishing Camp Report [Hal Garwood, ETU president] ETU along with Buchanan Recreational District held our third annual Youth Fishing Camp at Buchanan Recreational District Facility and Buchanan Ponds on June 21st. We had 29 kids signed up with only three not being able to attend. We were fortunate to have a whole bunch of volunteers to help. Len Wheaton, one of the bosses, decided that we would take the kids down to the ponds first thing in the morning. That turned out to be a good decision. Every kid got a T-Shirt, badge, and a box of flies that were donated by some of our own. The kids first learned how to handle and cast the rod and reels (next year I would like to be able to give the equipment to the kids, any ideas?). The kids got into some fish with the volunteers expert help. When kids start catching fish, it really motivates them to pay attention and learn. At 10:30 AM, we herded the kids off the ponds with the promise they would be able to fish again later. In the classroom we showed a short 10 minute video of fish under the water, which was fascinating. We talked about Trout Unlimited, Water Conservation, and Entomology. John Ellis, the other boss, had captured a bunch of bugs and even a crawfish to d e mon s t r a t e live entomology. The kids were really en- See How ETU Helps on page

6 z How to Properly Handle Trout [Hal Garwood, ETU president] If you use barbless hooks you do not even have to touch the fish, even if you net it. If I net the fish, I leave it in the water. Most of the time by using barbless hooks, when pressure is let off the fly, the fish will spit it out or it will just fall out. Now all I have to do is simply release the fish, without touching it, making sure it is rested and will not go belly up. Depending on the size of the fish I just reach down with my forceps, grab the fly, and give it a little twist. The fish is then on his way, no harm no foul, just trying to figure out why that bug was so strong. If you like, buy one of those catch and release tools, (kind of expensive). All you have to do with that tool is grab your tippet, slide down to the fish and the fly, again give it a little twist and the fish is away without you touching it. A simple process! If you want to take a picture, use the following procedure. Make sure the picture taker is ready. This means he/she has composed the intended photo, lighting, cropping, angle, etc. While this is being done, keep the fish in the water, preparing yourself for how to hold the fish. How you hold the fish depends on how large and feisty the fish is. First wet you hands. I do not care how cold it is. If it is too cold, do not pick the fish up, period. If you are wearing gloves, do not pick the fish up! This is the worst thing you can do to a fish s protective slime on its body. This slime protects the fish from bacteria and infections that occur in our lakes and streams. You do not want to squeeze too hard, but at the same time you do not want to lose the fish. I have seen this many times. A person raises the fish; it struggles and goes for a swan dive right into the bank or worse into the rocks. You might as well kill the fish; because it is a high probability it will succumb to the high dive and go belly up within the day. Now that everybody is ready for the picture, raise the fish and take the picture or even two. Get the fish back into the water ASAP, preferably back into a net to make sure it is able to carry on without help. People say not keep the fish out of the water more than 30 seconds. That is Properly handling that fish on the other end of your line is a skill essential to any angler s toolbox. BS, 30 seconds is way too long. You can take two pictures in less than 10 seconds. I guarantee it if you follow these simple steps. I included a picture of me taken years ago. You can see I did not raise the fish very high above the stream. If the trout struggled, the swan dive would only be a couple of inches into the stream, not into the rocks or bank. I also kept the net under it if I needed to revive it before release. Due to the size of this trout, I cradled him in my hands so I did not have to squeeze hard to keep him under control. Here are my suggestions. Squat in the water. Hold the fish properly as to not harm it. Take the picture as fast as possible. Get the fish back into the water. Do not hold the fish out like you are trying to give it to the cameraman. It looks ridiculous and everybody knows what you are doing. Trying to make the fish look bigger than he really is just like telling a big fish story, you know what I mean. It takes extra time and handling and contributes to the fish s demise. One other quick suggestion: take your sunglasses off. It makes for a better photo of you. Anyway you are cool enough because you are a fly fisherman! If the fish seems not to be able to carry on its own, it s time to give it some CPR! I do not mean ducking your head under the water and kissing the fish. Ha! You just need to get some water flowing through the trout s gills. If you are in moving water, simply face the fish up stream and let nature do its job. If you are in still water you may need to gently move the fish forward to help get some water flowing over it gills. Slowly move it back, then forward again. Some people have asked me how you know when the fish is ready to release. Most of the time the fish will tell you with a good kick. Kind of like you see on TV when a person is giving CPR to a victim, he coughs and takes a big breath (I know that is realistic because it happens the same way on every show). Sometimes it takes a long time. You have (Ha! Ha!) to gently release the fish, keeping your hands around it, or at least in the net. If it has any tendency to roll, it is not ready. Unfortunately, some never recover. I was once fishing the Sagebrush Lakes in North Park with a buddy of mine. We were in our pontoon boats. He got into a 20+ inch rainbow and had one heck of a time landing him. He had an extra rod, and got all tangled up. The fish was jumping and fighting like there was no tomorrow. Before I got over to him to help, the fish had bounced off one of his pontoons at least two times. I netted the fish for him and got it unhooked. I told him no pictures because this rainbow was exhausted and in trouble. I told him to concentrate on getting untangled, and See How to Handle Trout on page 7.

7 Tie One On from page 3. seem to imitate the pulsating gills of the mayfly larvae. Dale Darling lives up near Drake, CO., along the Big Thompson River. He came out to Colorado to study music and ended up as a fishing guide and fly shop owner in the Estes Park area before getting back into his music a couple of years ago. He stills guides, but is mostly back composing and performing now. He also has published a series of booklets on different types of flies, when to find them, how to tie them and how to fish them. I can recommend all the booklets, especially for someone new to the area or new to fly tying. You can find and order them over the Internet. Just look up Dale by name. Dale s Tying Instructions Start by removing the barb on your hook and then starting your thread at about the halfway point of the shank. Take the thread back to the start of the bend, so that the thread lines up with where the barb was below. This will be the tie-in point for the pheasant tail fibers that will form the tail. Notice in the first photos that Dale also has marked with black thread where the head of the fly will be so that the body of the fly will not move beyond that point and he will save room to tie off everything at the end. Select and clip several strands of pheasant tail fibers. You will want enough to equal roughly the diameter of the hook. Dale points out that fibers taken from the bottom of the stem will be thinner while fibers nearer the tip will be thicker. So, on smaller flies you might select fibers from the lower part of the tail and, for larger flies, from closer to the tip. Once you have your tail fibers, even them up. The length of the tail, from the tie-in point, should equal the distance from the front of the hook eye to above the point of the hook. Using your thumb and forefinger to grip the PT fibers, get the right length set and then set the fibers at the tie-in point. Wrap down with one wrap of thread. Now tie in your length of wire at the same point with one or two wraps of the thread. Pull the PT material back gently and wind your thread over the wire, moving forward with each wrap until you are back just beyond the original starting point for your thread. Next, gently twist the PT fibers and wind them forward to where the thread is hanging. At that point, tie off and clip the excess wire and PT material. Tie in four to six strands of Flashabou in front of the abdomen and pull back over the abdomen and tail. Take the wire, which has also been hanging over the tail, and reverse wrap it back over the abdomen so that it traps the Flashabou flat on top. Tie off the wire where you tied in the Flashabou. Clip off the excess Flashabou that extends from the abdomen back over the tail. Save it. Now take that excess Flashabou you just saved and tie it in again in front of the abdomen. Lift your thread back slightly onto the abdomen. Fold the Flashabou back onto the abdomen and tie it down there. At the same point, tie in three or four strands of peacock herl by the tips. Wind forward to just behind where the head How to Handle Trout from page 6. I would take care of the fish. I kept the fish in my net which was rubber, and did not harm the fish with additional handling. I kept it facing me under my legs and I gently finned my boat around the lake reviving the fish. Eventually, the trout came to life after about 45 minutes and I had a successful release. Why would I go to so much trouble? That trout was at least 4 to 5 years old. I thought I could at least give him some of my time because he gave my partner a real rodeo. After I released that beautiful rainbow, my partner was still trying to get untangled which was funny (been there done that). I hope this is not the first article about proper fishing etiquette we have. I of the fly will be and tie off. Cut off any excess. You can just give the excess herl a good tug against the tightly held thread and the thread will cut it cleanly. Next you will tie in the legs. In the photos, Dale is using dyed orange partridge, but you can use any hen material with soft fibers. One thing to note is how the tip of the feather is clipped out before positioning the feather for the tie-in. To do this, pull back the longer fibers, leaving only the rounded tip. Clip that out. Now push a dozen or so of the longer fibers on both sides back into place. You will have a V-shaped gap where the tip was that will fit nicely over the eye of the hook to be tied in to form the legs of the fly. Turn the feather so that the bottom side is up, with the tips of the fibers pointing down. Grasp it tightly with your thumb and forefinger. This is a technique that can be used on a lot of small flies, not just this one. After tying in the legs with three tight wraps of your thread, clip the excess feather and continue to move your thread to right behind the eye of the hook. Pull the Flashabou over the thorax, being sure to keep the legs to the sides, and tie down, starting from behind the eye and moving back toward the thorax. Pull the excess Flashabou back once more, make a couple of more wraps right at the front and then clip the excess. Create the head with your thread and whip finish from the back of the eye to the back of the head. Apply a drop of water-based cement to secure everything just a bit more. encourage anybody who would like to add to or criticize this article to do so. This is my opinion, and the way I conduct my angling. I know some of you beginners or old timers can either get something out of articles like this or even write one. It is cool to be published. Just Google yourself and see how many times your name comes up

8 Upcoming Events August th (Wed); Monthly Meeting and Program; Beau Jo s Restaurant - downtown Evergreen; Program: Dr. Bert Cushing; The Living Stream: Ecology for Flyfishermen ; Time: Socializing at 6:30, Business Meeting and Program at 7:00 September th (Fri); Free fishing for ETU Volunteers Buchanan Ponds; Must be on the list - check in at Rec Center 10th (Wed); ETU Board Meeting; Location TBA; 7:00pm 19th (Fri) OR 20th (Sat); Free fishing for ETU Volunteers Buchanan Ponds; Must be on the list - check in at Rec Center 17th (Wed); Monthly Meeting and Program; Beau Jo s Restaurant - downtown Evergreen; Program: Dan Wright, owner of Fly Casting and Fishing; Time: Socializing at 6:30, Business Meeting and Program at 7:00 October rd (Fri); Free fishing for ETU Volunteers Buchanan Ponds; Must be on the list - check in at Rec Center 8th (Wed); ETU Board Meeting; Location TBA; 7:00pm 15th (Wed); Monthly Meeting and Program; Beau Jo s Restaurant - downtown Evergreen; Program: Jim Neiberger, Salmon FIshing in Idaho; Time: Socializing at 6:30, Business Meeting and Program at 7:00 17th (Fri) OR 18th (Sat); Free fishing for ETU Volunteers Buchanan Ponds; Must be on the list - check in at Rec Center How ETU Helps from page 5. grossed. What kid isn t interested in bugs? With our five fly-tying volunteers, the kids gathered around the various tables and watched and listened. I find it amazing how kids are fascinated with fly-tying. I sometimes think some of them would rather keep watching than actually go fishing. We then broke for lunch. That once a year hot dog really tastes good. Phil Waters and his lovely wife Sandy cooked the goodies that Steve Murray picked up at Costco. We really have a well oiled machine when it comes to hot dogs and kids. There were some other wives there to help with lunch. After lunch we took the kids out again to fish. I decided to rig up an outfit with a couple of my secret bugs and started to stick trout. I then let kids that had not caught a fish land the trout. I really feel that there were very few kids that did not land a trout. It was a good time for all and the event has been growing ever since its inception. There is a rumor that maybe we might host two fishing camps next year because of its popularity. The camp would not be so successful, without the leadership of John Ellis and Len Wheaton. I also have to give thanks to all that participated in volunteering to help and donating flies. You are the volunteers in the background that make events like this happen. Evergreen Trout Unlimited Exemplary Chapter Award 2004 Outstanding Chapter Project Award 2000 Outstanding Youth Education Program Award 1999 Outstanding Chapter Communications Award