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 long but, it hasn t taken me long to get it. To understand what ETU and TU are trying to accomplish. We planted vegetation along Bear Creek. We had a Kid s Fishing Clinic at Buchanan Ponds. We helped kids fish at the Mt. Evans Hospice/Camp Comfort. We installed a barrier fence in Bear Creek and conducted the July 4th Kid s Fishing Clinic. Just after those events I had a buddy come out from Chicago and I took him to Bear Creek for his first trout fly fishing experience. Steve was up at 5:30am. You could see the sun rising toward Denver and you knew it was going to be a beautiful day. We stood in my driveway and rigged his new rod. We had been to the Blue Quill the afternoon before to pick up a few more essentials. The excitement was building and we re not talking about two young kids. We re both in our mid-50s. So we set off for O Fallon and Bear Creek. As we drove in, I showed Steve the willows we planted earlier in the year. I told him about how the willows would perpetuate bug life, provide cover, provide shade, etc. I explained to Steve, just as someone explained to me, how ETU transformed the stream for better flow, deeper pockets, etc. We tied on an elk hair caddis and a pheasant tail. It came with his beginner pack from Bass Pro. He listened intently about hatches, casting instruction, drifts and all the other interesting tidbits. And then he started to fish. The smile was wide. The same smile I had seen on dozens of kids at our other events. The anticipation was exhilarating. As we walked the creek, I talked about our summer projects. I talked about how much fun I had at Camp Comfort and on July 4th. I talked about how good it felt to see kids enjoy themselves like I once did as a kid. I talked about how it touched my heart. We started to fish. And then, it happened. A little rainbow trout hit that elk hair caddis. Steve bumbled but recovered. He eased that trout right over to me on the bank. I slipped the net under it. We both knelt and looked at that gorgeous little thing. He looked at me and said, I don t think I ve ever seen anything any prettier. I smiled. He casted a few more time. We moved up stream. A few more casts and then boom.a little brownie on the caddis. Again, Steve eased it over to the bank just like a pro. We knelt again and observed. Steve said he took it back. The brownie was now the prettiest thing he d ever seen. It hit me. I get it. I get why we, at ETU and TU, do what we do. We do it so others can enjoy the beauty of fly fishing. We do it to preserve these wonderful natural resources. We do it to provide smiles to all those kids. We do it so some kids can forget their troubles. We do it so old buddies can be kids again too! Inside this Edition: Fly of the Month: The Bare-Bellied King... 3 REPORT: July 4th Kids s Fishing Clinic... 5 Blue Quill Reward Program... 2 REPORT: Trappers Lake... 4 Buchanan Ponds Kids Fishing Event... 6 CTU Bash/ETU Calendar... 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.
Chapter News Our Partners at The Blue Quill Angler By Mike McGinnis, ETU President Evergreen Trout Unlimited s volunteer program has expanded to include a partnership with The Blue Quill Angler. The volunteer program will now include a 10% discount at The Blue Quill on all non-sale items! Volunteers will receive an ETU/ BQA card that enables them to get the discount. The discount will extend for one year after volunteering for any of our projects or programs just as the Buchanan Ponds privileges do. So, volunteer and fish free and get your 10% discount at our local shop! Thanks for Your Help Frank Frazier of Morrison has generously donated a wonderful assortment of fly tying materials to Evergreen Trout Unlimited. Included are everything from hackles to hooks. These materials will serve us well at the Outdoor Lab as well as our other group tying endeavors and youth education events. Frank, a Colorado native, is a renowned small stream flyfisher. He says he has too many rivers to visit and too many fish to catch for him to spend time at the vise anymore. Good luck with those store bought flies Frank, and our chapter thanks you for your generous gift. Interested in donating some unused fishing gear or supplies to Evergreen Trout Unlimited? Contact Mike Goldblatt at (303) 674-7122 for more informtion. Evergreen Trout Unlimited P.O. Box 1974 Evergreen, CO 80437 www.evergreentrout.org Treasurer Steve Murray murray_sp@msn.com (303) 670-7942 Secretary Jim Wilborn jpwilborn@hotmail. com (303) 670-3306 Program/Members John Ellis jellis@enbcolorado. com (303) 674-1017 Ron Altman Newsletter Editor Joe Kerper editor@ evergreentrout.org (303) 674-3188 President Mike McGinnis MossyShoal@aol.com (303) 670-0554 Vice President Ron Altman At Large Rich Reynolds mdirich@msn.com (303) 674-4861 At Large Mike Goldblatt mike@lamtree.com (303) 674-7122 At Large Wayne Kosloske (303) 674-4092 Colorado Trout Unlimited Office (303) 440-2937 www.cotrout.org Trout Unlimited National Office (800) 834-2419 www.tu.org Youth Education John Ellis jellis@enbcolorado. com (303) 674-1017 Youth Education Jim Wilborn jpwilborn@hotmail. com (303) 670-3306 Webmaster Karen Christopherson Karen@ evergreentrout.org (303) 674-0252 At Large Len Wheaton (303) 674-4243 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. 2 8 www.evergreentrout.org
Fly of the Month Fly of the Month: The Bare-Bellied King By Len Wheaton, ETU board member at large There are many, many good attractor patterns available for the dry fly days of summer. Two of the oldest are the Rio Grande King and the fabled favorite of President Dwight Eisenhower called the H&L Variant. This month s newsletter tye combines the Variant body with the tail, wings and hackle of the King. Why? Well, just for the h--- of it! Tying Instructions For this tying demonstration, I m using a #12 debarbed hook just to help see the body sections better. For fishing, you might choose to go a little smaller. Start by wrapping on your thread attaching the golden pheasant tippet fibers for the tail. Overlay the butt ends with your 8/0 thread to even the body diameter from the tail base to what will be the wing tie-in point. Check out the tippet fibers in photo No. 1. Take your thread back to the tail base and tie in the bared end of the peacock herl. Make this bare end, about one inch in length, by stripping the herl fuzz off with your thumbnail. Move your thread back up to the wing tie-in point. Check this out in photo No. 2. This stripped, smooth, shiny, herl butt is wrapped forward the desired abdomen length (photo No. 3) and then the au-natural herl continues as the fuzzy posterior portion of the thorax up to the wing tie-in point. Here you stop winding, clinch the herl with a wrap of thread, then place a wrap in front of it to stand it up straight. You can see this in photo No. 4. You are saving the herl to complete the thorax after your wing is in place. Make a parachute wing post if you wish, but the conventional divided wing and hackle used here preserves the original silhouette appearance. ( Ed s note: Len s trick to tying the divided wing has him laying the wing fibers on top of the hook, across or perpendicular to the shaft, then making a couple of figure 8 wraps to cinch the fibers to the hook. Next he makes a couple of wraps around the base of each stem. Then he pulls the two sides back together and straight up and makes two more wraps around the base, as though it were a post. At this point, the wings should assume whatever angle you place them in.) So, tie in your wing and then use the peacock herl to wrap twice aft and twice fore Bare-Bellied King Recipe Hook: #12 Dry fly hook, debarbed, or smaller Thread: 8/0 black Tail: 9 Golden pheasant tippet fibers Abdomen/Thorax: 1Peacock herl, with the butt stripped completely bare for about one Inch Wing: Polypropylene rope fibers (combed out with a steel-toothed comb), or other suitable material Hackle: 1 furnace/ brown and 1 grizzly saddle hackle at the wing base and complete the thorax before you tie off and trim the excess herl. You can see this in photo No. 5. Mount the hackles, one grizzly and one furnace, and put two wraps aft and two wraps fore of the wing. Tie off and cement the head. Also place a drop of cement on the bare abdomen. Finally, trim the hackle tight underside of the thorax to assure an upright float for your H&L (house and lot) Variantbodied Rio Grande King. Your fly should look just like the one in photo No. 6. Photos by Tim Stechert. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 8 www.evergreentrout.org 3
Chapter News Trappers Lake Report Story and photos by Ron Belak, ETU member This year saw the largest turn out at Trappers Lake in many years. Sixteen members and guests began arriving on Wednesday, July 6 and commenced having the most fun you could in a pair of waders. We saw many returning members, some members that had not come in a number of years, and several first-time visitors. After erecting tents and stringing rods, most of us wet our first lines on Thursday afternoon following a brief thunderstorm. Callibaetis duns began popping almost immediately after the rain stopped, and we didn t experience another drop of rain the entire weekend. Anglers were not disappointed this year. Friday seemed to be the best day for most as sunshine and a gentle breeze combined to create a cooperative and predictable hatch a t precisely 10 AM. Falling spinners afforded the opportunity to sight fish to rising Colorado River cutthroats with an assortment of dry flies a No. 14 Mosquito being the most popular pattern. The Parachute Adams was a good runner up. A fifteen to twenty-fish day was not uncommon, and most of us had our fill by supper time so few ventured out for the evening midge hatch. Saturday was a little trickier fishing because a stiff breeze combined with poor lighting to make sight fishing challenging. However, some saw their most productive day on Saturday as they ventured to new areas of the lake populated with virgin fish or tried new patterns. My Saturday started out slow but picked up considerably after giving up on matching the hatch and switching to a No. 20 Elk Hair Caddis. There is something magical about deceiving 9 or 10 fish quickly after force feeding 2 or 3 in as many hours. A couple of members took advantage of world-class lessons in dry fly fishing. Others learned to identify a new bird or two, and some noticed the amazing columbines. A number of us made new friends and got reacquainted with old ones. Evenings were spent around a blazing fire with entertainment by the guitar-playing Doug Thom and numerous storytellers. As the evenings grew long, the fish got bigger, began to multiply in numbers, and stripped many a line into its backing. It s good that there were a couple of engineers and scientists aboard to keep the truth. The only missing ingredient on those evenings was Tim Haller s excellent home brew, otherwise it would have been raining fishes. We ll do it all again next year at the same time.. 4 8 www.evergreentrout.org
Annual July 4th Kids Fishing Clinic By Mike McGinnis, ETU President Chapter News Our annual July 4th Kids Fishing Clinic started a bit slow with iffy weather and sleepy trout, but ended with a bang. John Ellis gave short presentations and showed off his fishing skills to the kids before sending them off in pursuit of the elusive trout. The large turnout of ETU volunteers was much appreciated. A good time was had by all as kids, parents and volunteers hauled in large numbers of rainbows. coordinate the event. We could not have done it without the help of Evergreen Metro District and our great friends at the Colorado Division of Wildlife. We ve got to give Rich Reynolds a big pat on the back as well for coordinating the fence installation in Bear Creek. Thanks and congratulations to all! A huge thanks goes out to Brad & Lorna at Evergreen Lake House for helping ABOVE: Rich Reynolds holds up a section of the heavy wire used as the first layer of fencing across Bear Creek to hold in the hundreds of fish stocked by the DOW for the July 4th kids fishing clinic. ABOVE: Mike Goldblatt and Colleen Henderson relax mid-stream after getting the fine chicken wire attached. ABOVE: Dave Underwood hands a section of the heavy fencing across to Larry Drury while Colleen Henderson and an unidentified member attach another section. ABOVE: Rich Reynolds calls out instructions to an enthusiastic team of volunteers stretched out across Bear Creek as they complete work on the containment fence by tying down the chicken wire that they hope will hold back the hundreds of trout to be stocked for the July 4th fishing clinic. 8 www.evergreentrout.org 5
Chapter News Report: ETU Fishing Clinic on Buchanan Ponds Story by Ron Belak, ETU member; photos by Ron Belak s camera Over 20 ETU members joined about 25 children at our annual children s fishing clinic on Saturday, June 12. A cold dreary day greeted the young anglers who started arriving as early as 7:30 AM with hopes of being the first to catch a trout. No time was wasted in distributing flies and rods and directing children towards the 300 trout stocked in the upper pond. Despite the cold temperatures and drizzle, the young anglers were tenacious and collectively landed over two dozen fish in the morning and later afternoon sessions. My student proudly displayed a nice rainbow landed on, you guessed it, an Orange Asher. About 10 AM, children returned to the warmth of Buchanan Recreation Center for indoor instructions. They were treated to an underwater video of feeding trout, lessons on entomology, knot tying demonstrations, and interactive fly tying. Following a picnic lunch of fillet mignon and lobster tails, the children ventured out again to the ponds for additional fishing. Many thanks to Len Wheaton for organizing the event, Ford Oliphant for rallying members to tie flies, all the members who helped with instructions, and Steve Murray for making hotdogs taste like steak and lobster. 6 8 www.evergreentrout.org
Second Annual Buchanan Ponds ETU Meeting Story and photos by Mike McGinnis, ETU President Chapter News Our ETU meeting at Buchanan Ponds was a huge success. Anglers tested their favorite flies and most caught fish! Steve Murray, once again, came through with a spread of fine foods and many brought side items that were delicious. We had a special presentation by Jay Henderson, who s working on an Eagle Scout project. Jay, his mom Colleen and dad, Mike joined us. Jay gave an excellent presentation on cleaning up Bear Creek and protecting our precious habitat. He, along with other scouts, will probably join us for our Bear Creek Clean-Up this fall. Congratulations Jay on a job well done. 8 www.evergreentrout.org 7
Evergreen Trout Unlimited Volunteer with Evergreen Trout Unlimited! Volunteers are needed for various projects, especially during the coming warmer months. There are opportunities for everyone, young to old, and to fit everyone s schedule. Some of the ETU volunteer activities include: planting shrubs, teaching fly fishing, helping kids fish, teaching fly tying, cleaning debris from Bear Creek, and aiding the DOW with fish counts. Current volunteer opportunities on posted on ETU s website, www. EvergreenTrout.org. Click on the Volunteer! link in the left-hand column. September 2010 3rd/4th (Fri/Sat); Free Fishing days on Buchanan Ponds for ETU volunteers. Name must be on the list of those who have volunteered in the past year and must check in at the desk for a pass. 15th (Wed); ETU Monthly Meeting and Program; Beau Jo s Pizza - downtown Evergreen; dinner at 6:30p; program at 7:15p; Program: TBA 17th/18th (Fri/Sat); Free Fishing days on Buchanan Ponds for ETU volunteers. Name must be on the list of those who have volunteered in the past year and must check in at the desk for a pass. Complete volunteer list may be found on our website: www.evergreentrout.org Evergreen Trout Unlimited www.evergreentrout.org 2006 Exemplary Chapter Award 2004 Outstanding Chapter Project Award 2000, 2009 Outstanding Youth Education Program Award 1999, 2009 Outstanding Chapter Communications Award