High Country Angler | Fall 2023

Fall Fall 20 20

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2023 CLEAN THE DREAM LANDON MAYER

MUDDY CREEK BRIAN LA RUE

NEW HOPE FOR COLORADO RIVER PROTECTION FROM OIL TRAINS

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Spend your time fiddling with flies, not with software.

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FALL 2023 VOLUME 20 • ISSUE 4

MAGAZINE CONTENTS 06

2023 CLEAN THE DREAM

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MUDDY CREEK: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

24 26 38 42 48 50 54 56

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BY LANDON MAYER

BY BRIAN LA RUE

NO BARRIERS

BY MARK SHULMAN

2023 TROUTFEST

BY COLORADO TU STAFF

2023 RIVER CONSERVATION & FLY FISHING CAMP

BY COLORADO TU STAFF

NEW HOPE FOR COLORADO RIVER PROTECTION

BY COLORADO TU STAFF

ANOTHER TOUGH DAY ON THE RIVER

BY HAYDEN MELSOP

WHAT YOU NEED, THE RIVER WILL BECOME

BY PETER STITCHER

CHEWIE CADDIS

BY JOEL EVANS

BEAVERS: BENEFACTOR OR PEST?

BY JOHN NICKUM

High Country Angler • Fall 2023

www.HCAezine.com

HCA Staff P U B LISHER S

J ac k Tallo n & Frank M ar tin

C O NTENT C ONSU LTANT L ando n M ayer

EDITO R IAL

Frank M ar t i n, M anagi ng Editor f rank@ hc am agaz ine.co m Landon Mayer, Editorial Consultant Ruthie Mar tin, Editor

ADV ER TISING

B r i an L a R ue, S ales & M a r keting b r ian@ hc am agaz i ne.co m D i rec t : ( 303) 502- 4019 M ar k Shulm an, Ad S ales Cell: ( 303) 668- 2591 m ar k@ hc am agaz i ne.co m

DESIG N

David M ar tin, Creative Direc tor & Graphic D esigner

P HOTO G RAP HY

Frank Martin, Landon Mayer, Brian LaRue, Angus Drummond

STAF F WRITER S

Frank Martin, Landon Mayer, Brian LaRue, Joel Evans, David Nickum, John Nickum, Peter Stitcher Copyright 2017, High Country Angler, a division of High Country Publications, LLC. All rights reserved. Reprinting of any content or photos without expressed written consent of publisher is prohibited. Published four (4) times per year.

To add your shop or business to our distribution list, contact Frank Martin at frank@hcamagazine.com.

D i str i buted by H i gh Countr y Publi cati ons, L LC 730 Popes Valley D r i ve Colorad o Spr i ngs, Colorad o 809 1 9 FA X 719-593-0040 Published in cooperation with Colorado Trout Unlimited 1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 320 Denver, CO 80202 www.coloradotu.org

ON THE COVER: FINN OLIVER ANGLE

TOC PHOTO: THE ANGLE TWINS, FINN & SULLY www.HCAezine.com

Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

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LOOKING BACK ANNUAL CLEAN

This years 8th annual Clean the Dream hosted 306 Volunteers. Through there hard work and efforts backed by best Companies and Non Profits, we collected 2500lb of trash and 600lbs of tires 6

High Country Angler • Fall 2023

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K ON THE 8 N THE DREAM TH

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a Photo Essay

by Landon Mayer

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If you know, you know, lol. 6 ft tall Ron Robertson is measured by his son 6’7 Scott on my door jam. Both of these great men are a big part of the volunteer back bone of the Clean The Dream.

Behind the scenes work Jim and Diane Browning made it possible to hand the first 150 volunteers a Fishpond Large Mouth Pio Pod for attending this years event.

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Even under pouring rain, the Dream Team, Jack Shaw, River Mayer, Scott Robertson and Ron Robertson, set up the parking lot, tools, signs, tables, and E Z Ups for the next day’s Clean the Dream. www.HCAezine.com

Watching my awesome and charismatic son River Mayer (13), MC the whole raffle from the mega mile was impressive. He made his dad very proud!

Barbara Leibla is a proud mom of her son Michael, who is a passionate angler on the rise. He gave back that day by picking up trash in the morning and releasing his personal best rainbow trout that afternoon.

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The future! This photo says it all!

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You don’t want to miss out on Jack Shaw’s home cooking. Smoked pork, chicken, and hot dogs with a cold beverage is a great reward after a hard day’s work!

The beauty of the South Platte River (Dream Stream) can leave an angler speechless.

This is worth protecting!

High Country Angler • Fall 2023 www.HCAezine.com 12

Tossing a heavy bag of trash that was removed from tube fisheries in South Park is an awesome feeling.

I am a lucky man to share the day cleaning up with these amazing ladies.

Charlie Banks, Peggy Stevinson, and Gene Gottensburg. www.HCAezine.com Fall 2023 • High Country Angler 13

The Atkins family came down from TX to join in the fun. Once you experience the South Platte River it draws you back for more!

JJ Vest and his son Jackson have been with us since the beginning! CongratulaHigh Country • Fall 2023 14 tions to him andAngler his new family with Julie.

This year we set an all-time record of 2500 lbs. (1.25 tons) of trash, and 600 lbs. of tires. Greens total was 3100 lbs. collected! www.HCAezine.com

Every year independent sponsors like Andrew Norris make Clean the Dream a community event. This year he donated 200 utility gloves for the days dirty job.

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Yeti coolers has been a key sponsor since the beginning. The buckets also make great trash gathering tools for the day.

Having neighbors like Gary Soden step up to help with the Yeti tower makes my street the best place to live.

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Clean the dream is truly a family affair. It was so nice to have Kari, Bink, Frank, and Shawn join us this year. www.HCAezine.com

No matter how hard he tries, River cannot escape the loving hug from our close friend, Larry Ydens.

About Landon Landon Mayer is a veteran Colorado guide and author of several books. His newest book, Guide Flies: Easy-to-Tie Patterns for Tough Trout, can be purchased on his website at www.landonmayerflyfishing.com. You can follow Landon on Instagram at @landonmayerflyfishing. www.HCAezine.com

Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

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WHAT’S IN A NA Give Muddy Creek A Chance

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AME ANYWAY?

by Brian La Rue www.HCAezine.com

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W

e often avoid waters that are high, off-color, and dingy. Sometimes, it’s just a name that scares us away. But for those few times you give a new questionable water a chance, maybe something magical happens as something special, a new fishery you passed up before, might just convince you it was worth it all along.

One such fishery that’s always turned me off just because of the name is Muddy Creek near Kremmling. CO. The “Muddy” part—yeah that will keep a lot of would-be fly fishers away. However, if you get over your avoidance of such waters, you might just come to like it.

Muddy Creek is a tributary of the Colorado. Here, anglers will connect with rainbows and browns. The creek features two obvious sections separated by Wolford Reservoir. So that gives you a tailwater option and of course some bushwhacking, small water stuff above (very little public).

Pick your poison (or just stick to the tailwater), but just know that there is some bad news besides the name itself. The cream of the crop water below the

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dam only offers about five miles of public water. The view from the Allington Inn & Suites in Kremmling will have you wishin’ you could be fish it—but it’s private! And there are biting flies and mosquitoes in the public reaches too! Still with me?

Well, here comes the good part. The creek is decently wide and runs through open meadows (actually picturesque) allowing for easy casting to 13- to 16-inch trout with larger fish showing often. Rainbows pushing five pounds have shown in recent years.

In my opinion, this creek gets me in the mood to throw dries for long, drag-free drifts to sippers if you time the hatch just right. Or just the opposite, maybe a violent splash down with a big streamer, and turn some heads that way.

Local fly shop staffers and guides shared a little info on the river with me. They said it’s a great summer and fall fishery for anglers hauling hopper-dropper rigs fished tight to the little structure. Mostly, you will find grassy undercut banks that hold good trout.

There is very little actual structure--it’s a perfect candidate for Trout Unlimited to spruce up--but I kind

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of like it the way it is! You can never go wrong with midges, stimulators and even ant patterns in the late summer and fall.

This is one of the few fisheries I’ve encountered in our home state where I would compare it to fishing a chalky Greybull in Wyoming, or maybe the Lamar or Slough after a small thunderstorm. The local shale and silty surroundings give it a chalky appearance, but like those rivers I mentioned, fishing can be a blast.

Fall would be the time to really get aggressive with a streamer rig. Tie on a larger white, yellow, brown, or black streamer. What’s that old saying in fishing off-color water? Go larger and darker, and

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maybe even a little noise to catch a trout’s attention? Swing those streamers in the late summer and fall and rip them with a quick retrieve to create commotion in the lower visibility situations you will find there.

Winter presents some opportunities, but remember to check flows. This is a tailwater, but flows are not as swift as the Willimas Fork down the road, so you will get more icy areas here. The lack of major shade trees might help that situation too, but it’s best to enjoy this fishery in the warmer months and before a deep freeze hits the area.

There’s something to be said about these fisheries that look ugly, don’t offer much appeal, are often overlooked, and feature a lot of private stretches. That means many just drive on by to the Colorado, Blue or Willimas Fork and never even wet a line in Muddy Creek.

Muddy Creek has two public access areas to park and give it a go. Take County Road 227 to the lower BLM section, but make sure you have a four-wheel drive if there’s been any recent weather.

The south entrance to Wolford also leads to a parking area near the dam, which will allow you to walk down creek. And the good news is, both parking areas are free.

Well, make the decision for yourself, but don’t judge a book by its cover. Try your luck on Muddy Creek and let us know how you do, because you know there is a monster lurking in that less-than-ideal water!

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About The Author High Country Angler contributor Brian La Rue enjoys giving fly fishers ideas of where to go for an adventure.

Feel free to reach out to Brian at Brian@hcamagazine.com if you want your lodge or guide service featured in an upcoming promotional marketing plan.

Westcreek Lakes Community!

Colorado Land like this is rare, few and far between and does not come available often. This large 4.24 acre lot sits perched above Pine Lake with stunning, unobstructed views of Thunder Butte, Sheep Nose, Pikes Peak and Signal Peak. The back portion of the lots border Pike National Forest. Short ATV ride, walk or drive to the neighborhood lake. Ready-to-Build Lot with a fully paid well water tap and two availability fees. The additional availability fee guarantees another tap into the community well if the new owner desires. Electricity is in close proximity to the lot line. Main road to Westcreek Lakes is county maintained making for easy access to the lot and future home all year round. This is one of the last few Colorado lakes that allow for swimming, kayaking & paddle boarding, fishing (stocked annually) and non-motorized water sports that can be used by residents. This area is a local haven and hot spot for miles and miles of endless and spectacular ATV riding, dirt biking, hiking and Jeeping trails; hundreds of miles of trails to explore. Love fly fishing?

World class fly fishing on the Platte River just minutes away too! Watch our video to get a better idea of the property layout and what life is like in Westcreek: https://thedenver-creative-group.aryeo.com/videos/919cdf03-903b-4793-8ba5-4975aab4586c.

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by Mark Shulman

No Barriers

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aturday morning, July 22, 2023, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) was host to “Fly Fishing in the Rockies”, an event to introduce park visitors of all ages and abilities to the joys of fly fishing. Along with co- sponsors, the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD” and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, local fly angling experts and RMNP ranger staff gave participants the opportunity to learn about the basics of fly fishing. Casting instruction, how to read the river, fish species and fly selection were some of the topics covered.

Anglers gathered at the Holzwarth Historic site on the west side of RMNP and travelled the fully accessible trail the short distance to the crystal-clear waters of the Colorado River. Kelly Fowler, Special Events Manager for NSCD provided all needed fly gear and Ed Lingren, Naturalist with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy helped organize local experts to provide one on one angling instruction.

Several brook trout aided in the instruction by rising to the elk hair caddis carefully drifted by one of the park rangers!

This free event showcases the best of fly fishing – comradery, opportunity for all, respect and love of our beautiful river and magnificent national park.

Please visit and support National Sports Center for the Disabled www.nscd.org

About The Author Mark Shulman is a contributor to High Country Angler and active in Trout Unlimited. When not on the Colorado River headwaters you can reach Mark at Mark@hcamagazine.com 24

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Rocky Mountain Conservancy www.rmconservancy.org

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n Saturday, July 8th, 2023, Colorado Trout Unlimited held its annual Troutfest Colorado at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.

Approximately 3,000 people entered the ballpark throughout the day to roam the mezzanine level of the stadium and visit over 50 exhibitors, watch films on the giant scoreboard, receive casting instruction, view professional fly tyers, and interact with numerous youth activities.

The venue attracted not only TU members and anglers, but also many families and people who simply saw a free event at Coors Field and wanted to learn more about Colorado Trout Unlimited. www.HCAezine.com

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To learn more To learn more about this and other stories, visit coloradotu.org. www.HCAezine.com

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2023 River Conservation & Fly Fishing Camp BUILDING LEADERS WHILE BUILDING LEADERS

by Colorado TU Staff

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his year’s CTU River Conservation & Fly Fishing (RCFF) Camp was June 11th - 17th in Almont, CO, and was a huge success! After receiving several camp counselor applications (from 2022 campers and returning Junior Counselors) as well as new camper applications, we had the excellent idea to not only accept 20 awesome campers but also accept 12 Junior Camp Counselors at this year’s RCFF Camp!

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Each of these Junior Counselors had already completed camp. This year, they had the opportunity to build up their leadership, teamwork, and angling skills as they helped lead small groups, guided campers, and helped the Seasoned Counselors keep camp organized.

This morphed beautifully into incredible relationships between our Campers, Junior Counselors, and Seasoned Counselors. Seasoned www.HCAezine.com

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Counselors introduced discussion topics, while Junior Counselors led small groups of interested Campers.

Campers received one-on-one tips from leading Seasoned and Junior Counselors as they fished, tied flies, designed posters, and even learned how to build their own fishing leaders!

Campers grew in their angling skills and confidence throughout the week, and Junior Counselors grew in their leadership skills. This leadership model for CTU’s River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp helped streamline some of the organizational parts of the camp. Still, it also allowed us as an organization

137 Outlaw Court Jefferson, CO 80456

to promote our ‘Stream of Engagement’ model for the CTU Headwaters Youth Programs. Through this program delivery model, we strive to engage new participants in our Youth Programs and ensure that people of any age can "plugin" to TU and continue their relationship with coldwater conservation and fly fishing through various age-appropriate opportunities and programs.

CTU’s River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp is not only teaching how to build fishing leaders but also building leaders within Trout Unlimited and fostering the next generation of river conservationists and anglers! Thank you to all the Camp Counselors, Volunteers, Campers, and Camp Supporters! We could not do this without you!

To learn more To learn more about this and other stories, visit coloradotu.org.

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THE CTU FALL RENDEZVOUS TAKES PLACE OCTOBER 20TH THROUGH THE 22ND, 2023 AT THE HOTEL COLORADO IN GLENWOOD SPRINGS. Subjects, activities, and speakers you don’t want to miss include: Water 101 with Mely Whiting Engaging on Water Projects and Mitigation Plans Planning for Success and Succession Expanding Your Outreach to New Audiences One TU Staff Panel Next Steps on Priority Waters Chapter Project Showcases

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New Hope for Colorado River Protection from Oil Trains COURT OVERTURNS FEDERAL APPROVAL FOR UINTA BASIN RAILWAY

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by Colorado TU Staff www.HCAezine.com

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his August, advocates for the Colorado River got some very welcome news when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the Surface Transportation Board (STB) decision approving the Uinta Basin Railway (UBR). Ruling on suits brought by Eagle County and by the Center for Biological Diversity, the court found that the STB’s environmental analyses were flawed and did not adequately address downline impacts of the project, including in Colorado.

A coalition of Utah counties known as the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition originally proposed construction of the UBR, an 88-mile rail line across northern Utah connecting the oil fields in the Uinta basin to existing rail lines. Their plan calls for transporting up to 350,000 barrels per day of waxy crude oil along more than 100 miles of the Colorado River, as well as the Fraser River and South Boulder Creek, towards Denver and eventually on to refineries in Texas. That’s enough to fill tanker cars on five two-mile long trains every day. The STB was the federal agency in charge of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project, and after reviewing potential impacts and alternatives in Utah, allowed the project to move forward.

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The Court ruling has – for now – put the brakes on the UBR project, due to both National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act violations in the (EIS) and in the Biological Opinion (on endangered species impacts) for the project.

The court found that the STB did not give enough consideration to the potential impacts along the entirety of the route, including Colorado and other downline states. Among the key downline concerns has been the increased risks of a derailment leading to an oil spill or to a wildfire.

“The STB failed to consider impacts on Colorado’s rivers, communities, and Gold Medal fisheries, and now the Court’s ruling gives them a second chance to get things right,” said David Nickum, Executive Director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “Developing energy responsibly also means minimizing impacts during transport, and we will continue to oppose this project until its risks to Colorado rivers are avoided or fully addressed.”

While not a party to the lawsuits, Trout Unlimited has spoken out about its concerns with the proposal and its potential harm to the Colorado’s rivers and watersheds. The recent bridge collapse and train derailment into the Yellowstone River, among other www.HCAezine.com

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rail accidents in recent months, has underscored TU’s concerns. The proposed shipment route across Colorado follows rivers winding through remote canyons that would be difficult for emergency responders to access in the event of a derailment.

“The chances of derailment in Colorado along these windy canyons goes way up,” said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado River Headwaters TU Chapter.

“East Palestine, Ohio, didn’t give us any confidence, either.”

Colorado TU does not oppose energy development if done responsibly; in the case of the UBR project that means ensuring protections for communities, forests, rivers, wildlife, and fish along the entire shipment line across Utah and Colorado (and beyond). Specifically, we believe the following should be required as part of a new EIS and Biological Opinion: • Consideration by the involved federal agencies of alternative routes downline from the UBR itself, keeping oil trains away from the Colorado River • Further evaluation of the project’s risks and subsequent development of mitigation plans, particularly along the sensitive trout habitats in the Colorado and Fraser Rivers and Boulder Creek • Derailment procedures, mitigation, and practice deployments, backed with sufficient bonding to cover response and recovery in the event of an accident and/or spill.

• Community hearings attended by the project’s sponsors in the potentially impacted areas within Colorado on both sides of the Continental Divide Of course, responsible protections are also needed in

Fly-Fishing Private Waters in Colorado

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Utah to address risk and impacts to its Blue Ribbon fisheries, and Colorado TU will support our peers in Utah Trout Unlimited in seeking appropriate safeguards for their watersheds as well.

A bipartisan group of Colorado state and federal lawmakers have also spoken out on the project, including U.S. Senator Bennet and Congressman Neguse, Colorado Senators Roberts and Will, and Colorado Representatives Lukens, McCluskie, McLachlan, and Velasco. Colorado TU is grateful for their support and leadership on this important issue.

We do not yet know what next steps UBR project proponents will take, whether they will seek to appeal the Court ruling or pursue an updated EIS that addresses the failings identified by the Court.

Other parallel proposals are also under consideration – including expansion of a train terminal that would increase truck shipments of waxy crude across Utah and subsequent rail transport across Colorado, albeit to a lesser degree than the UBR. With all of these efforts, Colorado TU remains committed to working with the agencies and stakeholders to ensure that all project impacts are fully understood and addressed; Colorado’s rivers are too important of a resource on which to gamble.

To learn more To learn more about this and other stories, visit coloradotu.org. www.HCAezine.com

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A GUIDE’S LIFE

•

BY HAYDEN MELLSOP

Another Tough Day on the River

T

he river charged gin-clear and fast from out of the mountains, little in the way of bends or boulders to slow its progress. On the north facing bank, spruce grew thick right down to the waters edge, while opposite a low-arcing sun backlit aspen and scrub oak in neon hues of yellow and red.

From atop a high bank I scanned the riverbed, imagining acrid laid on its surface, looking for something out of place - a flicker of movement, a torpedo shape facing upstream among the donuts. Nothing.

Ahead of where I stood a log lay close to the bank, bleached the color of bone, its root ball facing upstream. A barely discernible darkening on its far side hinted at a depression in the riverbed, perhaps the outcome of turbulence created by the root ball.

For the next fifty yards of river, it seemed the only place offering a fish any kind of sheltered lie.

I slid down the bank and into the water, what looked calf-deep enveloping my thighs. I waded across to the far side where the water flowed shallow among the cobbles and worked into position to cast back across toward the depression. Three feet below a

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generous dry I tied on a weighted nymph, then aimed a cast several feet above the root ball, hoping to give the nymph time to sink before reaching the depression. I decided I’d give it ten casts before moving on.

On the seventh the dry fly gave a little stutter. I set aggressively, immediately feeling the weight of a fish and also regretting I’d chosen to bring a three weight instead of a five.

The rainbow leaped once then headed upstream for the root ball. In an all-or-nothing play, I turned downstream and put as much side strain on the line as I could, all my faith in the flex of the rod and three feet of 4x. After a few seconds of tug-of-war, the fish turned, and by increments I was able to coax it into the shallows where it lay on its side, golden-hued like the cobbles on which it lay.

I continued upstream, the terrain requiring multiple back and forths from bank to bank. I came to a rare side channel where on my first cast a fish rose lazily to inspect my dry fly, before dematerializing phantomlike to the depths from which it had emerged. For the next forty-five minutes I exhausted my fly selection trying to coax it once more, to no avail. Time to move on.

The sun lay low to the mountaintops when I came upon a fast tail out, across the far side of which was a deep, slow pool with the shadow of a large boulder in its midst. Switching to a nymph rig I waded into the tail as far as I dared, then cast across the flow into the pool, keeping the rod tip high and mending to try

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and get a few seconds of drift through the pool. The felt mercifully released from the confines of my wadindicator dove, I set, and something large and silver ing boots. I sank into my camp chair, and nursing a twisted and turned on itself deep in the pool. The rod bourbon against night’s gathering chill, thought back tip began to duck and dive, and as the fish charged on the day. It is a good thing, I mused, fishing is neidownstream for the tail of the pool and the rapid ther an exercise in logic, nor economics. beyond, my predicament became apparent.

No hope of turning the fish beAbout The Author fore it reached the rapid, no way to follow it downstream. I scrambled Hayden Mellsop is an expat New Zealander living in the backwards out of the water, doing mountain town of Salida, Colorado, on the banks of the my best to keep the rod tip high Arkansas River. As well as being a semi-retired fly fishing when there came a semi-audible guide, he juggles helping his wife raise two teenage crack and the line went slack, flies daughters, along with a career in real estate. and indicator gone. I stood on the banks for half minute, an expletive or two rising to the heavens. Deciding whether to re-rig, my mind was made up when I noticed the Hayden Mellsop sun had dipped below the mounFly fishing guide. Real Estate guide. tains. I remembered the severalmile hike back to camp.

Taking to the trail, enveloped in the soft glow of evening, I encountered a cowboy leading a couple of mules with pack saddles, headed for the wilderness area upstream.

“How’s the fishing?” he asked.

“Pretty tough,” I replied. “Sure is beautiful here though.”

He nodded. “That it is. How far up did you get?” he asked.

Recreation, residential, retirement, investment.

I shrugged. “About another 5IF EJõFSFODF CFUXFFO MPPLJOH GPS ZPVS TQFDJBM QMBDF BOE mOEJOH JU mile from here, I’d guess.”

He nodded again. “Doesn’t get 1JOPO 3FBM &TUBUF (SPVQ 4BMJEB any good for about another four.”

0öDF ] $FMM XXX )PNF 8BUFST DPN He touched the brim of his hat INFMMTPQ!QJOPOSFBMFTUBUF DPN and urged his horse on.

An hour later, back at camp, www.HCAezine.com

Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

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What you Need, the River will Become

by Peter Stitcher

T

he river has been many things to me through the seasons of my life. It has taken me on wild rides leading to adventure, and 12-mile floats that have left my arms weary but my spirit renewed and flying. The river has bodily carried me through seasons of loss and sorrow, to hours marked with fly rods rising and falling over the water like a metronome marking the beat to some of my most honest and cherished conversations with my kids.

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High Country Angler • Fall 2023

Photo Credits: Peter Stitcher www.HCAezine.com

This is my daughter Emily and shop dog Cedar on our annual one-on-one overnight float trip. Entering middle school and processing a number of life and family changes, the slow pace of floating the Colorado River, whittling by the fire, and conversations punctuated by the comfortable silences needed to focus and set adrift “boats” created out of flowers is what Emily needed in this season to feel seen, known, and supported. Like life, the river is turbulent one moment and gently carrying us forward the next. I hope that when the anxiety and uncertainty of middle school and preteen drama starts coming around the bend that Emily will return to this trip and remember that she is not navigating these waters alone, and that she will ultimately be carried through to calmer waters.

A couple years older than his sister, my son Aiden just started 8th grade and is venturing further and further from the nest as he tests himself and seeks to find his place in the world. This year Aiden asked that for our one-on-one we go on a “Survival Campout,” so we packed our fly rods, a knife, flint, tarp, and saw, left our food and tent at home, and headed off trail following a creek to some distant beaver ponds next to which we would craft a shelter for the night. On this trip the water rewarded Aiden with sustenance for his grit, curiosity, and hard work. Aiden was stretched by a number of firsts on this trip. Building his first shelter, cleaning his first trout, and starting his first fire with flint and steel. May these memories forged next to this high mountain creek give him courage to take on new challenges in life to not just survive but thrive!

So, if life has been weighing heavy on your shoulders, if you need space to clear your head, time to refresh your heart, or space to reconnect with family and friends, the river is waiting. Just come into the shop and speak the words “I’m not getting out as much as I’d like” and we’ll rally around you to help you in any way you need to get back to the river. The river is waiting and what you need, the river will become. www.HCAezine.com

Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

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When people visit our fly shop, the question is often voiced by either the member of our community or one of the Ascent Fly Fishing team, “Have you been getting out fishing?” While a simple and seemingly straight forward question on the surface, the question of “Have you been getting out fishing?” is really a code for “How are you doing?

Are you taking time for selfcare, for connection, for stillness, for community, and for refreshing?”

Like a beat cop checking in with a noticeably stressed bank teller, when the answer to this agreed upon secret phrase is “I’m not getting out as much as I’d like,” it lets the other know that life has been holding you hostage and that you need some help to break free. At different times we will inevitably all play the role of the bank teller being held hostage by a demanding work schedule, ailing family members, weekends packed with kids’ sporting events, and numerous other “good” or “important” things.

Inevitably my response to the water starved angler is, “How can we help you get back out on the water” and we stop everything to learn what type of waters they like to fish and who they will be sharing the water with, before we start dropping pins on the map of the best fishing spots and give them a couple flies to help them match the hatch. What we need from the water will vary from trip to trip and season to season, but ultimately if we make the time to go to the river, the river will become what we need it to be. www.HCAezine.com

About The Author

Peter Stitcher is an aquatic biologist by vocation and the owner of Ascent Fly Fishing located in Littleton CO and online at ascentflyfishing.com. Peter has written the “Bug Bites” column in High Country Angler for the last 7 years. Whether you are new to fly fishing or are a seasoned angler, Peter and the team at Ascent Fly Fishing would love to be a resource in equipping you, your family, and friends to help you get out on the water and experience it in a way that is life giving for you!

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www.IslandAcresResort.com Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

53

FIT TO BE TIED

•

BY JOEL EVANS

Chewie Caddis

S

ometimes in the creativity of fly tying, one makes up something that is odd but works.

Such is the Chewie Caddis. Maybe it is a caddis, sporting a curved body and leggy head, maybe it is a worm, maybe an oversize annelid similar to a San Juan Worm. No matter the name I gave it, the fish like it.

I have used this pattern with great success over more than a decade, but the success has come really mostly in certain situations. That being rivers, either as a dropper to a large dry fly in heavy broken but relatively shallow pocket water, or fished deep with a strike indicator in long, slow pools including from a slow moving boat.

For a dry/dropper rig, if the pockets are short and shallow, a short dropper tippet of about one foot, allows the fly to get into the sweet spot of the pocket quickly and visibly. I’ve more than once had a fish hit the dropper as soon as it hit the water. For longer and deeper pockets, especially those with a run of a few feet deep, a longer tippet of two plus feet is needed to get down near the bottom of the run with an extended drift through the run.

As a deep nymphing rig, with a strike indicator, I would typically fish this as the second nymph, behind a large attractor nymph such as a rubber leg or marabou streamer. Use either weighted flies in tandem or a weighted leader to get deep. Takes are usually very visible, with the dry fly indicator or the floating strike indicator moving noticeably.

Have fun experimenting with variations of the pattern. Chewie Skin comes in multiple colors. Try a different dubbing. Use a small curved hook for a

PLAY VIDEO HOOK: SHRIMP SIZE 10 THREAD: UNI 3/0 BLACK WEIGHT: OPTIONAL 0.010 LEAD WIRE BODY: CHEWIE SKIN UV RUST RIBBING: RUST TYING THREAD, BODY COLOR HEAD: ICE DUB CADDIS GREEN

more likely caddis imitation. Use more or less weight on the shank. Add some flash and segmentation with a visible ribbing such as bright tinsel, or contrasting color of wire for flash and added weight.

The Chewie Skin is susceptible to heat and melting, so keep the fly box out of the sun and maybe only tie a half dozen at a time until you need more. After only practicing on a few, this is a very quick tie. Effective doesn’t always have to be complicated and realistic.

Quirky works.

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About The Author Joel Evans is president of the Gunnison Gorge Anglers chapter and the current Southwest Regional Vice President of Colorado Trout Unlimited.

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High Country Angler • Fall 2023

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Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

55

THE LAST CAST

•

JOHN G. NICKUM

Beavers: Benefactor or Pest?

The recent drought conditions over most of our western States, coupled with the depletion of many groundwater aquifers, has led to a wide array of suggestions for dealing with reduced stream flows and dry land. One suggestion that has been mentioned by prominent news media sources is to recognize the potential benefits that could be obtained by protecting beavers and the dams they build to develop shallow wetlands. Do you think management plans based on beavers and the wetlands created by their dams are reasonable strategies in addressing some of our western water problems?

Q

Yes, I believe that beavers and beaver dams can be helpful tools for aquatic resource management. Scientists who monitor factors that affect wetlands and small streams have determined beaver dams retain sediment, enhance stream flow, improve groundwater recharge, and improve habitat for many species of fish. Historically, beaver dams were found frequently in many small streams and wetlands throughout the Northern Hemisphere. When European colonists arrived in North America the abundance of beavers was regarded as a mixed blessing. In the 16th and 17th centuries beavers were seen as a source of income. Beaver fur was in high demand in Europe because beaver hats were an ongoing fashion craze. The

A

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High Country Angler • Fall 2023

populations of beavers seemed unlimited to the trappers, so no thought was given to conservation-based management.

As waves of agriculture-oriented settlers arrived in later decades, the focus on beavers changed. They were no longer a monetary resource, but rather an obstacle that made it difficult to drain wetlands and even converted free-flowing streams into ponds and wetlands.

It was not long before local, state, and even federal governments developed programs for “controlling” beavers as animal pests. Bounties added to the financial rewards that trappers could obtain from “running a line” of beaver traps. The immediate benefits of additional farmland were believed to outweigh the array of benefits derived from intact beaver dams and the ponds formed behind them. “Animal control” programs were established within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as State and local programs where beavers were placed in the same general category as gophers and woodchucks. They were just another target animal for the “gopher chokers”.

Earth Day in 1970 and the ensuing development of environmental conservation programs did not lead to an immediate change in public awareness of the potential benefits that can be derived from beavers and their dams. I recall a meeting in Reno, NV that I attended in 1990.

Part of the program focused on aquaculture facilities and problems faced by fish farmers.

Although beavers are not a typical problem at fish farms, the meeting attracted many animal control agents from the USDA and USFWS. I

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spent an interesting and entertaining evening listening to animal control agents tell tales about ridding drainage canals and water supply canals of beavers, muskrats, nutria and other assorted “vermin”. Beavers had not yet made it into protected animal status for these animal control agents. Control was the operative word for them.

Recently, things have begun to change. Results from new studies and increased public awareness of the benefits of beaver-created wetlands, along with the negative effects of ongoing severe droughts in many western US areas, is driving a rethinking of our attitudes toward beaver. Advocates for clean water, natural habitats, and native species now recognize that the old desires to drain the marsh, straighten the creek, and speed the flow of surface water to the oceans were misguided and not in harmony with ecological principles. I was surprised when I did an online search for information on the effects of beaver dams on small streams to find several pages of material, including links to peer-reviewed papers. I urge readers of this column to do the same thing I did: search on-

line for the troves on information that are now available.

I caution readers to realize that our society may have moved on from the old beliefs that beavers are pests; but protecting beavers and reaping the benefits of their dam building will require big changes in thinking about how nature interfaces with private lands and with water rights. But the benefits of change will be substantial. Beaver dams help to improve the rates of groundwater recharge and moderate the fluctuations in stream discharges, helping improve late-season flows and sustaining habitat during drought periods. They help to retain sediment in the watershed from which they came, rather than having excessive sediment migrating downstream or altering stream geomorphology. Beaver ponds and the stream reaches below them become better habitat for many species of fish and the array of critters with whom they share the revitalized aquatic habitats.

In short: GO BEAVERS!

About The Author John Nickum, is a retired PhD. fishery biologist whose career has included positions as professor at research universities including Iowa State and Cornell University, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s fisheries research facility in Bozeman, MT, and science officer for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region. He was inducted into the National Fish Culture Hall of Fame in 2008.

www.HCAezine.com

Fall 2023 • High Country Angler

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