High Country Angler | Summer 22

summer sum mer 20 20

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Betwixt Waters

by Landon Mayer

Cody’s Lower Shoshone River

by Brian LaRue

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM

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SUMMER 2022 VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 3

MAGAZINE CONTENTS 08

BETWIXT WATERS

14

CODY’S LOWER SHOSHONE

18 20 28 30 34 40

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BY LANDON MAYER

BY BRIAN LA RUE

FROM THE COLORADO TU PRESIDENT

BY GREG HARDY

RIVER HEALER

BY COLORADO TU STAFF

SWIRLING SKIES AND RIVERS

BY HAYDEN MELSOP

A BUGS LIFE

BY PETER STITCHER

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM

BY NATALIE FLOWERS

THE LAST CAST

BY JOHN NICKUM

High Country Angler • Summer 2022

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 aisthetadesign.com

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: MEGAN MACKOWIAK

Photo by Landon Mayer

TOC PHOTO:

by Toby Stuart www.HCAezine.com

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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BETWIXT WATERS

by Landon Mayer

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

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O

ne of the biggest challenges in flyfishing is being able to fool large, wary trout, or—in this situation—locating fish on waters that feel a fair amount of pressure.

Trout are masters at adapting to the water they live in, or migrate to. Concentrating on betwixt water in between the conventional runs can lead you to trout that have not been pressured and are willing to take the fly. These are what I like to refer to as the “Waters In Between.”

There are three things you want to look for when you are locating giant trout: cover, oxygen, and food. The first and most important— cover—is the main reason trout have to adapt.

I believe that trout do not become pressured or spooked by knowing the same fly is drifting by.

Instead, they are spooked by the constant move-

ment from above or unnatural objects (such as split shot or indicators) moving through the waters where they are trying to feed. This forces trout to find places that are either overlooked, or unconventional, areas for them to hold in.

Whether it’s a rock, a piece of wood, or vegetation, trout need structure to hide and feel secure while feeding. For example, if there is a cluster of rock located in the middle of a stretch of water in between two conventional holes, fish will actively feed around the structure knowing that any threat can be avoided by moving back to the hole. In many encounters, the trout will hold in front of or next to the structure, allowing you to get closer when making a presentation.

As the current flows around structures, it provides prime seams for trout to feed in. These

fast that the trout have a short window to decide if they are going to take the fly, making the food source more appealing.

If you do not have the freedom of a long drift because you are presenting in front of or around a structure, use a tight line approach on every drift.

This will allow you to recast or adjust your drift by pulling line in to shorten the distance or moving your rod tip to not snag the structure on every drift. The nice thing about presenting to these rock hugging fish is they will usually take the seams create disturbance on the water’s surface, fly in the first few drifts, bemaking it difficult for predators to see, and ultimately cause they have not felt pressure in a while. forming a cushion in the river’s bottom that a fish can My favorite water in-between to look for trout is hold in and have their food delivered without expend- the water that changes into dark shades. These dark ing a lot of energy. Lastly, the water is often moving so water locations supply cover for trout from above by

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river bottom. To overcome this, cast your flies above the dark water, and while they are drifting, twitch or strip them to the drop off (or beginning) of the run.

This will allow you to achieve distance on your drift and sink the flies to the correct depth when needed without snags.

Undercuts are great cover for trout, as they can escape and tuck right next to the edge of the bank when they feel threatened. In addition, they don’t usually have to battle water flows, and many of the trout in the undercuts are large. The fish will often dwell in these areas completely undetected, moving out only to feed and then racing back under when pressured. This creates an opportunity to pursue them when they move from their hideout to feed.

There are two approaches in making a presentation to trout holding in undercuts. The first is the safest presentation, thinking short by allowing your flies to drift one to six inches away from the bank’s edge. This will give an actively feeding fish the opportunity to kick out from the undercut as your flies drift by. The second is presenting to a trout that is holding far back below the undercut and is not willing to break cover. To properly get a fly into position in this tricky situation, use the dead swing. The first half is natural with a mend to achieve depth. In the second half of the drift, you want to swing your flies without a mend providing tension. The result is a drift at the correct depth without snagging the bank or river bottom.

The nice thing about investigating “Betwixt Waters” is that it allows you to explore more water and enjoy the river in a less pressured setting. Always think outside of the box, and challenge yourself with new drifts to new waters. The rewards can be endless.

allowing the trout’s back to match the color of the water. Even if the dark water is a three-foot long pocket, it is enough for a thirty-inch trout to hold. This creates so many areas to locate quality trout that it can, at times, seem endless.

In my opinion, there are two types of dark water: The first are waters that supply enough to obscure the river bottom, but one can still see the dark silhouette of the fish. Then there are waters—often blue or black— that are so dark you cannot see the river bottom or the silhouette of the fish. These pockets are ideal locations for trout to feed, because they cannot see movement from above, or objects drifting through the water About Landon as easily.

In long, deep runs, you have the Landon Mayer is a veteran Colorado guide and author of advantage of achieving depth, beseveral books. His newest book, Guide Flies: Easy-to-Tie cause you have the ability for long drift. When you are dealing with Patterns for Tough Trout, can be purchased on his website short runs or pockets, it is more difat www.landonmayerflyfishing.com. You can follow Landon ficult to get your flies to the same on Instagram at @landonmayerflyfishing. depth of the trout without snagging vegetation or obstructions on the www.HCAezine.com

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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Located along the coveted East Fork of the Big Lost 25 miles from Sun Valley, this undeveloped 124± acre retreat is surrounded by national forest lands and boasts top-notch trout fishing. Year-round access and power to the property.

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CODY’S LOWER SHOSHONE

Wild Fishing, Urban Setting

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

by Brian La Rue www.HCAezine.com

T

hese days, when you meet another fly fisherman in everyday life, you learn two things: One, we all know the same folks in our small world and two, they are also driving further to find less crowded water as more people relocate to our region to join the fun in the Rocky Mountains. No news there…. it’s happening in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and even Wyoming, where I recently talked with an old friend, Tim Wade at North Fork Anglers in Cody.

“I’ve got good news and bad news for you when it comes to the Lower Shoshone,” said Wade.

“It used to see very little pressure, but the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of folks moving to the region and fishing traffic has picked up a bit.

“With that said though, thanks to our work with the local agencies, our team at the East Yellowstone Trout Unlimited Chapter has been able to work towards our goals to help the fishery with guaranteed flows in winter in the 300 to 450 cfs range, and we are working on a plan so that when they bump flows each April, they raise the flows slowly at about an extra 200 cfs each increase, vs a 2000 cfs instant flush,” added Wade. “This way, when the large population of spawning spring fish are actively spawning, they don’t get pushed off their redds by a massive flow increase. At the same time, when browns spawn in the fall, flows won’t be cut back so fast that they are left high and dry out of the water. The farmers are not happy, but we must do what we can to save our rivers as conditions become more challenging.”

I’m glad we have guys like Tim Wade and organizations like Trout Unlimited to fight for our fisheries. The planners of our civiwww.HCAezine.com

lizations never thought of the impacts of dams, not only affecting spawning runs all over the country, but standing water warms faster than cold untouched, free flowing streams and rivers and over the past generations—it’s no wonder salmon, steelhead and trout face so many challenges with warming waters. Recently a smallmouth bass was caught on the Yellowstone almost in the park near Gardner, MT…..signs that more warmer water fish are moving into new, more traditionally cold waters.

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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My first destination story with High Country Angler was about 10 years ago, and I wrote about the Shoshone above Buffalo Bill Reservoir. So, this time around, let’s talk about the Lower Shoshone— “the tailwater that fishes like a freestone river.”

“The Lower Shoshone fishes well all year round-January through December,” said Wade. “Fish respond better to hatches after Oct. 15 and before June 15. After that, the flows are higher, and the river is best fished by floating and using nymphs, hopper/ dropper rigs, or streamers, except in the short canyon stretch below the dam.

“Nymphing is very successful for wading or float

anglers,” added Wade. “Streamers work better from a boat and dry/droppers rigs work as well. “If you have never fished the river, try accessing the water at the 12th Street Fishing Access/Belfry Bridge, Paul Stock Recreation Area, the canyon below the dam at Hayden Arch Bridge, 19th Street, Road 2AB Wyoming Game and Fish Access area, and 23rd Street. All are public access points with little private land to impede fishing.”

Wade says the best-selling point of the Lower Shoshone is that it is a little slice of wild, hidden in a canyon, in an urban area. He says for the first eight miles below the dam, anglers will enjoy a high fish count in the 2,500-3,500 fish per mile, with WY Game and Fish even recording a few areas that approach 6,500 fish per mile, but Wade thinks that might be a little much of an estimation; he says that fish are found all over the river.

“There are fish everywhere!” added Wade. “Browns to 30 inches and cuts to 24 inches are caught every year, and the bigger browns—when they are hungry,

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they will not be shy and eat dries just like a 14 incher well from shore from July 15 until it freezes.” out in the open, so you will almost always have a shot Well, there you have it. Reach out to Tim and his at a bigger fish. Floating is technical in some areas, team at www.NorthForkAnglers.com for a fishing and requires skill to not flip or sink a boat. Self-bail- report, and swing by his shop for flies for the area’s ing rafts are recommended over drift boats, due to the waters. Make a week of it in Cody, hit the Lower and technical rowing/water.

Upper Shoshone and one of those lakes, and if you’re “There is no floating in the canyon stretch, which driving north along I-25 like me, hit the Platte for a is Class 4 and 5 in areas due to flows and restrictions,” day, then head NW and fish near Thermopolis. Say continued Wade. “This is a great wading area if one hello to our good friend Dan Pass at www.tworivhas good legs and isn’t afraid of loose rocks. Some of ersinnwy.com and then head on to Cody! There are the better wading/fishing areas are in the town access too many good waters in this region of Wyoming, so points year around. get the most out of your Wyoming annual license— “Overall, because of the size of fish, the number they aren’t cheap! of fish in the river and the idea you could see a bear, mountain lion or About The Author a pair of bald eagles here and there, the river here—through town, evenHigh Country Angler contributor Brian La Rue enjoys -rivals any fishery in the region,” said giving fly fishers ideas of where to go for an adventure.

Wade. “It stacks up—maybe even surpasses—the Bighorn or Missouri Feel free to reach out to Brian at Brian@hcamagazine.com if rivers, but remains less crowded you want your lodge or guide service featured in an upcoming than those other great waters. Give promotional marketing plan. yourself at least two days to fish this stretch, and if the water is slightly stained after a little push from the reservoir or recent rain/snowmelt, don’t be turned off. That’s when I feel the fishing is at its best.”

As a bonus, Wade also mentioned four local lakes that can fish well to add to the Cody experience. You’ll find good public access and trout over 20 inches within a 10-30 minute drive from Cody. These would be the Newtons, Luce, and Hogan reservoirs.

Luce sounds like the most interesting, some 25 miles from Cody.

Here you will find catch and release action for trout to 4 to 5 pounds.

“The Newtons—East and West Newton—can be fun as well,” said Wade. “These are smaller, man-made fisheries, with fish to 6 pounds. West Newton offers more cutthroat. There’s also Buffalo Bill Reservoir which itself can also fish www.HCAezine.com

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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BY GREG HARDY • CTU PRESIDENT

Honored To Be Part Of CTU

I

am honored to be the new President of Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU). A short bio of myself includes growing up in Tennessee and receiving my Masters degree in Wildlife/Fisheries Science at the Univ. of Tennessee. After a couple years working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, I joined the Environmental/Safety Group at Shell Oil Company.

Currently I am retired and living with my wife in Silverthorne. I am a Certified Casting Instructor (FFI) and love to catch fish on rods I have built and flies I have tied.

So that is enough about Greg. What I really would like to discuss: “Why is CTU the premier water conservation organization in Colorado?” Let’s start with Staff members and then discuss the CTU Workgroups/Committees.

In Colorado we are fortunate to have both CTU

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

and National TU (NTU) staff members to assist in managing our many projects across the State. Their expertise is diverse and includes the following: Conservation projects (CTU, NTU), Youth Education (CTU), Fund Raising (CTU), Advocacy/Legislative Review (CTU, NTU), Communication (CTU, NTU), Mine Reclamation (NTU), Water Rights/Legal (NTU), Agricultural Outreach (NTU), Sportsman Alliance (NTU), and participation with the Colorado Basin Water Roundtables (NTU).

CTU Workgroups and Committees have shown to be a useful resource to develop projects, share best practices, and a repository for programs that Chapters or individuals can utilize. The groups include the following: Advocacy/Legislative Review (Bull Moose Work-

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group). The primary role of this team is the review of proposed conservations bills that are introduced into the Colorado State Legislature. Each bill is discussed and reviewed to determine if CTU will support or oppose. The Workgroup is also very active in both local and National legislative issues to determine if actions are needed by CTU and their members.

Priority Waters Workgroup. This group is working with TU Chapters across the State and National TU to identify the Priority Waters located in Colorado. Priority Waters is a TU National program that is identifying important watersheds across the country that are characterized by habitat that support wild and native fish populations. Once the Colorado Priority Waters have been identified, then 5-year work plans will be developed for each of these watersheds.

Youth Education Workgroup. This group develops and manages all of the TU youth education programs. The programs include educational programs for individuals from age 5 to college students. The most popular program is Trout in the Classroom. This is a biological/STEM-based program that raises trout in the classroom with the eventual release into local waters. Another very popular program is the CTU Youth Conservation Camp. This is a 7-day camp for

ages 14-18. Campers are transformed into young river stewards by learning all aspects of river conservation and fly fishing.

Equity Workgroup. This group is developing partnerships with other conservation outdoor groups to assist in CTU growing their membership and to benefit from the experience and perspectives of a broader group of volunteers. There currently exists many opportunities to gain CTU support within our diverse communities. These partnerships will showcase the work that CTU is doing in communities across the state.

In summary, since 1969 Trout Unlimited has been the “one stop shop” for water conservation in Colorado. The continued drought conditions have put extreme pressure on our water resources. We need to accelerate our efforts in order for CTU to accomplish its water conservation mission. Let’s all step up; there is much work to be done.

To Learn More.

To learn more about this story and Colorado Trout Unlimited, visit coloradotu.org.

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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RIVER HEALER CLINT PACKO OF FREESTONE AQUATICS IS RESTORING RIVERS – ONE PROJECT AT A TIME.

by Colorado TU Staff

“O

ne of the penalties of an ecological education,” wrote Aldo Leopold, “is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.”

For many naturalists, that education leads them to improve their own stewardship and to act as advocates for the natural world. For a select few, like Clint Packo, it leads them to become healers: practitioners of the art and science of ecological restoration.

Packo’s journey to operating one of the leading river restoration firms in the nation began – as it does for so many river conservationists – with a fly rod in hand. With precocious skill as an angler and in helping translate that skill to success for his clients, Clint as a young teenager joined the guide staff of The Flyfisher Limited in Cherry Creek in the early 1990s, working alongside such future luminaries of 20

High Country Angler • Summer 2022

Colorado’s fly-fishing industry as Charlie Craven and brothers Mike and Todd Clough. His success there led him to be recruited by a group of doctors to help run a group of new fly shops they planned to open in the Carolinas. When family drew him back to Colorado, he was hired by Orvis to open their Park Meadows – and later their Cherry Creek – stores in Denver.

Beyond his growing success and reputation in the fly-fishing retail sector, Packo continued to work as a guide, including with Breckenridge Outfitters as they won multiple Orvis “outfitter of the year” awards. He started his own outfitting business, Freestone Outfitters, and worked with Denver-area shops Anglers All, Trouts, and both Orvis Company Stores in providing Colorado guide services. Clint built the company’s staff of guides and collection of permitted waters unwww.HCAezine.com

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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til Freestone was among the largest outfitters in the region.

Packo was on the fast track of the fly-fishing industry, but was just about to begin building his legacy on the waters that he loved and that sustain Colorado’s angling businesses. After taking a 3-month voyage fly fishing across New Zealand in 2005, Packo returned to Colorado and partnered with a friend in establishing a new business: Freestone Aquatics.

His friend Luke Kelly was a biologist working in habitat improvement. Packo’s family was in the general contracting and construction business, which had given him exposure and experience to the world of design, building, and permitting processes. Those skills, combined with his fishing experience and 14 years of guiding, made it seem like a good logical fit to launch a fishery management and restoration business. Clint funded the start-up, and Freestone Aquatics was born. Right out of the gate, they had the chance to prove their mettle with a five-year project restoring habitat on the North Fork South Platte—one of the nation’s most impaired rivers.

Since that time, Freestone has gone on to conduct

extensive restoration projects on most of Colorado’s most loved rivers – including the Colorado, Fraser, South Platte, Yampa, Gunnison and many others.

When the Learning by Doing partnership among Colorado headwaters partners with Grand County, Denver Water, Trout Unlimited, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and west slope water interests were looking to launch their first collaborative habitat project – on the wide and shallow “Fraser Flats” reach of the Fraser River upstream of Tabernash – they selected Freestone to lead the design/build operation.

The Fraser Flats project is a model for the approach Packo brings to river habitat restoration: the emphasis is on river and restoration. Rather than simply installing a range of habitat features designed to create deep holding water for trout immediately downstream, Freestone brings a whole-river approach to its projects, and natural appearance is imperative. In the case of Fraser Flats, that meant taking an overly wide and shallow channel and narrowing it to reflect the system’s altered hydrology from generations of depletions from transbasin diversions. Rather than simply installing structures as fish magnets, Freestone built

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the river mimicking natural features and processes – riffles naturally transitioning into deeper pools, point bars holding and gathering sediment, and all made with an eye toward how natural river processes will continue to sustain the habitat over time.

The results were significant and immediate. Fish promptly moved in to occupy the newly available quality habitat, with numbers and total biomass jumping by 300% in the first year. Kirk Klancke of the Colorado River Headwaters Chapter praised Freestone’s work on the Fraser, and its nature-based approach focused on creating a healthy, functioning river channel rather than simply creating artificial pools. “Clint does build holding water for trout, but he builds it as a depth where sediment can continue to move,” explains Klancke. Another thing that he does exceptionally well, we found nice fish but we didn’t have to fish what looked like a pond.”

Fraser Flats – and the nearby project creating fish passage at a diversion structure in Granby to reconnect habitat on the Colorado and Fraser Rivers – have created direct improvement on public waters. The bulk of Freestone’s work takes place with restoration

on private lands. On the upper Colorado River alone, Freestone has completed more than 15 miles of work between Lake Granby and Kremmling.

I asked Clint about the ambivalence many anglers have about private water fishery improvements. Why should public-water anglers care about those efforts?

For starters, because improvements on private water benefit the public waters within a long reach from these private properties.

“It is easy to hate on private water when you don’t have access to it,” said Packo. “But exhibit A is how everyone tries to get as close as they can to the boundaries of Ernie Cockrell’s water on the Taylor. He lets it take care of itself and he conserves it.” And those benefits spill over to the neighboring public reaches.

At a deeper level, though, Clint is a believer in the importance of private land stewardship in leading to broader conservation progress. “Some of the biggest, most important and landmark advances in conservation, whether it is riparian or upland, have been done by philanthropically-minded landowners who are willing to take risk head-on and fund innovation in restoration and conservation,” said Packo. “There are

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people who have been able to accumulate significant land holdings and then get intimately familiar with that land, and because they were already outside of the box thinkers in their careers, they started conserving and protecting in new and innovative ways.”

Philanthropy is an important word with Packo and has been another cornerstone of his involvement in conservation. He helped establish charitable groups to address needs on rivers where he has operated with the North Fork South Platte River Foundation and the Colorado River Protection Group. He is a donor and life member with national conservation groups including Trout Unlimited, The Loser Keys Guides Association (LKGA), Safari Club International, and several other conservation organizations, and has served on the board of Colorado Trout Unlimited, the Trout and Salmon Foundation, the North Fork South Platte River Foundation, and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.

Packo’s varied interests in angling, restoration, private land stewardship, and philanthropy, all came together in a major legacy effort completed in 2021.

Clint and two partners had purchased the Abell River Ranch from the family whose forebears had homesteaded the property more than 150 years before. For the family, finding a buyer who would value stewarding the ranch 24

High Country Angler • Summer 2022

was critical – and that is the commitment Clint and his partners made. The ranch holds 3 miles of contiguous river along the South Platte.

While the water supported good fishing, the river clearly bore the impacts on the bank and channel from 150 years of agricultural use and of a modified hydrology due to Denver and Aurora operations along the mainstem South Platte. Freestone Aquatics rolled into operation, completing channel restoration along the reach to restore natural habitat features and pro-

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cesses – and in the process to sustain an exceptional wild trout fishery. While many projects for restoration over 3 miles are staged and broken into smaller pieces, Freestone tackled Abell in one big push during 2021.

The restoration effort included planting around 200,000 willow stakes, conducting native seeding along some 12 acres, reshaping and narrowing the stream channel by approximately one third to accommodate for the modified flow regime that results from Aurora and Denver’s water management, and to repair the overwide channel that was the result of agricultural degradation over many decades. The result will be a healthy river and fishery on the property, as well as benefits to the neighboring public fisheries in Happy Meadows and Elevenmile Canyon.

The next step is placing the ranch under a conservation easement. I asked Clint about that. The opportunity to subdivide and create a high-dollar fishing development with homeowners enjoying shared access to an outstanding wild trout fishery along an iconic river like the South Platte could be worth tens of millions of dollars. How could he and his partners

turn down that opportunity?

“The resources are finite, there’s only so many of these places,” said Packo. “If we continue developing the remarkable and unique places, we’ll run out of such places, and all of a sudden we’ll look back and say, we had the opportunity to do a great thing and we fumbled it. So rather than making the quick huge buck, we decided to conserve it because it was the right thing to do.”

Aquatic conservation is fundamentally placebased, driven by a love for wild places, wild rivers, and wild fish. Thanks to the stewardship commitment of Packo and his partners, Abell River Ranch will be such a place for generations to come. Because that is what river healers do.

To Learn More.

To learn more about this story and Colorado Trout Unlimited, visit coloradotu.org.

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

27

A GUIDE’S LIFE

•

BY HAYDEN MELLSOP

Swirling Skies and Rivers

T

he rain began not long after we’d beached the boats to make camp. At first we tried to push it away with optimism, sitting on camp chairs in the sand, post-float beers in hand, but as the sky continued to darken we surrendered to inevitability, pitching a tarp for the kitchen, and then huddling beneath it as thunder cracked and the darkening canyon was lit up in brilliant flashes of lightning.

While others continued pitching tents, I rolled out my sleeping bag under the kitchen table and did my best to sleep through the deluge, musing on the thought that, for desert, one sure spent a lot of time dodging the rain.

Despite the overnight dousing, next morning the river still ran clear. We breakfasted, 28

High Country Angler • Summer 2022

broke camp, and I volunteered to row while the others fished…. the morning cool, and the canyon still in shadow.

Churning whitewater interspersed languid banks overhung with tall grasses that dipped into the current, along which a patient drift would sometimes yield a fish rising to a dry fly.

“The tail-out of this next rapid is a great one to nymph,” said Mort. “Pull over below. You should fish it.”

I eased the raft onto a narrow beach backed up against a cliff face that angled out towards the river.

While the others sat on the sand and opened beer, I rigged a rod for nymphing, then walked upstream toward the run. A broad fan of whitewater narrowed toward the far cliffs, creating a trench with several distinct seams of current—slower and more shallow close by, then faster and deeper further out.

I started first with lighter weight, adding more as I worked into the faster water. I quickly became absorbed in my task, my sole focus the indicator and mending the line to prevent it being dragged by various current seams of differing speeds and directions. Several times I set the hook to what I imagined to be a strike, only to pull up flies encased in river weed.

Beyond the point where wading felt safe, a large flat boulder sat subsurface. Had the river www.HCAezine.com

been lower, it would have provided an ideal process of breaking down my rod, and then platform on which to cast to the deeper, faster reached into the drag bag tethered to the raft seams against the far bank where the larger fish and withdrew a beer, blowing the muddy water no doubt lurked. Instead, I targeted multiple from the rim of the can before opening it. Credrifts around the boulder, and twice hooked ation at work, I thought, as I looked out across into fish that darted deep then leaped—thrash- the river to the cliffs of the far shore where slening and silvery in the daylight—and twice der waterfalls had begun tracing familiar paths slipped the hook. stained with the watermarks of previous downEntranced by the river and its nuances, I pours dating back who knew how far. hadn’t noticed the dark clouds rolling in until We reached camp early, pitched tents in case a rumble of thunder bade me look skyward. the rains should return, then lined our chairs Soon a light rain began to fall, and I retreated to along the riverbank, and settled in to watch the the beach where, in the lee of the overhanging desert flow toward the ocean. cliff, a lunch table had been set up. I built a hearty sandAbout The Author wich, then stood and ate as curtains of rain played Hayden Mellsop is an expat New Zealander living in the swirling patterns upon the mountain town of Salida, Colorado, on the banks of the river’s surface. After half an hour the rain eased, but Arkansas River. As well as being a semi-retired fly fishing then a change came over guide, he juggles helping his wife raise two teenage the water—at first turning a daughters, along with a career in real estate. chalky green, then tea-colored, then chocolate milk heavy with slicks of debris: pine needles and cones, Hayden Mellsop juniper berries, sticks and Fly fishing guide. Real Estate guide. twigs and anything else washed down out of side canyons upstream that had borne the brunt of the cloudburst.

From the river, now thick and turbid, rose the scent of mud and juniper.

Small trees bobbed in the current and the beach on which we stood began to shrink as the water level rose.

Recreation, residential, retirement, investment.

“Must have hit hard in 5IF EJõFSFODF CFUXFFO MPPLJOH GPS ZPVS TQFDJBM QMBDF BOE mOEJOH JU one of the side canyons,” someone opined. “We only 1JOPO 3FBM &TUBUF (SPVQ 4BMJEB caught the edge of it, I 0öDF ] $FMM XXX )PNF 8BUFST DPN guess.”

INFMMTPQ!QJOPOSFBMFTUBUF DPN “Well, that’s fishing done for today.” I began the www.HCAezine.com

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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What Is Fly Fishing, and Is That A Loaded Question?

by Peter Stitcher

W

hat is fly fishing? It seems like a pretty straightforward question, and the answer as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is equally simple: fly fishing is “the sport of fishing using a rod and an artificial fly as bait.”

While I would have expected the tweed-jacketed English gents behind the Oxford Dictionary to wax eloquently about fly fishing being tightly defined as

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

sight fishing to rising trout with the use of a single dry fly, the actual definition of fly fishing is left wide open for interpretation and innovation. In this definition there are no limitations around the types or number of flies used, whether the rod is bamboo, graphite, or fiberglass, or if the angler uses an indicator, euro nymphs, drop-shots, pegs eggs, or wants to fish multiple dry flies together. Like a painter’s full pallet of color, and each cast of the angler’s line a brush stroke, “What is Fly Fishing?” is a unique expression and different for everyone, but equally true and right for all.

What motivates each of us to pick up our fly rod and wade through the morning-misted waters is an integral element of our unique definitions of “What is Fly Fishing?” We might fish to connect with ourselves and let loose the inner child who gets lost behind full inboxes and the responsibilities of www.HCAezine.com

life. There may be a primal connection for you as you return to nature, or a peace that settles in you enabling you to meet with God. Conversation flows a little easier with family and friends, the beer is colder and tastes better after it has chilled in the river, and there is always the hope that the next cast will tie you into a great fish!

This simple definition of fly fishing is an invitation to fish 1000 different ways, using 1000 different combinations of line, weight, fly, and technique, across 1000 different waters!

There are those who would shackle this free and personal expression of fly fishing, and that is done when the question “What is Fly Fishing?” is flipped and weaponized by the statement “That is not fly fishing.” When one takes on the mantel of self-appointed judge and arbiter, these comments erect walls and creates a caste system excluding others with the underlying judgment that “If you use an indicator, these types of flies, weights, or this particular rig, you are not fly fishing and are therefore not a fly fisher.”

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The “controversial” rig that started the discussion.

Those making such foolhardy, nearsighted statements might as well try to mandate “What is Beautiful” and “What is Delicious!” Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to “what is fly fishing” is solely defined by the individual so long as they are “using a rod and an artificial fly as bait.” I’ll say again now what I said on Instagram when a vocal critic decided to inform our community “what is not fly fishing:” There is a big difference between saying “I wouldn’t use that rig on my waters” to making the judgment statement “that isn’t fly fishing” and in turn creating a caste system among anglers. It wasn’t that long ago that tweed jacketed Englishmen in their clubs were denouncing the use of nymphs let alone the ungodly bead headed nymph as “not fly fishing,” yet here we are today, and that innovation is commonly accepted. I’m all for talking about the merits and

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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disadvantages of different rigs and techniques but draw the line at judgment statements that create an Us vs. Them line in the river. All anglers are welcome here and we look forward to the dialogue and to learning from each of you!

Tight Lines, friend.”

Among fly fishers the judgment “that is not fly fishing” need never be spoken again! The diversity of technique, personal preference, innovation, and motivation reflect the uniqueness and beauty of the individuals we share the water with, and should be celebrated as we each enjoy and practice our unique definition of Fly Fishing! With that said, should we meet on the water, I will look forward to learning what fly fishing means to you, and trust that your practice and pursuit of the sport will only add new color and nuance to my own definition of fly fishing!

Fly fishing for me includes Kissing Big Fish!

To each their own!

Island Acres About The Author Peter Stitcher is an Aquatic Biologist and owner of Ascent Fly Fishing. Originator of the Biologist Crafted Fly Selection, Peter and his team build their clients’ fly selections specific to the bugs in the waters they fish, when they fish them. You can contact Peter or restock your fly box at: www.ascentflyfishing.com.

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

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STONEFLY NETS is proud to reclaim the tradition of handcrafted custom wood landing nets. Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Ethan Inglehart brings his skills as a custom wood worker of many years to his love of fly fishing. From an idea sparked by a 3 weight bamboo rod owned by his great – grandmother, Ethan builds wood nets that combine function with heirloom quality.

Select from one of our design Series or contact us to discuss a custom net meeting your exact specifications. We are also proud to offer a unique rod and net collaboration with the legendary Tom Morgan Rodsmiths of Bozeman, Montana. The Catch and Release Package details are explained on our website.

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

33

TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM

by Natalie Flowers

C

olorado Trout Unlimited’s (CTU) Trout in the Classroom program is a youth education program that works with Colorado schools (and other sites) to help connect students to their local watersheds. Trout in the Classroom (TIC) sites are donated Rainbow Trout eggs each fall from Colorado Park & Wildlife’s (CPW) Crystal River Hatchery. The students watch as the trout eggs hatch, they raise them throughout the school year, and then release the trout fingerlings into their local watersheds.

This year the TIC program has engaged over 3000 youth at 28 TIC sites across the state of Colorado.

CTU is thrilled to have several new TIC schools interested in the 2022/2023 Trout in the Classroom program. However, some challenges have also come to light as we try to grow this amazing program.

these trout can range greatly; from no trout surviving to over 250 trout fry surviving. It is of the utmost importance that the trout we release are healthy and pathogen free; therefore, each tank must submit between 20 – 26 fish, depending on the tank population, for a lethal pathogen test. School closures, power outages, accidents, over feeding, and inexperience can easily decimate a TIC tank. Sacrificing a noticeable share of the remaining fish, to release just a few, calls the whole endeavor into question.

John Davenport, our new Statewide TIC Coordinator, came up with a brilliant plan to overcome this ‘numbers game.’ This summer, CTU is piloting our Community Tank program. Instead of each classroom teacher spending three hours euthanizing, packaging, and overnight shipping 20+ fish to the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Bozeman NUMBERS GAME AND COMMUNITY Fish Health Center in Bozeman, MT, we will be usTANK SOLUTIONS ing 100+ gallon Community Tanks. This spring, fourMost of our TIC sites get between 200-300 eggs teen Denver area TIC sites moved their fish from their each fall. Come spring, the success rate for raising classroom tanks to the Library Tank at Arvada West High School. They will be raised until September, a single sample tested, and then supplied to classroom teachers for a fall release.

Not only does this save hundreds of fish, but it saves the classroom teachers time and money.

ADDING OUR FIRST GROUP OF FISHHigh TOCountry A COMMUNITY TANK2022 Angler • Summer 34

TESTING TROUBLES AND SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIP SOLUTIONS An on-going challenge to the TIC program has been scheduling, shipping, and sampling classroom tanks for trout pathogens www.HCAezine.com

CENTENNIAL ELEMENTARY STUDENTS RELEASING TROUT FINGERLINGS INTO BERKELEY LAKE www.HCAezine.com

Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

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ARVADA WEST HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY TANK before the release by the students. With the guidance and regulations provided by CPW and the USFWS providing pathogen testing pro bono, we have been able to adhere to the state regulations and release thousands of pathogen-free trout fry into streams and rivers across the state! However, due to the growth of the Trout in the Classroom program, the ability for the USFWS to continue the pathogen testing pro bono is in jeopardy.

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

This summer we are working closely with CPW and the USFWS to streamline the pathogen testing process, strengthen our partnerships, and identify new sustainable pathogen testing partners. We are also looking at fundraising opportunities and potential grants to help offset future pathogen testing costs.

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for the first year, new TIC sites usually occur when schools can provide their own funding, or if CTU’s active local chapters are able to help assist and fundraise. This creates a big hurdle for many new TIC sites. Sites such as Title I schools, underfunded rural schools, and communities with a lower income demographic, typically lack the funding and support to establish programs like Trout in the Classroom.

Colorado Trout Unlimited whole-heartedly wishes to expand our program offerings to contribute toward outdoor learning with more diverse and underserved communities. We are connecting with new audiences, partners, and organizations to address these challenges and overcome them.

THE FUTURE OF TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM Trout in the Classroom is one of those special programs that really impacts kids, youth, TIC leaders, and the community. By switching to Community Tanks, we are able to release trout. By securing and strengthening our partnership and testing process, we are able to ensure healthy fish are being released into Colorado waters, and by expanding the TIC program in an equitable way, we are able to engage more youth and promote the next generation of conservationists! If you are interested in starting up a TIC tank at your organization, donating to support these efforts, or would like more information about Trout in the Classroom, visit https://coloradotu.org/troutin-the-classroom.

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To Learn More.

For more info on this and other projects, visit coloradotu.org.

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 • High Country Angler

39

THE LAST CAST

•

JOHN G. NICKUM

Trout Versus Drought

Are we, the human populations of the world, making progress toward controlling, and reversing climate change and the disruption of natural systems that results from atmospheric pollution and global warming? Recent media reports, including one in USA Today, have even detailed some of the effects that are affecting fly fishers. It appears that we are not making sufficient progress to avoid some difficult times and difficult choices in the near future. Do you have any recommendations for trout anglers?

Q

A few months ago, late in 2021, I addressed the question of “What if there is no cold water?”and the effects a lack of cold water would have on trout populations and trout fishing. Things seem to have become worse over the last 6 months, Average world temperatures are rising. Glaciers are melting. The numbers of extreme weather events are increasing. The areas affected by extreme drought are increasing. The question is now becoming, “What if there is no water in my favorite stream?” The western third of the United States is experiencing an “historic drought”.

Not just the most severe drought in recorded

A

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High Country Angler • Summer 2022

history, but based on geologic records the current drought may be the worst ever in western America. Low flows usually mean warmer waters that stress the fish. No flows mean death unless the fish move to better locations before the stream dries up; and that is rarely possible.

Inasmuch as politicians, corporate moguls, and environmental deniers plunge blindly head with “business as usual” and refuse to implement regulations and management actions that can bring global climate degradation under control, we (anglers and conservationists) must act. So… what are we to do? For me, packing everything in the storage shed and giving up is not an acceptable alternative. A pair of worn out knees is limiting my ability to fish all the places I want to, but there are still options in addition to listening to the fishing tales of my son and his TU colleagues. We, (anglers, conservationists, and fisheries managers) must become active participants in the political battles to stop climate degradation and the loss of high quality natural waters. and save the cold waters and plentiful in-stream flows that trout need to survive, and, we hope, thrive.. Political activism is necessary to get political action, but we must do more.

Fish and wildlife management agencies, primarily State agencies have the primary responsibilities for monitoring fish and wildlife populations and the habitats these animals oc-

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cupy. It’s a big responsibility and these agen- the area fisheries managers telling them what cies are under-funded and under staffed. They has been observed will give them a “heads up” need input and information from their con- when conditions that exceed the physiologistituents to monitor the thousands of miles of cal limits of trout are developing. streams, 1000s of acres of forests, grasslands, Keep in mind that the environmental and marshes, and unique ecological units conditions that are optimal for each spefor which they have responsibility. I suggest cies of trout have taken thousands of years that informal partnerships can be established to develop. While there are legitimate argubetween the agencies, angler and hunter or- ments about whether or not each species is ganizations and interested individuals under so uniquely adapted to its native habitat that which regular reports and photos from con- it cannot survive elsewhere; it is certain that stituents showing flow conditions and related each one does best under the conditions in habitat information can be used to alert agen- which it evolved. If anglers help managers cy managers to developing problems before by monitoring and reporting the harsh conthey become serious problems. Nearly dry ditions that are developing, the trout and all stream beds and water temperatures in the of us who hold them as critically important high 70s and 80s require immediate recovery components of natural ecosystems can hope actions if threatened and endangered species for a better future. Our options and the trout’s are to survive. options must be fased on ecological realities Fishing regulations may have to be modi- and the physiological limits of trout. Mother fied as low flows and high water temperatures Nature is not going to rewrite the rules for develop. Even catch and release angling can survival our favorite fish because humans cause high mortality when water tempera- have screwed up the environment. tures exceed 70 F. Some species become “fragile” at water temperatures above 60 F. I sugbout The Author gest that anglers invest in a pocket thermometer John Nickum, is a retired PhD. fishery biologist whose and always check water career has included positions as professor at research temperatures before they universities including Iowa State and Cornell University, start to fish. A report to 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.

A

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