Denver Post: Colorado's South Platte River a viable fishery

Denver Post Will Rice

Tyler Kendrick stalked the water slowly in front of me, about 40 feet ahead in clear shallow water. His lime-colored fly line trailed behind like a tail.

I squinted against the hot sun and scanned the far bank looking for tails and fish. They were there; we just had to find them. Tyler suddenly stopped and stood dead still. His body language, like a cat stalking a mouse, indicated he spotted a fish. He stripped out a few more feet of line and took a half step forward.

It was going to be a longshot. Tyler made two powerful back casts and punched his cast to the right into the faster current moving downstream.

Kendrick and I had teamed up for Denver Trout Unlimited's fifth annual Carp Slam, a fishing tournament created to raise money for improvements on the battered and bruised metro section of the South Platte. Sixteen amateurs and 16 professionals competed last month and raised more than $30,000 for projects intended to improve the river as a fishery and a recreational waterway.

"We want to expose people to angling opportunities close to home and provide an opportunity for youth to take the first cast," said Todd Fehr, president of Denver Trout Unlimited. "First-time casters grow up to be future conservationists and stewards of our state's water resources."

Click here to read the full article.

TU now accepting Embrace-A-Stream grant applications

Trout Unlimited is pleased to announce that it is now accepting Embrace-A-Stream (EAS) grant applications for eligible coldwater fisheries conservation projects. Embrace-A-Stream (EAS) is the flagship grant program for funding TU's grassroots conservation efforts. Since its inception in 1975, EAS has funded over 980 individual projects for a total of more than $4 million in direct cash grants. Local TU chapters and councils contributed an additional $13 million in cash and in-kind services to EAS funded projects for a total investment of more than $17 million. In 2011, EAS funded 25 projects in 15 states, with an average grant award of $5,000. View the list of projects funded by EAS last year. Please be sure to read each section of the application for funding carefully so that you understand the guidelines, proposal format and submission requirements. EAS committee members and staff are able to provide advice and guidance on potential project applications. Even if you do not have questions about preparing your proposal, applicants are required to contact their EAS committee representative to discuss proposal ideas by November 14, 2011. The deadline for submission is December 12, 2011. For further information or to request additional copies of the application, please contact Rob Roberts at 406-543-1192. To participate in a webinar training on November 2 at 8 p.m. EST, please RSVP to Rob Keith at 703-284-9425.

Highlights from the 2011 Annual TU Meeting

Last week, I attended the Annual TU Meeting in Bend, Oregon.  This meeting features a large collection of the NTU staff, along with volunteer leaders at all levels of the organization from across the country in one place.  Opportunities for collaboration and exploration across states and regions abound, and it has become a valuable platform to learn and gain experience from others. Of course, it would be hard to adequately summarize the entire 3-day meeting, so I thought that I might hit some of the highlights.  Certainly, if there are questions about anything specific, you can email me at Sinjin.Eberle@coloradotu.org for more information.  Here we go…

1)     West Denver TU Wins Silver Trout Award – The West Denver Chapter was awarded one of the highest chapter awards in TU.  They are very deserving of this honor for their broad based, steady, and consistent approach to all aspects of being a TU chapter.  They run a strong youth program, are consistently reaching out to new members, have done phase after phase of restoration work on their home streams, and are engaged in various aspects surrounding impacts from the I-70 corridor.  Congratulations!

2)     New National TU Community Website – while it is still in the testing phase, National TU has come a long way in developing a community-oriented website.  Most importantly, the new website will feature pre-built chapter templates that, for free, chapters can use as the basis for developing their own site.  There are many advantages to this – especially the integration of chapter activities being highlighted by NTU, as well as NTU news feeds streaming into the chapter websites.  I think you will be excited about the new toys as they become available (in the next couple of months)

3)     Upper Colorado Makes National Conservation Agenda – the National Leadership Council sets a list of National Priorities every year – and this year the Upper Colorado work has made that agenda.  This is great as we will be able to get increased focus on Colorado’s top priority issue.

4)     Youth Education Programs get more defined – The National TU Youth folks are building out their suite of youth education offerings, and in a pretty smart way, I might add.  They are building programs to ensure that they have youth-ed coverage for all ages, from the very young through college-age persons.  More to come on this as these programs are rolled out!

5)     Annual Financial Reports and Chapter By-Laws– STRONG REMINDER from National that ALL chapters must submit their Annual Financial Reports by November 15, 2011 – this is REQUIRED of all chapters and there are strong penalties for not doing so.  Also, this year is the year for updating chapter bylaws – please be working on your new chapter by-laws and have them uploaded to the National TU website by December 31, 2011!!  We need to have 100% compliance on this.  Help is available for this on the National TU website, in the Toolbox in the Leaders Only section.  Please contact Dennis Cook (rkymtnangler@q.com) or I if you need help on these!

West Denver Chapter wins National TU Award

The West Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited was presented with the "Silver Trout" award at the National Trout Unlimited Awards Luncheon in Bend, Oregon on Friday September 16.  The Silver Trout award recognizes the outstanding chapter within its region.  West Denver was recognized for its consistently excellent programs in youth education and conservation.  Highlights include:

• a partnership with the Jefferson County Schools' Windy Peak Outdoor Lab where the chapter teaches entomology and fly tying, as well as providing fishing opportunity, to sixth graders from across the County;
• completion of the "Golden Mile" stream restoration project on Clear Creek in Golden, along with ongoing work for further restoration in the "Canyon Reach" project several miles upstream on Clear Creek;
• statewide leadership with Trout Unlimited participation in the RiverWatch program and with engagement on stream protection and mitigation with Department of Transportation project;
• community service and engagement through programs such as river cleanups and fly fishing classes for adults with the Lookout Mountain Nature Center,

 

 

Chapter leaders were unable to make it to Bend personally, but Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle accepted the award on behalf of West Denver and will present it to the chapter at an upcoming meeting.

Congratulations, West Denver!

What's the Weirdest Thing You've Found Fishing?

Field & Stream Fly Talk by Tim Romano

This past Saturday I competed in the 5th Annual Carp Slam here in Denver that benefits the Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I didn't win, but did raise a ton of money to help the restoration of our home river here in D-town.

The South Platte that runs through Denver is, as you can imagine quite the urban fishery and as such we find quite the litany of weird crap in the river. A friend of a friend even found a dead body fishing one day. This past Saturday was no exception as documented here.

Read the rest here...

Then post the strangest thing you've found while fishing on The Greenbacks Facebook page for a chance to win a Simms headwaters waist pack.

Note: He's a modest guy and didn't mention in his post - but a big tip of the hat to Tim Romano for raising the most $$ of any competitor for South Platte river restoration as part of Carp Slam 2011. Congrats, Tim!

Slamtastic! The Denver Carp Slam

Gink + Gasoline By Louis Cahill

When was the last time you attended a Trout Unlimited event where a bottle rocket fight broke out? That was the scene last weekend when I attended the Denver Carp Slam, as an observer, not to fish. The Carp Slam is a carp tournament started five years ago by the Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited. It takes place on the South Platte in downtown Denver and the proceeds pay for stream improvements on the river. The Platte, at least the stretch that runs through Denver, is truly a challenged river. OK, that’s too polite. It’s severally F’ed up. Full of trash, dead animals, murder weapons, and amazingly, fish. Carp of coarse but also walleye, smallmouth bass, catfish, and to my surprise, trout. Not in big numbers but pretty good size. That’s where TU comes in. They’re using the carp, to save the trout.

It’s a great cause and a great time but most of all, a great bunch of guys. The group is young, energetic and energized about their mission but not taking life too seriously. The experience renewed my faith in TU. I am particularly interested in a group who call them selves The Greenbacks. A group of young TU members on a mission to preserve Colorado’s native fish, and have a good time doing it. Their enthusiasm is contagious. It’s awesome to see a great old institution alive with wish youthful vigor. Hats off to the Denver chapter of TU.

Read the full article and check out some awesome pics on the Gink and Gasoline Blog...

Welcome to TU, Steamboat Springs

After a long drought in the northern reaches of Colorado, we would love to officially welcome the Yampa Valley Fly Fishers Chapter to Trout Unlimited. The link below is a great story by Explore Steamboat welcoming them to the fold. Awesome!

http://www.exploresteamboat.com/news/2011/aug/11/steamboat-group-hooks-trout-unlimited/

Clear Creek restoration project underway: Trout Unlimited West Denver hopes to improve fish habitat, sense of stewardship

by Daniel SmithThe Denver Post

Building on past success, the Trout Unlimited West Denver chapter is about to begin restoration on about three-quarters of a mile of Clear Creek, northwest of Golden.

The Canyon Reach project, with multiple funding sources, will begin near Jefferson County Open Space Park’s Mayhem Gulch development then continue upstream to the vicinity of the park’s paved turnout just below the Colorado 119 and U.S. 6 junction.

Glen Edwards, Trout Unlimited West Denver’s local project director, said the restoration of Clear Creek habitat as a fishery resource is one goal, along with building a sense of stewardship in the community for the entire Clear Creek watershed.

“(We’ll) go down in the stream, move some of the natural rocks to make for better winter habitat — deeper holes and feeding lanes and just places for fish to survive the winter,” he said.

The major portion of the nearly $264,000 in funding came from the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Fishing is Fun program, to the tune of $168,700. Some $60,000 will come from Jefferson County Conservation Trust Fund allocation, and the Water Conservation Board added more than $20,000. Trout Unlimited West Denver is contributing funds and volunteer work.

Read more:

Clear Creek restoration project underway: http://yourhub.denverpost.com/golden/clear-creek-restoration-project-underway/flTVkh3U7FBtcYiSnEb2VK-story

Denver fires up anglers with, yes, carp

By Scott Willoughby The Denver Post

If you tried, you couldn't come up with a sorrier-looking puss to put on a poster than a carp.

And, oh, has it been tried.

"It's the classic 'lemonade' story," Denver Trout Unlimited chapter president Todd Fehr said of the "lemons" that dominate Denver's hometown fishery along the South Platte River. "The Pro-Am Carp Slam started because that's what we had to work with. And the thing is just quirky enough to have taken off."

The irony of using the lowly regarded carp to promote and preserve the would-be habitat of the regal trout is not lost on Fehr. But after years of frustration over the lack of a productive local trout fishery in metro Denver, DTU member Tim Emery suggested in 2007 that the group might try to take advantage of the abundant bugle-mouthed fish that reside in the neighborhood.

Read more: Denver fires up anglers with, yes, carp - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/outdoors/ci_17885629#ixzz1K4lw1uf2

Trout Unlimited more than a social club

Tri Lakes Tribune

By Norma Engelberg

A lot of people think Trout Unlimited is just a social club dedicated to fly fishing. Erik Heikkenen, president of the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited, says the organization is much more. “We do love to fly fish but for the last 25 years we have worked on numerous watershed conservation and restoration projects,” he said. “We’ve concentrated most of our work on the South Platte in Eleven Mile Canyon on the Trees for Trout project. We use trees taken from the Hayman Fire burn area and use them to stabilize the banks. Some of the timbers are placed in the stream bed to provide more trout habitat.”

The first project for the local Trout Unlimited chapter was work on Trout Creek north of Woodland Park in 1986.

“Grazing cattle had destroyed the banks and we did a lot of work restoring them,” Heikkenen said. “Later the beaver moved in and undid some of our work but much of it is still there.”

The organization has also worked with the Fountain Creek Restoration Committee to restore the creek banks in Manitou Springs.“We’ve restored the creek from Soda Springs Park to Memorial Park,” Heikkenen said. “We’ll finish up at Mansion and Fields parks.”In the last few years, Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom program has also been very popular. Trout Unlimited provides large aquariums, training and trout eggs and students see what it takes for trout to go from eggs to fry to releasing size.

 http://www.coloradocommunitynewspapers.com/articles/2011/04/08/tri_lakes_tribune/news/13_mo_trout_unlimited.txt

 

Thanks to Coyote Gulch for the link!