Behind the Fin with Dennis Cook

Join us “Behind the Fin” with Dennis Cook, retired, Rocky Mountain Flycasters Chapter Youth Chairperson in Fort Collins, Colorado.

How long have you been a TU member?  

Sixteen years. I joined TU originally on a free TU membership offer from when I purchased a pair of wading boots.

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with?

After the free year expired, in January 2003 I joined as a paid member with Cherry Creek Anglers Chapter when I lived in Parker, a Denver suburb. Ten years ago we moved to Fort Collins and I transferred memberships into the Rocky Mountain Flycasters Chapter here.

What made you want to be involved with TU?

I was enjoying reading the local chapter’s newsletters, and natural outdoors conservation has always held a soft spot in my heart.  Plus, I also was looking for a way to connect with other fly fishing people.

What is your favorite activity or project you have done with TU?

At Cherry Creek Anglers I was active on the chapter board, and also served Colorado TU as a chapter development volunteer.  Here at Rocky Mountain Flycasters I’ve focused on youth education.  My favorite project has been establishing a six-day River Conservation & Fly Fishing Youth Day Camp here in Northern Colorado, that is modeled loosely similar to the state residential youth camp, and that 2018 will be our day camp’s ninth year.  Additionally, we have built a solid, overall youth education program, including multiple

years’ success with Trout in the Classroom (high schools), participating annually with three school systems’ elementary school grades Water Festivals, establishing a multi-years relationship supporting Colorado State University’s Environmental Learning Center’s middle school age summer camp programs, and fostering the CSU Five Rivers Fly Fishing Club now in its third year.

I know you won’t tell me your favorite spot, but what is your second favorite place to fish or favorite fishing story? 

I’ve fished the Cache La Poudre River for about twenty-five years and it remains my primary fishery, especially the far upper canyon stretches where I also fish some of the small tributaries. Each year I enjoy a few multi-day trips to many of the other great fisheries in here in Colorado, Wyoming and occasionally Montana. All hold remnants as something of a favorite spot, each in its own way.

What does being a part of TU mean to you?

I have a great sense of identity and pride being a TU member, both for what I can contribute…and also for the favorable accomplishments and impacts TU makes nationally in specific conservation advocacy and restorations. The growth of TU’s outreach programs and conservation impact nationally across the sixteen years I’ve been able to observe has been extraordinary. TU does not just talk a good game, it makes really good things happen!

What else do you do in your spare time or work?

In retirement I’ve kind of become a one act pony, enjoying my fly fishing and TU activities.  With that, after a part-time job in a retail store’s fishing department, and all the household, yard and activities of a large family, I’m ready to sleep well every night.

Behind the Fin: Michele White

Join us “behind the fin” with Michele White,  V.P. Government Affairs, Pikes Peak Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Owner-Operator of Tumbling Trout Fly Shop in Lake George, Colorado.  

How long have you been a TU member? 

Since 1998.

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with? 

I became a non-participating member because I wanted my money to be used in a donation capacity toward protecting trout habitat all over the United States.

What made you want to become involved with TU? 

I met the people in our Pikes Peak Chapter and I realized that I like them...

What is your favorite activity or project you have done with TU?

So many... I would almost say teaching fly tying hands down but when I am out on a river helping a group of people do some really laborious task (like harvest and plant willows) - I really do enjoy myself. (Sometimes I cook at the grill for groups and sometimes I man a booth, I like that too...)

I know you won’t tell me your favorite spot, but what is your second favorite place to fish or favorite fishing story?

Some fishing stories are about places, boats, bars, trucks, and dogs. Michele White, who writes under the name, Michele Murray, has submitted a humorous essay for Trout Unlimited readers to enjoy from a compilation of short stories written by three authors (Michele Murray, Al Marlowe, and Karen Rae Christopherson) in “Between the Rivers” – stories about adventures that happen on the road, at the campsite, in a bar, as well as during the fishing trips. “Joe’s Bar” is a tale in common with most fishing people living the dream.

Click here to read Michele's full story "Joe's Bar".

What does being a part of TU mean to you? 

I am part of the solution. Being part of TU means I am contributing to the preservation of riparian habits, not only for trout but also for other wildlife and to the enhancement of recreation for humans.

What else do you do in your spare time or work? 

I have a close family and I spend a lot of time with my loved ones. That said, in my spare time I paint, I write short stories, I play the bassoon, I hunt upland game birds, and I ride my horses. The writing has played out as an alternate sub-career / hobby, in that I have multiple books now. The latest is under review for print, "BETWEEN THE RIVERS - FLY FISHING STORIES OF THE WEST". It may be ready by Christmas. In the meanwhile, I have copies of "Lesser known Fly Fishing Venues in South Park" for sale in my shop and online. This is a 71 page map booklet (atlas) with color maps, images, and description of every free public fishing access in South Park basin excluding the Dream Stream and Eleven Mile Canyon.

Partnerships Paying Off for Fraser River

The fish are returning to Fraser Flats. It took years of vision and persistence, but Trout Unlimited’s long-game strategy of collaboration on the Upper Colorado River is paying big dividends for anglers and local communities that depend on a healthy river.

Exhibit A is the Fraser Flats Habitat Project. The Fraser River, a key tributary of the Upper Colorado, had been degraded by years of water diversions and other pressures.

TU and a host of water stakeholders joined forces to reverse that decline. The effort, called Learning by Doing, brought together a variety of partners including Denver Water, Northern Water, Grand County, Trout Unlimited, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to help restore the Upper Colorado watershed.

The group’s inaugural project at Fraser Flats aimed to restore a roughly one-mile stretch of the Fraser between the towns of Tabernash and Fraser, with the goal of providing healthy habitat for trout even during periods of reduced flows. The Fraser in this section had become too wide and shallow, resulting in sedimentation and high temperatures that smothered bug life and pressured coldwater-loving trout.

Design work began last fall. In late spring, more than 150 volunteers turned out to plant willows and cottonwoods along the streambank for shade and bank stability. Then in summer and fall, the group brought in Freestone Aquatics to narrow the river with point bars and other structures to increase velocity and depth of the river. Freestone also created a series of riffle and deep pools to provide better holding water for trout.

The results already have been nothing short of spectacular.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife conducted a fish survey on Oct. 5, shortly after completion of the project, and found dramatic increases in the biomass of brown and rainbow trout in the stretch compared to previous surveys, and an even larger increase in numbers of larger (14" and up) fish.

Preliminary electrofishing survey results from CPW showed the reach experienced a 415% increase in brown trout biomass, and a 550% increase in the numbers of brown trout greater than 14" in length. While rainbows are a smaller component of the population (15% of biomass, 25% of larger fish #s), they also blossomed with an increase of 267% in biomass and a 400% boost in fish over 14".

"We are elated," Mely Whiting, legal counsel for Trout Unlimited, told the local Ski-Hi News. "This is amazing. The biomass [in the river] has more than tripled, just from last year, and only in the matter of a couple of weeks since the project was completed.”

Biologists also reported seeing large brown trout actively spawning in many areas of the stretch. In short, Fraser River trout have wasted no time moving into the improved habitat.

What’s more, starting in spring 2018, the project will also provide public fishing access along a half-mile of the Fraser Flats section.

“This section of the Fraser River is the healthiest I’ve seen this river in the 47 years I’ve lived here,” TU’s Klancke said. “The best part is we’re hoping to do more river improvements like this in the future with our Learning By Doing partners.”

Colorado Public Radio this week aired a segment about the successful project and the "unusual partnership" between TU and Denver Water .

Watch the video below from Denver Water for another good overview of the project benefits.

Silverthorne, TU unveil Blue River Explorer Hike

In partnership with the Town of Silverthorne, the Gore Range Chapter TU in September celebrated the opening of the "Blue River Explorer Hike."  The half-mile hike along the Blue River through the town core of Silverthorne includes multiple interpretive signs highlighting different aspects of the Blue River's ecology, history, and significance in the community. Inspired by the popular "Junior Ranger" program of the National Park Service, the Blue River Explorer Hike program offers a free children's activity booklet and sticker that can be picked up by registering at the Colorado Welcome Center at the Green Village - Outlets of SIlverthorne. The Blue River Explorer Hike is a free, self-guided trail and is open daily. Signs along the trail explain trout biology, watershed management, challenges of water supply in Colorado, and solutions to help mitigate water shortages. Summit County Television produced a brief video about the new trail:

The Gore Range Chapter hopes that the trail will not only help engage and educate youth in Summit County and among its many visitors, but also may inspire others to bring similar educational programs to their home waters. For those that are interested in developing their own Explorer Hike program, Chapter President Greg Hardy can provide all the necessary details based on what the chapter learned in the course of developing the Blue River project (costs, grant opportunities, locally-available fund raising, development material, artist recommendation, etc.)

River Rising: the Denver South Platte

Ronnie Crawford first discovered the urban fishery of the South Platte by accident around 15 years ago. He was taking a couple of kids fishing with bait on the river near his house off Evans. Much to his surprise, they started catching trout. That was the simple beginning of a long-term love for fishing the “Denver South Platte,” and for introducing others to all it has to offer. For more than a decade, the Denver Trout Unlimited chapter (DTU), of which Ronnie is a board member, has been working to improve the health of the Denver South Platte – the section of the river starting below Chatfield Reservoir and then flowing through the southern suburbs and downtown Denver. Eleven years ago, the chapter held its first “Carp Slam” fishing tournament, to build awareness of the Denver South Platte and its fishery potential, and to raise funds for river restoration efforts. This year's Carp Slam takes place September 23, with Denver's most awesome after-party taking place atop the DaVita building in LoDo on Saturday evening (purchase your tickets here).

As the name suggests, the Carp Slam’s fishing focus is carp—but the goal is to improve habitat in the South Platte for a variety of fish.  And many anglers in the Carp Slam routinely catch impressive trout, suggesting the potential for a much more robust urban trout fishery.

Restoration work started with the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District in 2012, working to enhance the reach of the South Platte by Carson Nature Center to better support native fish, recreational fishing, and riparian habitat.  DTU contributed to the District’s effort with $10,000 raised through the Carp Slam and another $80,000 leveraged through a Colorado Parks and Wildlife Fishing is Fun grant.

The restoration effort and partnerships have grown exponentially since then.  DTU has worked with the City and County of Denver and the Greenway Foundation on a South Platte Restoration plan that lays out a restoration vision for the river and corridor all along the Denver South Platte. Millions of dollars are flowing toward efforts to improve several miles of river and to create economic benefits from a healthy South Platte as a new recreational centerpiece of the Denver metro area.

While appreciating the broader efforts to improve the entire greenway corridor, DTU has helped keep a strong focus on the river habitat itself. “We’re the ones focused on what’s happening below the waterline,” explains DTU member John Davenport.

Part of focusing below the waterline has been to pay attention to water quality, including stream temperature. To better document water temperatures and understand the river's fishery potential, DTU purchased and placed in-stream loggers starting in February 2016, collecting hourly water temperature data at six sites along the Denver South Platte.  Results to date, Davenport says, look very similar to those for the Arkansas River in Pueblo – a river supporting a popular trout fishery.

While finding a future for trout fishing in downtown Denver is definitely part of DTU’s vision, a healthy river and fishery is the key goal – not just trout.  “I call this a potluck stream,” explained Crawford. “You never know what you’re going to get.  I’ve hooked carp, brown trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth – all on the same fly and some on the same day.”

For Crawford and DTU, it is all about making the most of a resource that has been hiding in plain sight.  “It’s right under everybody’s nose, but they don’t think about it,” he said.  “They don’t know the grand array of fish that can be caught here.”

TU, partners move forward on Fraser River restoration

In this 5 1/2 minute video, Kirk Klancke, Anna Drexler-Dreis and other leaders with the Colorado River Headwaters Chapter share the story of how collaboration among TU, Grand County, Denver Water, and other stakeholders is creating opportunities to restore healthier habitat for the Fraser River and its riparian corridor.

Unveiled at the Colorado Headwaters Chapter's annual banquet in July, the video was part of that evening's theme of recognizing how "conservation starts with conversation", recognizing key leaders including Denver Water board member Tom Gougeon and former Grand County Commissioner James Newberry for their leadership in opening the door for greater dialogue and cooperation among former adversaries in addressing  shared interests in the health of the Fraser River watershed.

To learn more about the work of the Colorado River Headwaters Chapter with the Fraser and Upper Colorado  Rivers, you can visit the chapter website here.

Behind the Fin: Scott Schreiber

How long have you been a TU member? 18 years (I started when I was 15)!

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with?

When I first found TU as a teenager, it was a cool non-profit that paired with my passion for fly fishing. While that's still a priority, I've paired my interest in creating sustainable fishing for generations to come with my professional background as a hydraulic engineer with focus in stream restoration. I am currently president of the Denver Chapter, where we focus on the South Platte River, but we also team with other chapters for projects throughout the state.

What made you want to become involved with TU? I grew up loving to volunteer and help others; during my involvement with the Boy Scouts of America from Cub Scout to Eagle Scout and beyond, I get a great sense of satisfaction from philanthropic endeavors. Oh- and I love to fish, so I should do my part to keep our waters clean, cold and fishable for generations to come. There is nothing better than a day on the river, (besides a day on the river catching fish) so I love being part of an organization where our work benefits my favorite pastime!.

What is your favorite activity or project that you have done with TU? Developing funding and studies to support the Chatfield Reallocation Environmental Pool, which will put additional water into the South Platte during the 70 zero flow days seem along the South Platte, along with developing the future Denver Metro South Platte Fishing Map.

I know you won’t tell me your top spot, so what is your second favorite fishing spot or favorite fishing story? Eagle River Rodeo Lot, Christmas Day, dumping snow...15 trout, all greater than 22 inches in 2 hours. I have no problem giving away my top spot as other anglers shouldn’t, spread the love. When you have that kind of a day, you totally forget about your freezing fingers!

What does being a part of TU mean to you? It means giving back to the community, doing my part to protect the places we love to play and spreading that awareness to others.

What else do you do in your spare time or for work? I am a water resource engineer and I specialize in stream restoration and watershed management. If I am not fishing I am skiing. My entire life from professionally to personally revolves around water. My wife and I love backpacking, hiking to cool spots and exploring our amazing state with our dogs.

Corps approves permit for Moffat Project in Colorado headwaters

The Army Corps of Engineers gave its approval to Denver Water's proposal to expand Gross Reservoir in Boulder County in order to firm its Moffat System water supplies from Grand County. While the project will increase total diversions from the Colorado headwaters, Denver Water has incorporated mitigation and enhancement measures to the project that local TU members in Grand County believe can actually improve the Fraser River's health. As part of its commitments under this permit and the associated mitigation and enhancement plans, Denver Water will manage diversions to help provide needed flushing flows on the Fraser and its tributaries, complete habitat and native trout restoration work in the Williams Fork basin, and contribute funds toward ongoing habitat improvement efforts like the Fraser Flats project.

“The Fraser is a river beloved by generations of anglers, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts —it’s the lifeblood of our community,” said Kirk Klancke, president of TU’s Colorado River Headwaters chapter in Fraser and a longtime advocate for the river. “As an angler and Fraser Valley resident, I’m gratified that this agreement keeps our home waters healthy and flowing.”

Most significantly, Denver Water will participate in an adaptive management program called "Learning by Doing" through which Denver, Grand County, Trout Unlimited, and other local stakeholders are cooperating to apply mitigation and enhancement resources, monitor river and watershed conditions, and make adjustments to achieve the best results over time. "Rather than remaining an adversary, Denver Water has joined us and our west slope partners as a partner working to improve conditions in the Fraser watershed," explained Colorado TU Executive Director David Nickum.

In addition to the Learning by Doing effort, Denver Water has also pledged resources for improvement work on South Boulder Creek and on the North Fork South Platte (which will be impacted by ripple effects from Gross Reservoir expansion on Denver's systemwide operations, including the Roberts Tunnel). 5000 acre-feet in the enlarged reservoir will also be reserved as an environmental pool to be managed to help provide instream flows at key times to downstream reaches of South Boulder Creek.

Behind the Fin: Blake Fanning

How long have you been a TU member?I’ve been a member for 8 years, joining after moving to Colorado.  However, I really only started getting active in the past few years.

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with? My grandfather taught me to fly fish when I was 8, learning on the streams in the Silverton, CO area. And my mother taught me to be in tune with the environment and how harshly man has treated it.  So TU was a natural fit with those passions.  I’m a member of the Collegiate Peaks Chapter in the Arkansas valley.

What made you want to become involved with TU? In addition to my lifelong pursuit of fly fishing for trout, and love of mother nature, it was a selfish reason. I wanted to learn how to fish the Arkansas river and figured the folks at our chapter could show me how to do so.  It’s not the easiest of rivers to catch fish on.

What is your favorite activity or project that you have done with TU? I’m going to the CTU youth conservation and fly fishing camp in June as a volunteer. I think it will be awesome learning from many experts on river ecology, as well as helping excite the next generation on river conservation and fly fishing.

I know you won’t tell me your top spot, so what is your second favorite fishing spot or favorite fishing story? I’ve really started to love high alpine lakes, particularly backpacking into them. The solitude and natural beauty always recharges my batteries.  Plus I have learned enough to usually catch some wild trout for supper.  My favorite river fishing is on a stretch of the Colorado River, where my brother and I catch 18-20+ inch rainbow and brown trout.  I will leave that stretch unidentified per my brother’s request.

What does being a part of TU mean to you? It means being involved in a community of men and women whom share the common goals of conservation and fly fishing. Youth education and teaching kids to fish is a definite plus.

What else do you do in your spare time or for work? Since moving into the mountains, I have started a new career in elder care, trying to keep folks in their homes.  A new focus of my fishing is the 9 wt rod I recently purchased.  I’m getting into kayak fly fishing for larger fish in the Florida flats and will be fishing for some pike this summer on the Rio Grande.  Love new adventures.

A rancher’s vision of home waters

Home waters.

For Colorado rancher Paul Bruchez, the phrase means more than a favorite local fishing stretch, although that’s part of it.

His home waters encompass a larger vision of waters that bind a community, and a way of life.

He’s spent much of his life along the Upper Colorado River, which winds through his family’s ranch near Kremmling and waters the pasture that supports the family’s cattle operation.

Paul also is a part-time fishing guide in the valley. “Only a rancher would be smart enough to supplement their income by being a fly-fishing guide,” he deadpans.

He loves ranching and fishing, and grew up immersed in both, but he knows this way of life depends on the river—and for decades, the Colorado River here has been in decline. Because of transmountain diversions to Front Range cities, drought, and other factors, he watched as the river dropped, leaving local ranchers’ irrigation pumps high and dry.

To his credit, Bruchez quickly realized that this was more than an irrigation problem. He found a study by a Colorado parks biologist that described seriously degraded river habitat in this stretch, including the loss of key health indicators such as riffle structures and stoneflies. In recent decades, the riffles and bugs had disappeared and been replaced with silt, steep eroded banks and what Bruchez calls “frog water”—slow, murky and mossy.

Looking at the degraded stretch left Bruchez wondering, “What happened to our river?”

So, a few years ago, he decided to do something about it. He talked with his neighbors about not just fixing their irrigation systems but actually fixing the river. Instead of replumbing the irrigation down to reach the river, he had the audacious idea of bringing the river levels back up. He wanted to restore flows and habitat for miles in the valley. He wanted a healthy river.

He began talking with Trout Unlimited and American Rivers. They put their heads together and came up with some innovative ideas. They launched a pilot project: on a neighbor’s ranch just outside of Kremmling, the partners brought in gravel and rocks to rebuild a point bar and reconstruct a riffle: the idea was to boost the oxygen in the water and provide cooler refuge for trout in the pool. Upstream of the riffle V, the narrower channel would back up the water, raising levels and making it more available for irrigation intakes.

At least that was the idea. Then they built it, and surprise—it worked.

The new riffle. 

Bruchez likes to look at the riffle, which froths and rattles over gravel and then slides into a deep long run and is a thing of beauty. “It looks fishy now,” he says.

Almost immediately, the bugs came back. In fact, he recently scooped up a Mason jar of the big stoneflies and other bugs—like some homegrown canned goods—and took them to a meeting of the Colorado Basin Roundtable, a local water planning group for the state. Paul held up the jar and said: This is what river conservation success looks like. With a little help, he told them, the bugs will return, and with them, the foundation of the entire food chain in the river.

He and his neighbors now have funding to improve 10 miles of the river with riffle-pool structures and other habitat projects.

“These bugs will replenish themselves fairly quickly once the river is restored,” he says. And the trout will follow.

It’s working—in fact, it’s astonished him how quickly nature has responded to their efforts. A few weeks back, he took a Colorado senator to the original riffle project. As they looked at the rippling water and tailout, trout began popping everywhere on the surface, rising to a prolific bug hatch.

It was incredible timing. The senator was impressed.

Those rising trout were a vision of the future.

He holds on to those moments, because restoring home waters isn’t always glamorous work. He’s put in countless hours in recent years attending godawfully long planning meetings and crunching the mind-numbing details of construction budgets. He credits his family for covering for him on some of the ranching duties, allowing him to pursue his river work. His wife has been patient.

They understand it’s about keeping their family in this valley. Home waters.

Paul knows that their life here always comes back to the river. He wants to keep it flowing. He wants to keep it fishing. He wants to turn over rocks at the riffle’s edge and find crawling signs of life. That’s what victory looks like.

For more pictures and story on the Bruchez ranch project, read the upcoming issue of This is Fly Magazine.

The author of this piece, Randy Scholfield, is TU's director of communications for the Southwest.