Wetlands rules could hang streams out to dry

Trout Unlimited letter to Ritter points out flaws with federal regs http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20071003/NEWS/71003004

By BOB BERWYN

Summit Daily News Summit County, CO Colorado 

October 3, 2007 SUMMIT COUNTY — New rules outlining federal control over impacts to wetlands have caused one environmental group to write a letter to Governor Ritter.

Only about 25 percent of the state’s streams and rivers flow year-round, while the rest are seasonal. Along with isolated wetlands, they could be completely stripped of protection under the new rules, Trout Unlimited wrote in July, calling on Ritter to support the federal Clean Water Restoration Act. The bill would offer crucial protection for streams and wetlands. especially in arid states like Colorado, according to Trout Unlimited.

Trout Unlimited advocates for conservation of cold-water fisheries, including reaches in Summit County that provide habitat for native cutthroat trout. These are fed by high-altitude wetlands and streams, which Colorado Trout Unlimited executive director Dave Nickum said would suffer through a “significant” decrease of federal protection — even thought the exact interpretation of the rules are still being debated.

“If we don’t protect the headwaters, how can we protect water quality downstream?” Nickum asked. The new guidance is written so narrowly that it doesn’t take into account the way watersheds work, he added. This counters the emerging trend of watershed-based planning, he added.

At issue is whether the Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over seasonal streams that aren’t directly connected to “navigable” waterways. In a 2001 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court set new standards, essentially requiring federal agencies to consider whether a wetland or stream has a direct connection to interstate commerce. That could call into question the Corp’s ability to regulate impacts to isolated beaver ponds around areas like Montezuma or willow wetlands in the headwaters of the Blue River, south of Breckenridge.

In Summit County, “the next navigable river is the Colorado at Grand Junction,” Nickum said. In his eyes, the new guidance places the burden on federal agencies to prove that “impacts to a single draw don’t affect water quality downstream.”

As they stood before the guidance was issued, federal wetlands rules have been a “cornerstone” of the cuntry’s modern environmental protection programs. At worst, the new rules would also cut or eliminate environmental reviews and public involvement on decisions affecting wetlands, Nickum said.

One solution might come from Congress, which is considering a Clean Water Restoration Act. The bill would remove the word “navigable” to clarify that the Clean Water Act is principally intended to protect the nation’s waters from pollution, and not just maintain navigability.

The legislation would restore the regulatory status quo prior to the SWANCC ruling; it does not create “new” protective authority. The bill has been languishing in committee for several years, but has strong support from the environmental community.

Experts keen on refilling aquifers

As the West faces supply issues, many say it's crucial to inject even treated water underground. "Overall, the environmental trade-offs in many cases are going to be worth doing underground storage," especially compared with dams, said Melinda Kassen of Trout Unlimited. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7048900 

By Steve Lipsher The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 10/01/2007 01:25:47 AM MDT

Colorado Springs - Artificially refilling aquifers - even with treated wastewater - may be the best answer for the West's strained water supplies, according to water supply experts. Still, hidden and complex subterranean geology makes aquifer storage an inexact science, said water officials at the American Groundwater Water Trust forum here last week. "This is a very difficult challenge," said Harris Sherman, the executive director of the state Department of Natural Resources. "The use of groundwater is interrelated to everything we do in Colorado," Sherman said. Rapidly growing cities throughout the West are looking to groundwater supplies to offset shortfalls in streams, the primary water source for most municipalities. Water levels in major aquifers are falling at alarming levels, water officials say. Pools in the massive Denver Basin are dropping as much as an inch a day in some areas, for example, requiring ever-deeper wells and prompting concerns over whether there are adequate long-term supplies for municipalities. In places as varied as Orange County, Calif., and the San Luis Valley, officials have found success injecting excess water back into the ground during wet years to replenish aquifers and even bolster aboveground streams. "Managed recharge has been going on for years," said Andrew Stone, executive director of the nonprofit groundwater trust. The Centennial Water District has injected water into existing wells for more than a decade, and Aurora's under-construction Prairie Waters project includes a groundwater recharge effort intended to filter wastewater for reuse. Storing water underground minimizes evaporation losses typical for surface reservoirs, and the process can serve as filtration because most aquifers aren't open caverns so much as porous "sponges" of cobble and sands. Nearly one in five residents in Colorado depends on groundwater, but diminishing supplies already are affecting places such as Douglas County, where development has been limited by dried-up wells. Environmental concerns with aquifer recharge center on water- quality issues such as contamination, but they can be limited if the water is cleaned first. "Overall, the environmental trade-offs in many cases are going to be worth doing underground storage," especially compared with dams, said Melinda Kassen of Trout Unlimited.

Colorado Water Project Notes, September 2007

We assisted the CDOW with fish sampling on the Snake and Blue Rivers. The Snake continued to show the effects of a large runoff event that appears to have brought a lot of metals in from mines upstream. In other words, we only found two fish. Conversely, we sampled a recently restored stretch of the Blue River and found too many fish to count. Well, not really, but this is one happy fishery. CDOW is currently working up the resulting data. We are also continuing to assist the CDOW’s efforts to collect data for instream flow appropriations. We attended a retreat for Colorado environmental leaders to set a 2007-2008 strategic agenda and think about even longer term planning. At that meeting, Colorado's water future was one of the top three statewide issue campaigns (along with climate change/clean energy and habitat protection). There was much talk about the sportsmen-enviro alliance and hope that adding the land protection community (TNC, TPL et al) will make a strong voice more powerful. We have continued to focus on temperature monitoring in the Colorado River, Eagle River, and Roaring Fork River Basins. These efforts have not only been aided by other non-profits such as the Roaring Fork Conservancy, but by one of the big water districts, Northern. Northern have made their data available and are currently warehousing some of the data collected by the Grand County Water Information Network. Some of these data indicate some temperature exceedances. However, this winter the Colorado River Basin will go through the process of adopting the presumptive temperature standards. Until then, the less stringent and less enforceable interim standards are in effect.  We have been working to encourage Denver to release as much water as possible from the Williams Fork Reservoir this winter. Because the Shoshone Power Plant had a penstock explode this summer there will be no Shoshone Call this winter. Denver asked the CDOW to provide a minimum flow recommendation for the Williams Fork. Based on this analysis, they have agreed to release 25 cfs all winter long. This is more than the 15 cfs they are legally required to release, but somewhat less than they typically release.

Trout recovery effort based on best science available

CO Springs Gazette Letters

September 30, 2007

It was with a great deal of disappointment that I read The Gazette’s Sept. 13 Our View, “Fishy science / Preble’s mouse, meet greenback trout.” Rather than take the opportunity to educate the public about the release of this significant scientific finding, The Gazette chose to politicize this discovery. This was done by suggesting that the greenback trout recovery efforts implemented over the past 20 years were not performed using “sound scientific basis for its actions.”

It is the nature of science that “facts” once thought to be reliable become obsolete upon the discovery of new information. That is the case with the Colorado greenback cutthroat trout. As science develops greater insight into DNA, greater specificity between species and sub-species can be determined.

The greenback cutthroat trout has long been known to have evolved from a line of trout originating from the rainbow trout, with the Colorado River cutthroat trout being its closest relative. As a result, the genetics of the greenback are very similar to that of these trout. Only within the past 10 years have scientists been able to distinguish between “pure” greenback cutthroat trout and those that have been hybridized with the rainbow trout genes. The ability to distinguish between the Colorado greenback cutthroat trout and the Colorado River cutthroat trout using DNA has been discovered only in the past 12 months.

Using the latest science available, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has been attempting to bring back a stable population of the greenback cutthroat trout. The only tools available to distinguish the greenback from the Colorado River cutthroat were the location where they were found and their physical traits. Twenty years ago, DNA testing of their differences had not progressed to the point of being able to use that technique. These latest findings now allow for this determination.

I found this discovery to be a positive and exciting event. Not only do we now have another tool to aid in the recovery of this very limited population of trout, the findings confirm that there exists a number of pure Colorado greenback cutthroat trout populations, some of them right here in El Paso County, that can be used as brood stock.

The editorial suggested the DOW engages in “regulatory and scientific malpractice.” How so? The decisions were made more than 20 years ago based on the best science of the time. We all make decisions based on the best information available at the time; that is not malpractice, that is the nature of life. Allyn J. Kratz President Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited Colorado Springs

Angling for a repeat

By DAVE BUCHANAN The Daily Sentinel

Sunday, September 30, 2007

When the National Fly Fishing Championship kicks off this week at various sites along the northern Front Range, Grand Junction dentist Anthony Naranja will have more than a casual interest in the final outcome.

Naranja, who has risen quickly through the angling ranks to become an assistant coach for the U.S. fly fishing team and a certifiably world-class fly angler, not only will be competing for a coveted spot on the U.S. team headed to the 2008 World Championships but also watching how the rest of the current U.S. team performs.

Naranja is captain of the team that won the national championship last year. Composed of Naranja, Lance Egan (Sandy, Utah), George Daniel (State College, Pa.), Brain Capsay (Durango) and Jay Buchner (Jackson, Wyo.), the fivesome is in northern Colorado preparing for next week’s NFFC.

“We are extremely excited to be defending our national championship for 2007,” said Naranja in an e-mail Friday from his NFFC headquarters in Poudre Canyon. “We were all part of this year’s world championships (and) as a team, we are growing together, getting better and better every competition.”

The 15 anglers eventually selected for the U.S. team face even more competition after the NFFC. Those 15 will be whittled down to a five-person team plus alternates for the World Fly Fishing Championship next March in New Zealand.

The weeks of competition take their toll and anglers need to maintain their concentration, Naranja said.

“According to the rules, competition water cannot be fished for a period of 60 days prior to the championship, so our practice time has been focused on water that resembles the competition waters,” wrote Naranja. “The most difficult aspect of any of these competitions is to come prepared mentally. Our team has been in this position before, but the mental game this plays on everyone is something that we must overcome.

“This practice week is for us to do just that.”

The nearly 80 competitors, a word rarely associated with fly fishing and one that still rankles some anglers, will have 21⁄2 days of active fishing. Three-hour morning and afternoon sessions will be conducted Wednesday and Thursday with only a morning session Friday.

There are five fishing venues, including three river beats (the upper and lower Poudre and the Big Thompson rivers) and two lake beats on Parvin and Dowdy lakes in the Red Feather Lakes area west of Fort Collins.

Each participant will fish on every beat but won’t know their NFFC schedule until the team captains’ meeting Monday. So it’s vital the Americans familiarize themselves with water similar to the actual competition sites.

“(Friday), we will be focusing our practice time back on the Poudre River, but now on the lower section,” Naranja said. “Due to the time of year, water levels are quite low, around 50 cubic feet per second, where most summertime water flows may be as high as 1,000 cfs. The Poudre will be a very technical fishery with water this low and will be quite challenging for many of the competitors not use to fishing levels this low.

“Definitely a distinct advantage for our team with the (opportunity to) refine our techniques that we have been able to adapt.”

Winners will be determined according to a formula based on total number of fish and length of fish caught. That’s why you’ll see competitors running up and down streams and even swimming after fish, just to make sure they get every scaly point they can.

A fish doesn’t count until it’s officially been recorded and measured by the judge assigned to each beat.

The final standings will be released Saturday night at the awards banquet, where Gov. Bill Ritter, known as an avid fly angler himself, will give the keynote address.

More information is available on the NFFC Web site, www.nationalflyfishingchampionship.com.

The U.S. teams haven’t done well at most international fly-fishing competitions, the best showing being Jeff Currier’s third in 2003 and George Daniels’ fifth-place last year.

However, team coach Jack Dennis said things are changing since the team-selection process went to a series of regional trials that attract some of the country’s best anglers.

“I firmly believe the competition system will work as it expands and gets better,” Dennis said in an interview published by Colorado Trout Unlimited, the NFFC’s major sponsor. “It will help us get closer and closer and some day soon an American will be on the podium.”

While it isn’t for a lack of trying, there still seems a wide disparity between American anglers and many of the European teams. Perhaps that distance will be shortened if the Americans ever get to compete on home waters instead of traveling to far-distant countries and fishing water they know only from second-hand sources.

As the CTU article notes, European teams have been fishing together for years, frequently competing in the many European fishing tournaments and usually are government supported instead of relying on donations like the Americans.

In contrast, American anglers generally pay their own way to the regionals and in many cases know their potential teammates only through reputation. And while professional bass fishing long has held a familiar spot on Saturday morning TV, competitive fly fishing remains a sideshow, an infrequent curiosity that arouses little attention outside angling circles and even then the ripples don’t spread far.

Wildlife Managers Concerned About ATV Use

(AP) St. Paul A conservation group released a national survey of state wildlife and fisheries managers showing that many of them believe all-terrain vehicles destroy habitat and disrupt outings for hunters and anglers. The Izaak Walton League of America, which released the report Thursday, also said those managers indicated that more enforcement was needed. The group called on Congress to look into the issue.

"Off-road vehicles are important to many people's lifestyles both for work and recreation, including many Izaak Walton League members who ride them responsibly everyday in states across the country," said Kevin Proescholdt, director of the national group's Wilderness and Public Lands Program. "However, our survey of agency managers clearly indicates a reckless contingent of riders is harming fish and wildlife habitat and ruining hunting and fishing experiences for many people."

The survey, conducted in July and August, contacted each of the 50 state wildlife managers and each of the 50 state fisheries managers. A total of 34 agencies, representing 27 different states, responded.

About 83 percent of the wildlife managers who responded to the survey said they have seen "resource damage to wildlife habitat" from those vehicles. About 72 percent cited "disruption of hunters during hunting season" as another impact. About 60 percent agreed or strongly agreed that the machines have a negative effect on hunting and fishing and those habitats in their states.

Who’ll call shots on south slope?

Access group fears role may be limited

Fishing the reservoirs was one reason Jim Williams, a member of Trout Unlimited, signed up for the group. "I think we may have to revise the whole policy," he said. http://www.gazette.com/articles/group_27774___article.html/utilities_south.html

By DAVE PHILIPPS

THE GAZETTE

September 27, 2007 - 12:14AM

The question at the first meeting of WAAG was who's wagging whom?

WAAG is the Watershed Access Advisory Group, appointed by Colorado Springs Utilities to make recommendations on how to regulate recreation in the long-forbidden south slope watershed. But would Utilities call the shots, or would the people?

"I don't have a problem with calling the group WAAG, just as long as it isn't ambiguous who is the dog and who is the tail," member and avid hiker Eric Swab said Wednesday at the group's meeting.

It was the start of a twoyear process to open a set of seven reservoirs on the south side of Pikes Peak to the public while ensuring the long-term safety of the water supply. The group expects to submit a plan to the Colorado Springs City Council in August 2009. There is no timeline for when hikers could hit the trail.

The 45,000-acre south slope has been closed to the public since 1913. For almost as long, locals have lobbied unsuccessfully to gain access. Robert Ormes, the pioneer of local hiking, tried for decades, then adopted a motto he called the Ormes Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those we trespass against."

Colorado Springs has gradually opened a number of reservoirs to the public without incident, but has repeatedly balked at opening the South Slope, even after hinting it would open it twice.

WAAG was formed after heated watershed access meetings last winter in which Colorado Springs Utilities made an about-face after saying repeatedly it would not consider opening the south slope.

Wednesday, members of the newly formed group, made up almost entirely of hikers, bikers, fishermen and equestrians, made it clear they wanted to be the lead dog.

A mission statement drawn up by Utilities said the group should focus on creating four trails, including one that already exists and has been used openly for a century, and one that is 30 yards long. Several in the group immediately said the mission was too limited.

"Are we talking about a few trails, or are we talking about access to the whole watershed?" asked Friends of the Peak president Mary Burger.

The mission statement also said motorized recreation, hunting and fishing would not be considered.

Fishing the reservoirs was one reason Jim Williams, a member of Trout Unlimited, signed up for the group.

"I think we may have to revise the whole policy," he said.

Utilities staff assured them it was only a draft, and "everything is still on the table."

"We need to strive for a balance though - today's access versus tomorrow's water," said Scott Campbell, Utilities director of operations.

High flying: National Fly Fishing Championships return

http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/sep/27/national-fly-fishing-championships-return/ By Zak Brown Thursday, September 27, 2007

When Jay Alipit steps into the rushing waters of the National Fly Fishing Championships next week, the cool Colorado flows will feel mighty familiar.

The Boulder angler will be one of more than 150 competitors at the Boulder-based championships, the largest fly fishing competition in America. At stake are individual and team gold, silver and bronze medals. And as a local angler, he has homestream advantage.

"I've fished these rivers for a long time and feel like I know them like the back of my hand," Alipit said. "When you step into the waters, you immediately know what's going to work, how spooky the fish are. (The competition stretches) are not the most popular sections, but I think they're probably the more challenging on the waters."

Five-member teams from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Ireland will assemble in Boulder for the championships, which are being held in northern Colorado for the second consecutive year. The competitors will fish for three days on the Big Thompson River, the Poudre River, Dowdy Lake and Parvin Lake. The lakes are part of the Red Feather Lakes area.

The areas around the fishing venues are open to the public, and spectators are welcome to watch. It is a chance to pick up some pointers from some of the best fishermen - or women - in the country. The competition is coed.

The winner will be determined by total centimeters after the three days of competition, and the species of trout caught has no bearing on who wins. There are two sessions on Oct. 3 and 4 and one session on Oct. 5. Anglers' assignments, or beats, are determined randomly, and that's why total centimeters won't determine who gets spots on the U.S. national team.

The 55 American anglers, who earned their spot in Boulder through qualifiers, are vying for a chance to be considered for one of the 15 spots on Team USA. The qualifications are not objective. An angler's skill and competency are also factored in when invites for the 2008 World Championships in New Zealand are handed out.

"Sometimes the competitors will draw bad beats (their fishing assignments) for the entire tournament and struggle," said Paul Prentiss, chairman of the championships. "Then some will do really well, but draw good beats the whole time. So the coaches look for things like a competitor's focus and skill and heart."

Alipit competed at last year's tournament and qualified for the tournament this year in Fresno, Calif. After seeing the type of competition he's up against, he expects to be more prepared for this year.

"We were surrounded by great anglers. It was a learning experience for all of us, with the exception of the guys who were already on the team. It was great fun," he said. "To have those type of anglers competing on our local waters, it's pretty intense."who gets spots on the U.S. national team.

The 55 American anglers, who earned their spot in Boulder through qualifiers, are vying for a chance to be considered for one of the 15 spots on Team USA. The qualifications are not objective. An angler's skill and competency are also factored in when invites for the 2008 World Championships in New Zealand are handed out.

"Sometimes the competitors will draw bad beats (their fishing assignments) for the entire tournament and struggle," said Paul Prentiss, chairman of the championships. "Then some will do really well, but draw good beats the whole time. So the coaches look for things like a competitor's focus and skill and heart."

Alipit competed at last year's tournament and qualified for the tournament this year in Fresno, Calif. After seeing the type of competition he's up against, he expects to be more prepared for this year.

"We were surrounded by great anglers. It was a learning experience for all of us, with the exception of the guys who were already on the team. It was great fun," he said. "To have those type of anglers competing on our local waters, it's pretty intense."

Gunnison River diversion successfully installed

Another partner in the project was the Gunnison Angling Society, a chapter of Trout Unlimited. Spokesman Mern Judson said the chapter has worked for 10 years to get the old dam replaced and even though the work was scheduled during the chapter's annual Superfly fundraiser, there was no question the work had to be done. http://www.gjsentinel.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2007/09/12/091207_OUT_db_gunny_dam_WWW.html

By DAVE BUCHANAN The Daily Sentinel

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

GUNNISON - An irrigation diversion on the Gunnison River that promises to be fish-, boater- and irrigator-friendly was completed last week after a decade of wrangling among concerned parties.

The new structure, actually three separate smaller dams, was designed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to replace an earth-and-rock diversion that effectively blocked upstream fish passage during low water and also posed some hazards to boaters.

With Pagosa Springs-based stream rehabilitation contractor Dale Hockett of Elk Ridge Construction doing most of the heavy lifting and with water flow cooperation from the Bureau of Reclamation and the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users, the project was completed inside four days and within the $50,000 budget, said DOW aquatic biologist Dan Brauch.

"I'm very happy with the way it turned out," Brauch said. "From our initial design we put something together that would meet all the purposes of what we are trying to achieve in the project, which included easing kokanee passage upstream and improved boating safety downsteam."

Also vital was maintaining water availability for irrigators and Brauch said the new structure, built largely from large boulders donated by the Colorado Division of Highways from one of its projects near Gunnison, will not only provide water to ditches but also not need the annual maintenance the older dam required.

"The design met all those objectives and then Dale came in and did some slight modifications on-site to make it better," Brauch said. "We ended up with a much more natural-looking structure."

Hockett has worked extensively with stream-rehabilitation guru Dave Rosgen and does most of Rosgen's projects, Brauch said.

Hockett "is great at placing rocks and knows how they need to be built for stability," Brauch said.

That talent is critical, since the new diversion is built to be inundated during spring runoff without washing away, as the old structure did each year.

"Most of the structure will disappear during high water, the only part you'll see is right off the bank," Brauch said. "It's going to be more efficient than the old structure."

Another partner in the project was the Gunnison Angling Society, a chapter of Trout Unlimited. Spokesman Mern Judson said the chapter has worked for 10 years to get the old dam replaced and even though the work was scheduled during the chapter's annual Superfly fundraiser, there was no question the work had to be done.

"They were nice enough to call me and ask if we wanted to postpone the work since it meant lowering the water level in the Taylor River," Judson said. "But I said, ‘Heck no, we've worked 10 years to get this done.' "

The work earlier had to be postponed because of high water levels. The Uncompahgre Valley water users and the Burec agreed to lower flows in the Taylor by 75 cubic feet per second to assist the construction.

Also helping in the project was Ray Trucking of Gunnison and a grant from the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District paid $25,000 toward the work.

"Without their help this would not have happened," Brauch said.

The DOW paid another $20,000 with the remainder coming from water users

First time's a charm

GJ angler wins Superfly contest on his initial try http://www.gjsentinel.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2007/09/12/091207_OUT_superfly_WWW.html

By DAVE BUCHANAN The Daily Sentinel

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

GUNNISON - For every fall but one since 1989, the Gunnison Angling Society has conducted its Superfly fundraiser. In all those years, except the first, of course, it's questionable if anyone entering the one-day fishing contest for the first time has won.

Matt Mayer of Grand Junction managed that feat last weekend when the Superfly novice garnered first place in a contest whose face has changed greatly from years past.

In prior years, the competition, a major fundraiser for the Gunnison Angling Society chapter of Trout Unlimited, was a one-fly contest with winning based on total number of inches of trout. You started with one fly and when that fly was no longer fishable (which mostly means hanging high in a tree or broken off by a fish) your fishing was done for the day.

In the past, whoever caught the most fish (equals usually most inches, right?) usually won.

This year, however, anglers were given free access to their fly box but were limited to recording only five trout, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, with one "wild card" trout at any time.

This put a premium on catching a big fish early, since you had to measure your first fish (kokanee salmon were not allowed) and being able to gamble later whether that 10-inch trout you caught with an hour left on the clock should be counted or released on the hopes of catching something bigger before time ran out.

Mayer, who runs a medical technology company in Grand Junction with his father, orthopedic surgeon David Mayer, made his life much easier when he hooked and netted a 19-inch rainbow on the East River with only a few minutes left in his morning beat.

"I caught it on a flashabou egg pattern, one they tie at Western Anglers, with a little beadhead," said Mayer, who finished the contest with a total of 77 inches for five trout. "I've used it before so I had some confidence in it. We (Mayer, teammate Steve Ward and their guide) moved into this hole with 15 to 20 minutes left in the morning and I caught that fish with 5 minutes left."

Unfortunately, no photos exist of the winning fish (although all fish were winning fish, since even a 10-inch fish might have been the clincher) because Mayer and Ward "were scrambling around so much to get Steve his last fish," Mayer said.

The two members of the Grand Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited finished eighth as a team, and the other GVA team, comprised of Mac Cunningham and this woeful reporter, managed to clinch fifth.

Team fishing presents some interesting challenges. Mindy Sturm, a Realtor from Crested Butte, and Gene Hart, a long-time Gunnison River guide now living in Gunnison, paired up to take second in the team standings with 121 inches total and she said there was some strategy and gambling needed to finish high in the standings.

"I figured we needed at least a 15-inch fish (to win) and if I would have counted my 13-inch fish we would have lost by 2 inches," she said. "So I released the 13-incher hoping for a bigger fish. We didn't really know where anyone's score was, I just felt I needed a 15-inch fish."

But her gamble failed and she stuck on four fish, including one that went 15.5 inches, while Hart recorded five, the biggest a 151⁄4-inch rainbow (all fish were measured to the closest eighth-inch). The twosome finished 15 inches behind the eventual winners.

"But I really like the concept of working to catch a few big fish more than just hooking everything you can and getting it back in the water," Sturm said. "There was a lot of strategy, (including) knowing the water and the holes and how many fish were sitting in the holes and getting the larger fish out of there.

"We caught almost a dozen (fish) each we didn't count."

But what can an everyday angler take out of a fishing competition, whether it's the Superfly or the National Fly Fishing Championship slated for Colorado in October?

At first glance, it might seem competitive angling, even as low-key as the Gunnison Superfly, where emphasis in put on enjoying oneself, offers little for the average fly fisher, but that's like saying nothing comes out of NASCAR.

Just as many improvements in engines, safety and equipment have grown from the cars that go fast just so they can turn left, anglers can gain something by watching competitive anglers.

"There's a lesson in knowing the river and how to stay out of trouble with your fly because every river has so many spots where you can into trouble," offered Mayer, who won a Scott fly rod. "I'd say you have to have a fly you can fish with confidence, but also don't be afraid (to change flies) if one isn't working for you. I used so many different flies, I wouldn't have done nearly as well if it was still a one-fly contest."