Troutfest Colorado 2023 Recap
3,000 attend Troutfest Colorado at Coors Field
2nd annual celebration of conservation, education, and fly fishing a major hit in Denver
Normally, we see conservation expos and fly fishing trade shows stuffed inside convention centers or large resort hotels. Exhibitors in confined boxes, bumping elbows with each other while attendees work through isles weaving their way from exhibitor to exhibitor. This isn’t a bad design by any means, as their targeted audience will go where the event is, but how do you get people to a conservation and fly fishing event if they know nothing about the topics? One idea is to offer it for free and have it at a major attraction in a large city with plenty of free parking and nearby public transit.
On Saturday, July 8th, 2023, Colorado Trout Unlimited held its annual Troutfest Colorado at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Approximately 3,000 people entered the ballpark throughout the day to roam the mezzanine level of the stadium and visit over 50 exhibitors, watch films on the giant scoreboard, receive casting instruction, view professional fly tyers, and interact with numerous youth activities. The venue attracted not only TU members and anglers, but also many families and people who simply saw a free event at Coors Field and wanted to learn more about Colorado Trout Unlimited.
By utilizing the Coors Field scoreboard and having a large 30-foot exhibit, the TU message was loud and clear. Conservation films and presentations throughout the day shared what TU does in Colorado and why it’s important to conserve and protect our water. The scoreboard showed TU films such as “Decades: 50 Years of Colorado Trout Unlimited”, “Romeo November”, and “Querencia: A Love of Place”. Half of the exhibitors were non-profits, sharing what they do with all attendees that passed. The other half of exhibitors included manufacturers and retailers. Troutfest Colorado even included a barber cutting hair and a local tattoo artist.
Fourteen fly tying professionals set up shop at another exhibit to show the public their craft. With an open and inviting layout, attendees mingled with tyers as they tied flies throughout the day.
A large focus of Troutfest Colorado is on youth and interactive exhibits. CTU’s ‘Kids Corral’ was a large space dedicated to TU programs such as a Macroinvertebrates Station, Build a Bug Station, Learn How to Handle Fish Station, and more. Kids and adults even got to handle live macroinvertebrates, see them under a microscope and tie a fly to “Match the Hatch”. In addition, there were interactive water tables where attendees could build streams and see how they interacted with the land around them.
The event also has three casting areas; one for instruction and presentations, one for youth, and the other to demo fly rod company products.
Other special events and attractions at Troutfest Colorado included a special message from Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a donation presentation from Ross Reels to Colorado Trout Unlimited based on its Native Series Reel Program, and a showing of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival on the Coors Field scoreboard that evening.
“In its second year, we really wanted to make Troutfest Colorado an engagement event.”, said David Nickum, Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director. “We focused on outside-the-box advertising, including radio and targeted digital ads. We feel successful that many attendees didn’t know what Trout Unlimited was and that our message was clear. We hope these people reach out to their local chapters and get involved in protecting Colorado’s rivers.”
Planning for Troutfest Colorado 2024 will begin this fall, visit coloradotu.org/troutfest for more information
Announcing the Native Series Giveaway!
Announcing the #NativeSeriesGiveaway‼️ To ring in the long awaited fishing season, we’ve collaborated for conservation. The sun is shining, the beer is cold, and the Native Trout are making a comeback! We’ve teamed up with eight other brands to offer one awesome prize package. One lucky winner will take home the "Grand Prize Package" worth over $3,000 worth of gear! Follow all brands on Instagram for extra entries!
One lucky winner will receive a Ross Reels Colorado Cutthroat 4/5 Reel $495.00, Airflo Fishing Line of your choice $99.00-$129.00, One-year Trout Unlimited membership card & annual subscription to TROUT Magazine $35.00, Troutfest Hat, T-Shirt and stickers $100.00, Colorado Native Beer for a Year $500.00, Riversmith rack: Choice of Standard River Quiver, ShortCut River Quiver, or Swiftcast Rod Holder $479.00, $300.00 Flylords Merchandise Gift Card, Free day of fishing for winner and friend on a Rare Waters exclusive property of their choice $400, 2 pairs of Ombraz sunglasses $320.00, Sea Run Case of your choice $679.00.
Ross Reels Donates $31,125 to Colorado Trout Unlimited
Ross Reels, a leading manufacturer of fly fishing equipment and subsidiary of Mayfly Outdoors, proudly donated $31,125 to Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Poudre Headwaters Project as part of its Native Series Reel campaign. The presentation took place Saturday, July 8th at Colorado Trout Unlimited’s Troutfest Colorado event, hosted at Coors Field. The donation is just the first portion of a total giveback of $37,125 once all of the reels have been sold.
The Native Series campaign is a partnership between Ross Reels and Colorado Trout Unlimited with the intent to raise money for native fish species conservation through the sale of reels inspired by the specific species identified.
The Greenback cutthroat trout was the first native species identified for the first reel and conservation project and is also the state fish of Colorado. The reel, called the Greenback Cutthroat Reel is a limited edition 2/3 size reel with only 495 units made, with $75 from every reel sold going to the Poudre Headwaters Project and Colorado Trout Unlimited.
The Poudre Headwaters Project is a conservation project specifically focused on restoring native Greenback trout habitat over the course of approximately 40 miles of connected river and lakes along the Cache la Poudre River all the way up to Long Draw Reservoir.
With the success of the Greenback Reel, Ross Reels also announced the release of the second reel in the series - the Colorado Cutthroat Reel. This special edition reel will again be limited to 495 reels with $75 from every reel sold going to Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Clear Fork East Muddy Creek project focused on Colorado River cutthroat trout habitat restoration.
David Nickum, Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director, shared his thoughts on the partnership saying, “Native trout have a great friend in Mayfly Outdoors and Ross Reels. The Greenback cutthroat reel has been a great success and is providing vital support to restoration efforts in the Poudre headwaters. Now as Ross Reels continues the native series to celebrate the Colorado River Cutthroat trout and contribute to its conservation, we look forward to partnering with them on other projects in western Colorado and Utah to help secure a future for the native trout of Mayfly’s own home waters.”
Jeff Patterson, Mayfly Outdoors and Ross Reels Director of Sales, also commented, “This has been such a great "everybody wins" collaboration with Colorado Trout Unlimited. Our Ross dealers really stepped up their support as well promoting this project through their shops with the Greenback Cutthroat being the ultimate beneficiary through the combined efforts. Our shared customers also received a pretty cool looking reel in return for their contributions. We love doing this kind of stuff, and look forward to more of it in the near future.”
Take Action – Protect Colorado Wetlands and Headwaters
On May 25th, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Sackett vs. EPA that sharply reduced Clean Water Act protections for wetlands that are vital to healthy and functioning watersheds. While not directly addressed, the decision also appears to put streams that don’t have year-round flow at risk of losing Clean Water Act protection as well. Those ephemeral and intermittent streams represent a majority of Colorado’s waterways and are the sources that feed our larger rivers that support fisheries, as well as providing drinking water to our communities and supplies for agriculture. If we fail to protect water quality at its source, we cannot protect it downstream.
With federal protection for most of Colorado’s waterways jeopardized under the Court’s decision, we need the State to step up and ensure our waters remain protected. Please take a moment to ask Governor Jared Polis to ensure that the State takes on this responsibility so that state water quality protections are applied to keep our headwater streams and wetlands intact. With a strong State-level program, Colorado can continue to protect the high-quality water that we need for our fisheries, our communities, and our working landscapes.
2023 River Conservation & Fly Fishing Camp - Building Leaders While Building Leaders
This year’s CTU River Conservation & Fly Fishing (RCFF) Camp was June 11th - 17th in Almont, CO, and was a huge success! After receiving several camp counselor applications (from 2022 campers and returning Junior Counselors) as well as new camper applications, we had the excellent idea to not only accept 20 awesome campers but also accept 12 Junior Camp Counselors at this year’s RCFF Camp!
Each of these Junior Counselors had already completed camp. This year, they had the opportunity to build up their leadership, teamwork, and angling skills as they helped lead small groups, guided campers, and helped the Seasoned Counselors keep camp organized.
This morphed beautifully into incredible relationships between our Campers, Junior Counselors, and Seasoned Counselors. Seasoned Counselors introduced discussion topics, while Junior Counselors led small groups of interested Campers. Campers received one-on-one tips from leading Seasoned and Junior Counselors as they fished, tied flies, designed posters, and even learned how to build their own fishing leaders!
Campers grew in their angling skills and confidence throughout the week, and Junior Counselors grew in their leadership skills. This leadership model for CTU’s River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp helped streamline some of the organizational parts of the camp. Still, it also allowed us as an organization to promote our ‘Stream of Engagement’ model for the CTU Headwaters Youth Programs. Through this program delivery model, we strive to engage new participants in our Youth Programs and ensure that people of any age can "plugin" to TU and continue their relationship with coldwater conservation and fly fishing through various age-appropriate opportunities and programs.
CTU’s River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp is not only teaching how to build fishing leaders but also building leaders within Trout Unlimited and fostering the next generation of river conservationists and anglers! Thank you to all the Camp Counselors, Volunteers, Campers, and Camp Supporters! We could not do this without you!
The New Summer Issue of High Country Angler is Live!
Check out the Summer 2023 issue of High Country Angler e-zine, including these stories:
· Landon Mayer celebrates the season and provides his Summer Trout Tips;
· Brian LaRue with Secret Fisheries to Remain Secret;
· Colorado TU Staff celebrates huge growth with its Trout in the Classroom program;
· Hayden Mellsop with Summer Time and the Fishin' is Easy;
· Joel Evans talks Colorado TU's Troutfest and shares his Troutfest Light Caddis;
· Colorado TU Staff with First Step for Stream Restoration;
· Peter Stitcher with The Anatomy of a Euro Rod and Reel
· Other columns by CTU Staff and the Old Professor!
Be sure to see information forTroutfest Colorado July 8th at Coors Field!
June 2023 Currents
THIS MONTH’S ISSUE OF CURRENTS FEATURES Troutfest Colorado, Rollback of Clean Water Act, Mending the Line Movie, and More!
Supreme Court Rolls Back Clean Water Act Protections
On May 25th, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling sharply curtailing Clean Water Act protections for wetlands that are vital to healthy and functioning watersheds. While not directly addressed, the decision also appears to put streams that don’t have year-round flow at risk of losing Clean Water Act protection as well.
Ruling in Sackett v. EPA, the court limited Clean Water Act protection for wetlands to those with a “continuous surface connection” to other “Waters of the United States,” which will remove federal protections for the majority of the nation’s wetlands. Earlier rulings had protected any wetlands with a “significant nexus” to Waters of the U.S., and for decades the Clean Water Act has covered wetlands that are “adjacent” to those waters. In the case in question, the court found that a landowner did not need a federal Clean Water Act permit to fill in a wetland lacking a “continuous surface connection” to a water body flowing into Idaho’s popular Priest Lake that provides important cutthroat trout habitat.
“We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The court has severely eroded a 50-year national commitment to clean water, and misses the obvious point that wetlands are often connected to streams through subsurface flows,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “The ruling is a victory for muddy thinking, and directly compromises the stated purpose of the Clean Water Act—to make our rivers and streams more fishable, swimmable, and drinkable.”
The ruling is the latest in a decades-long debate over which streams, rivers, and wetlands should be protected by the Clean Water Act. In 2015, Trout Unlimited and our partners backed the Clean Water Rule, which was grounded in science and would have confirmed protections for small “ephemeral” and “intermittent” streams, headwaters, and wetlands. That rule was blocked by the courts, repealed by the Trump EPA, and briefly replaced with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which offered weaker protections for small streams. In findings published in a peer-reviewed journal, TU showed that half of all waters in the contiguous United States would have been unprotected under the weaker Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The loss of protection is especially worrisome in more arid western states, like Colorado, where many streams do not maintain flow year-round.
The EPA finalized a new rule in March, which reinstated Clean Water Act coverage for millions of miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands.
Rather than clarifying matters, the Supreme Court ruling in Sackett will lead to more confusion and litigation in the coming years over the Clean Water Act, the revised Waters of the U.S. rule, and protections for wetlands and streams.
While the issues litigated in Sackett did not directly address the question of stream protection, the Supreme Court’s majority opinion proposed a test for what waters are covered under the Clean Water Act that could leave non-perennial streams unprotected. These ephemeral and intermittent streams have a major effect on the connected downstream perennial waters on which fish and people rely.
“Protecting water quality starts at the source, in our headwater and seasonal streams and the wetlands that sustain them,” said CTU Executive Director David Nickum. “It is just common sense that allowing degradation upstream will lead to problems downstream.”
Here in Colorado, the main concern in the aftermath of Sackett is not with traditional point-source discharges but with dredge and fill activities historically regulated under Clean Water Act Section 404. Colorado law has a more expansive definition of waters of the State that are restricted from having pollutants discharged without a permit; through its point-source pollutant permitting system, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment works to keep water quality at levels that can support uses from drinking water supplies to sustaining aquatic life. Unfortunately, Colorado does not have a similar state permitting program for dredge and fill activities and instead has relied on federal permitting to protect water quality and watersheds. Post-Sackett leaves a major regulatory gap in handling projects that formerly would have operated under federal 404 permits.
With many waters of Colorado potentially losing their federal protection, the State must step forward to ensure that these “gap waters” are protected and that an appropriate state permitting program can backfill for the lost federal protections. Colorado TU looks forward to working with the Administration and with the General Assembly to advance a Colorado solution that can ensure the continued health of our watersheds even in the face of the Supreme Court’s Clean Water Act rollback.
STREAM Keepers at Walking Mountain in Avon, CO
On June 3rd, CTU joined Walking Mountain Science Center in hosting a STREAM Keepers program for over 15 participants. These fantastic families overcame rain and activity changes with smiles on their faces and curiosity to explore. We learned about macroinvertebrates and watershed ecosystems, we got to build a bug, and we even got to tie some flies! We even got to see some mayflies hatch out into adults!
Thank you to all the participants for coming out and being flexible and adaptable. Thank you also to our amazing volunteers Dave, Sherry, Mark, and Nick, and thank you, Patricia and Walking Mountain, for partnering with us for this incredible program! We can’t wait to come back!
