April 2009
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Greetings, all. I hope everyone is enjoying our wacky spring weather. Three weeks ago I was casting dry flies and wet-wading in RMNP, and the next two weekends layering up to fish in cold, rain and snow. Keeps things interesting. I love springtime in the Rockies. On to business…
The April general meeting features Jack Bombardier of Confluence Casting. Jack lives on the "lower" Upper Colorado River where he floats lucky people down one of the prettiest canyons in the state. He grew up fishing the hills of western Massachusetts, and honed his skills in the Berkshire and Catskill Mountains. After moving to Colorado in the mid-eighties, he spent almost twenty years living in Denver and frequently road-tripping to some of the west’s best fishing spots. Now he is living the dream, with the Colorado River and the Flat Top Mountains (literally) in his backyard. His presentation this month will be on fishing the East Flat Tops, including the Colorado River below State Bridge, Derby Creek, Sweetwater Lake and the Stagecoach tail water. As always there will be a cash bar, fly tying - Mark Kyner will be tying lake bugs, bucket raffle, slide show and chapter talk. This will be the last general meeting this spring so please join us Thursday, April 16th, 6:30pm at the VFW on South Main.
Good news on the river front (pun intended). The DOW is planning to stock the North St Vrain in Lyons with thousands of Hofer strain rainbows soon to test the sustainability of a population there. They'd like to see these fish be able to winter-over and reproduce in this section of river. This aligns beautifully with our chapter's goals of doing stream improvement work in Lyons and trying to keep a decent water flow through there year-round. We're also excited that as a part of this project, this section could be designated as catch and release water soon. There is a reading at the Lyons Town Council meeting April 20, 7:30 pm, of an ordinance to establish catch and release regulation within city limits. Come to the meeting and express support; please arrive on time and plan to be there for a few hours. The sampling work and Corridor Committee involvement that our members have pursued have helped to bring all this to fruition. Everyone involved should give themselves a well-earned pat on the back.
Our chapter fishing trip a couple of weeks ago was a lot of fun. Two days fishing the upper Colorado, big breakfast each morning, shuffleboard and a little brew at the Parshall Inn Saturday night, what's not to like? What we lacked in number of anglers we made up for with enthusiasm. Many fish were caught on everything from a #10 stonefly nymph to a #26 dry midge. These trips are a gas and I can't wait to see where the next one will be...
The fund-raising party on May 9th is coming together very nicely. Guitarist Jim Deeming will provide entertainment and we'll have burgers and brats, as well as an open bar. $20 raffle tickets are still available for the guided fish-and-stay on and around the Yampa with Steamboat Angler. This a great trip worth $1400 and we're only selling 50 tickets so your chances to win are great. There's plenty of other cool items in the silent auction and raffles. Mark Kyner has put together a fun, no-pressure event, so I hope everyone will come down and enjoy. If there is anything you would like to donate to the chapter for the fund-raiser, please contact Mark Kyner or 303-678-9921.
This is the last monthly newsletter of the season, but I won't let you off that easily. You'll still get news on things like:
- The May 9th fund-raising party
- The June 6th kids' fishing day at Isaac Walton
- The June 13th nation-wide, 50th anniversary TU stream clean-up day
- The July 10th-11th Rhythm on the River
As always, we could use your help for these events. If you'd like to get involved, please contact Mark Rayman.
As always, If you have pictures of your fishing trips that you would like to share please send them to William Brower, and he will post on the Your Pictures page.
You can stay in touch with other members this summer by joining our fishing partner email group. If you would like to be notified when someone in the group posts a trip or available fishing day, or would like to let others know when you are free to go, drop a line to stvraintu@gmail.com and I'll get you in the group. Could be a good way to fish new places with new faces every now and then.
Thanks, everyone. Hope to see you on the 16th. T.
SVATU Board:
Brad Wallin, President
James Hooven, Vice President
Barbara Luneau, Secretary
Dick Shinton, Treasurer
Mark Rayman, Programs Chairman
Chuck Howard, River Committee Co-Chairman
Phil Cavendor, River Committee Co-Chairman
Tom Tinkle, Communications Chairman
SVATU Contact Information:
