January 2009

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Happy 2009 all! I hope everyone had a great holiday season, had a chance to enjoy some time with loved ones and maybe score a couple of cool new pieces of gear from Santa. Winter is a great time to sit at the bench and stock boxes for warmer weather, but it can also be a good time to get out and do some fishing. The crowds at the ski areas help to thin out the crowds at the tailwaters. It's been pretty easy to find tons of great water to fish without running into any other people doing the same thing. Word of caution - watch out for the ski traffic coming home. Yikes! On to business…

The January general meeting will feature Mike Kruise from the Laughing Grizzly Fly Shop. Mike is a local who grew up fishing the St. Vrain, Big T, Cache la Poudre and RMNP. He has fished extensively in the West and will present a program on fishing the San Juan River. As always there will be a cash bar, fly tying, bucket raffle, slide show and chapter talk. Please join us Thursday, January 22nd, 6:30pm at the VFW on South Main.

Dick Shinton's kid's fly fishing program is filling up, but he still has room for a few more to join. The classes begin February 28th and meet every other week. He'll cover fly tying, habitat, etiquette, stream sampling and finish up with the kids using what they've learned on the river fishing. It's free (with a small deposit for equipment) and a great opportunity for kid's to get introduced to the sport. Please contact Dick at the Laughing Grizzly (303-772-9110) or reply to this email to sign up or donate materials or gear for this worthwhile venture.

I'm still taking names for the 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 or reply to this message and I'll get you in the group. Could be a good way to fish new places with new faces every now and then.

Chuck Howard reports that the St. Vrain stream improvements that he has been working on for us are beginning to come to fruition. The new head gate at the Oligarchy ditch is installed and operating, needing only a couple of minor tweaks to be at 100% efficiency. Thank you Chuck for the great work. We are also looking at sites for streambed improvement projects along the river. Any suggestions on this or any other worthwhile endeavors our chapter can take on would be greatly appreciated.

I'd like to extend a big thanks to Mark Kyner for volunteering to handle our fundraiser this spring. We'll be doing something a little different this year, so I'll keep you posted on the details as they get ironed out. We continue to seek people interested in taking on leadership positions with the chapter. We believe it's important to bring new faces to the board regularly to generate fresh ideas, gain a variety of perspectives and keep the chapter moving forward. Please consider stepping up and helping us determine the future of the chapter. You will find the few hours spent each month to be fun, informative and rewarding.

February is chili month. If you have a killer recipe you'd like to cook up and share at the general meeting, please let Barbara know. Barbara is still looking for some good pics. Email to Barbara at mflyfish@msn.com or reply to this email and I'll forward them along.

Thanks, everyone. Hope to see you on the 22nd, 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: