October 2009
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Happy autumn everybody. Football. Baseball playoffs. Leaf raking. Winterizing. Tremendous fishing opportunities. What's not to like ('cept maybe the leaf raking)? Trying to get as much fishing as possible in before the deep freeze, I've missed every weekend college football and Broncos game so far this season, but can't seem to skip the leaves. Well worth it tho. It's a great time of year to get to the hills, take in the scenery, breathe some very crisp air and catch a few pretty fish. Go on and fish, I'll let you know how the games came out. On to the biz…
Thanks to everyone who took part in our stream clean-up last month. We had a good turnout and some new faces helping out. Good thing, too, as there was an unusual amount of trash to haul out of there. I guess the economy has a lot more people entertaining themselves in the hills instead of the malls and amusement parks. Thanks again for keeping our home waters a pleasure to visit.
October's general meeting and program features Mike Oatley, writer, photographer and guide for the Estes Angler in Estes Park. Mike caught his first fish around the time he lost his first tooth and got his first fly rod at 11. He grew up in Michigan, spent 10 impressionable years in the Deep South and moved west in pursuit of Serious Trout when he realized he was free to do so. On side treks along the way, he has gotten familiar with Maine Stripers, Key's Bones, and Alaska in general, along with the great trout rivers of Colorado and the Mountain West. He will fish for anything that might possibly be caught on a fly, but his real passion has been fishing in the St. Vrain and Big Thompson drainages, to which he has dedicated an embarrassingly large portion of the last 15 years. He lives on the West Fork of the Little Thompson with his family and bird dog. This will be a good opportunity to learn a few new things about our home waters, so please join us Thursday the 15th, 6:30pm at the VFW on S. Main St.
Dick Shinton has been doing some informal stream sampling on the St. Vrain recently (read "fishing") and reports that small (6"or so) Hofer strain rainbows are being caught through Lyons and up to the Button Rock Dam. These fish were placed by the DOW as fingerlings last spring and appear to be doing quite well. Pats on the back for our chapter members for helping to make this happen. We would like to continue to improve the habitat and fishing opportunities on the St. Vrain, and need your help to get it done. We're looking for people to become involved with our stream committee and work in conjunction with the city of Lyons, the Colorado DOW, Boulder County and other entities to further these goals. Go rainbows!
Our SVATU community has a member in need of assistance. Medical expenses are a hardship for him and help from chapter members would be greatly appreciated. Please contact an SVATU board member (stvraintu@gmail.com), or the Laughing Grizzly fly shop (303-772-9110) for more information and to become involved.
Help us make the website great! We'd love to get pictures from everybody to put up on the site. Just visit the site at www.svatu.org, go to the "Your Pictures" page and click the link for William at the bottom. Show the world your best stuff.
The search for board members continues. 300 members receive this newsletter. We'd like to see a few step up for a turn at directing the future of SVATU. Contact a board member now at stvraintu@gmail.com or call me at 720-771-2095.
Show your chapter pride! SVATU caps are available at the meetings for the donation of a lousy 12 bucks. Thanks again for helping to preserve and improve our local fish and wildlife habitats. -T
P.S. - James "Bucky" Hooven says "sup?"
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:
