Sept. 20th Meeting – Jeff Spohn “State of the So. Platte River”

September 20th Chapter Meeting -  7 PM.  Jeff Spohn is CDOW's aquatic biologist for the Upper South Platte River Basin. The Upper South Platte River is the Cutthroat Chapter's "home waters".  Jeff knows more about this section of the state than anyone you're likely to meet. Jeff will spend the first part of his presentation discussing the biology, management, and issues with the fishery in the Spinney, Cheesman and Deckers areas after which he will take questions and topics from the floor.Jeff graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in Limnology & Fisheries and a second degree in Aquatic Biology. Don't miss this chance to hear him talk about what's going on in our own "backyard".

Looking for a volunteer for the auction

We need some help for the upcoming auction. The Chapter is looking for someone to help us put together a powerpoint slide show of our projects from the last year and highlight some of the bigger items we will have in the auction. We would provide all the images, we just need someone to put them together into a simple slideshow.If you are interested leave a comment below or send me an email nick (at) nibydesigngroup.com.

Fishing on the Fourth

Jim Rasmussen helped some local kids get into some fish this weekend. Over 70 kids turned out at Progress Park to hook a few on the Fourth of July. Looks like it was a ton of fun and I'm going to have to enter my daughter next year. You can read more here

Updated Lending Library

The Cutthroat Chapter has an extensive lending library available to it's membership. The Chapter Library is available by request only. If  you need any books brought to the next meeting please call Duane at 303-935-4403. The library list is attached to this post below.Cutthroat_lending_library-2

Cutthroat Lending Library

The Chapter Library will be by request only for a little while. If  you need any books brought to the next meeting please call Duane at 303-935-4403. The library list is attached to this post below.Cutthroat lending library list

River Conservation & Fly Fishing Youth Camp

Colorado Trout Unlimited announces new venue for youth camp - High Lonesome Ranch in DeBeque, COThe youth camp will be held on June 12th through June 17th for 20 - 14 to 18 year olds. Please go to the CTU website for an application and to submit an essay on why you want to attend the camp. www.cotrout.org

Trout in the Classroom Article from a Student

J.C., a student at Thompson Valley High School wrote a great 'reflection' paper on his experiences with Trout in the Classroom.  We so enjoyed it we wanted to share it with everyone.  The paper appears below in it's unedited form:

Trout in the Classroom

Various questions I will get throughout the day is, “Hey, How are the fish doing”, or “Are all of this fish doing okay”. This has been a product of Mr. Hewson and teaching students by using the life cycle of the trout but also the chemicals in the tank. Most kids aren’t really interested in the chemical stand point but that plays a big part. That’s when I come in, so that the fish can survive and stay healthy. I do a 5-15 gallon water change daily to make sure the nitrites and ammonium don’t build up and kill the fish. Especially when we try to keep around 100 fish alive in a 55 gallon tank all of the waste can’t just stay in there.

In a river this wouldn’t be a problem with freshwater plants and other wildlife not to mention a flowing water source. But I need to do what I do so that we can transport them to the Big Thompson River in the spring, happy and healthy. But last year for fear of the fish not being big enough to survive against the larger and more aggressive brown trout, we decided to hold our fish at one of the water treatment plants nearby where they have two 55 gallon tanks with constant Big Thompson water or the reservoir’s water flowing through the tanks. So the fish get an extra year to grow but also get to learn how to eat live river insects and other food sources before having to make it on their own in one of the harsh rivers of Colorado.

I have learned throughout the time of working with the fish that yes we are doing it to help restock the Big T with rainbow trout and yes to help Mr. Hewson teach. But that kids have interests and that they just need to find the right one and if the option isn’t there how can they figure that out by themselves. It’s a great feeling when kids walk in to Mr. Hewson’s room to get homework help and they stop at the door and talk to me about how the fish are doing or just sit there and watch them swim around, that I actually, possibly had a kid get an interest in something. It just helps me carry one in doing my work so that they can enjoy the fish being healthy and the water is as clean as I can get it.  And more times than I ever thought that kids will see me changing the water and will ask me, ”Why am I doing this?” and I’ll respond, “So that we can learn about fish and chemical cycles”. And before you know it they are taking a mini lesson from me learning more and even Mr. Hewson will help sometimes.

By the end of this year, the fish in our classroom will be around 1.5-2 inches. We plan to release them into the tanks at the water plant.  At the same time, we will release last year’s fish currently living at the water plant into the Big Thompson so that they can thrive. The cycle will then become set so that every year we will release last year’s fish into the river and start fresh next year with eggs that will in two years be doing the same. It’s so exciting, not only to see rainbow trout to go into the river that hopefully one day I’ll catch, but to know that next year a new batch of eggs will be coming so that students can enjoy the pleasure of looking at them grow, also name them, but so that they can learn about the fish and about water chemistry from a stand point that relates to them. And if it only gets through to some people, that’s fine, that’s more than none before. But I always miss the questions I get from other students while cleaning the tank when we don’t have the fish yet. I know that they will be coming soon and new lessons will be thought and new interests will be sparked.

Thanks, J.C.!

Greg Felt Speaks at January Meeting

January's speaker will be Greg Felt of Arkanglers guide service and fly shops. Greg Felt is co-owner and guide service manager of ArkAnglers. He has guided on the Arkansas for twenty six years, logging over 25,000 river miles in his boat. Along the way he has come to know some great fish and some great people. Bringing those two groups together has been his life’s work.This month's meeting is on January 18th at 7pm, but get there early to share your fish stories and get some raffle tickets!The monthly meetings are held at the South Metro Denver Realtors Association, 7899 S. Lincoln Ct., Littleton, CO 80122.

Trip to Alaska up for Auction

We got a really great trip for our auction visitors this year.Alaska trip for one angler to Legend Lodge (250 miles southwest of Anchorage) for 6 days of fishing on Lake Iliamna. Fishing on the Copper and Gibraltar Rivers also available. June thru Sept. of 2011. If you bring a friend, Jack Johnson, the lodge owner, will pay round trip cost from Iliamna to the lodge (value $900).Learn more about the great fishing opportunities at the lodge.

Trout in the Classroom at Thompson Valley High School

The eggs are in and they are hatching!! Go see the Thompson Valley HS Trout Lab through their website at http://tvhstroutlab.webs.comThe Cutthroat chapter is sponsoring this high school. Let us know if you know an outstanding high school science teacher that might consider adding Trout in the Classroom to their curriculum for the next school year.