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

Lost a friend

The Chapter lost a good friend over the weekend, Ralph Absetz passed away. His memorial service will be held on on Tuesday, Jan.25th at 1 pm at Fairmount Cemetary at the Memorial Chapel. Our Prayers go out to his friends and family. Ralph was a long time member of the Cutthroat Chapter and has served as our Treasurer for many years. He will truly be missed!!!

TU January Fishing Trip

We're heading to beautiful Eleven Mile Canyon for our January fishing trip.  We'll be leaving the board of realtors parking lot at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday, January 22, 2011.Details for the trip can be found at this link:January 22nd, fishing tripSign up at the monthly meeting or at sharptail16ga (at) gmail (dot) com

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.

Jim Klug named CUSP "Winter Watershed Hero"

Jim Klug, Cutthroat Chapter Conservation Director, has been named the Coalition for Upper South Platte's (CUSP) "Winter Watershed Hero".  This past season, under Jim's leadership the,  the Cutthroat Chapter planted over 2300 willows on Trail and Michigan creeks in the South Platte river watershed.  Additionally, our Chapter removed a few thousand noxious weeds in Eleven Mile Canyon and Happy meadows along the South Platte and under the able leadership of member Doug McFarland, collected piles of trash from along the river in the Deckers area.  For more information go to CUSP'S newsletter "Water Watch", Winter 2010  at    http://www.uppersouthplatte.org/pdf/WWNov2010.pdf

Fly Box and Fly Raffle

Jerry Shin our Monthly Raffle Volunteer Coordinator has been really busy putting together a collection of amazing flies to raffle off every month. These flies are true works of art tied by some the best tiers in the business. The only thing needed to bring home a few of these beauties is some luck and buck or two for the monthly raffle. All proceeds go to the chapter. How can you pass up a shot at some of these flies? You can't...Just Check out our FLY BOX page by clicking here to learn more and see who is featured this month.The other great thing about these flies is we get to document the patterns for or Chapter Members. That means you just need to go to The Fly Box to see what flies are coming up for Auction and get the patterns to tie up a few of your own. Now that's pretty nice and just another way the Chapter is giving back to it's members.

January Fishing Trip

Gary Thompson is going to be taking the chapter out for the 1st trip of the year. He's been scouting the Arkansas River and is preparing a trip for the 1st of January. You can head over to his blog to see the details and sign up for this free trip from the Chapter. I think we all need to give ourselves a belated christmas gift and head out on this trip...http://www.silklinesandpaperhulls.com/2010/12/tu-trip-january-1st-new-years-day-on.html

New Arkansas River Catch & Release waters

The Wildlife Commision has approved new Catch and Release Waters for the Arkansas River below Pueblo Dam. See page 12 (special regulations Arkansas River -Fremont-Chaffe and Lake Counties)  of  the following  link for location and regulations.

Auction Item-Orvis Pace Changer bamboo rod

Another excellent item being auctioned off in our verbal auction is a lightly used Orvis PaceChanger bamboo rod. This rod has to be seen to be truly appreciated.The rod is a 6 weight 7' to 7'3" 3 piece rod with a metal case. These rods were manufactured in the 60's and 70's and is really a one of a kind item at this year's auction.