Orphan Boy Mine Cleanup with Anglers All | Colorado Gives 365

Located high in the South Platte watershed near Alma, Orphan Boy is a once-successful legacy gold mine that has become a relic of its former self. The mine site now leaches heavy metals into the downstream waters of Mosquito Creek, a tributary to the Middle Fork South Platte, damaging valuable water resources, wetlands and trout habitat.

Trout Unlimited plans to control this contamination by reclaiming the site through containment of flowing mine waters, controlling seepage and erosion, and revegetating exposed mine wastes - all while preserving the historic legacy of the site. The end result will be improved water quality and stream health, protection of downstream communities, and preservation of historical structures at the mine site.

Anglers All has generously pledged $10,000 as a matching gift to help with reclamation of this mine site in their home watershed - so your contribution will be doubled, helping us fully tap their challenge grant!

Gil Trail Footbridge Repairs Completed

Thanks to the efforts of the USFS and funds provided by the Cutthroat Chapter, the bridge spanning Wigwam Creek from the lower Gill Trail parking lot (sometimes known as the Cheesman Canyon Trailhead) has been repaired. The trailhead parking lot is now open and the bridge looks great!

In Memory of Bill Reinig

We are sad to notify the CCTU family of the passing of Bill Reinig after a long battle with Parkinson’s.  Bill, aka B3, was a long-time active member of the chapter and participated in many of the CCTU fishing trips.  Services will be held on Monday, November 14, 1pm at Cherry Hills Community Church.  Donations can be made to the Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies in Bill’s name.

CCTU October Meeting Presentation on YouTube Channel

Had an excellent October chapter meeting last night at Cresthill Middle School.  Chris Krueger, Rocky Mountain Fly Design, gave his timely presentation on streamer fishing – “Taking the Guess Work Out of Streamer Fishing…Tips for Success”.  He delved into why trout eat streamers, when to fish streamers and went into significant detail on some of the key streamer imitated food sources.  Fly patterns, retrieves and presentation techniques, and equipment, including leader design were all covered.  It was an invaluable dive into an area that we all can grow our fly fishing skillsets.  Pick up some of his amazing streamers, check out tying videos and more at his website www.rockymountainflydesign.com.

If you missed the meeting or wanted to review any aspect of Chris’ presentation, it is now up on the CCTU YouTube site at https://youtu.be/2bJwUyp5Cbs

ALERT: Gil Trail Footbridge to be Closed 10/17-10/21

In an email to CCTU leaders, Mikele Painter, District Biologist for the US Forest Service asked that we notify the CCTU members of upcoming footbridge repair at the lower Gil Trail for the week of October 17th (through October 21st). Email included below:

Hi Scott and John,

Please let your Trout Unlimited members know that the Gill Trail Footbridge repair work will take place next week (10/17 – 10/21) and the bridge will be closed. The construction company will also be staging in the parking lot, so public parking will be severely impacted for that week. We suggest that visitors avoid the Lower Cheesman Canyon Trailhead entirely for that week.

Thanks for helping us spread the word and let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Mikele Painter
“Michael” she/her

District Biologist

Forest Service

Pike National Forest

South Platte Ranger District

George Franklin and John Vevurka 2019 CCTU Raffle Trip Winners Fishing at Ouray Ranch

George Franklin finally had a chance to go on the trip he won in the 2019 CCTU Raffle.  He and John Vevurka fished Ouray Ranch with Brian Young on Thursday.  It was a beautiful fall day in the 60s in Grand County and the fishing was excellent throughout the day.  George and John brought many rainbows and browns to net across a broad variety of techniques - Euronymphing, standard nymphing, and dries.  2023 CCTU Raffle Program will open up early in the new year.  Get your ticket early.

CCTU September Meeting Presentation Up on CCTU YouTube Channel

It was great to get back to in-person meetings after another several month hiatus this summer.  Had a great September Chapter meeting last night at Cresthill Middle School.  First up was Lauren Duncan, Trout Unlimited’s Abandoned Mines Restoration Project Manager.  She gave an excellent overview presentation on TU’s Abandoned Mine Restoration projects.  She then drilled down into the Orphan Boy project near Alma, a key project that CCTU has contributed significant funding towards.  Next was Kirk Deeter, the editor of Trout Magazine, TU National’s key communication vehicle.  We had some technical issues so missed Kirk’s short formal presentation, but he took questions from the chapter attendees.  Topics ranged from tips from his new book The Little Black Book of Fly Fishing to his thoughts on key challenges facing TU in the near and long-term future.  A stimulating and wide-ranging discussion with Kirk as usual.  If you missed the meeting, you can watch Kirk’s presentation at CCTU’s YouTube site at https://youtu.be/_ub5K_LZhu8

 The Little Black Book is available numerous places, including Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Book-Fly-Fishing/dp/1510747737

BEAR CREEK ELECTROSHOCKING WITH CPW

BEAR CREEK ELECTROSHOCKING WITH CPW

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12 & FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16

CCTU will again support Colorado Parks and Wildlife in electroshocking Bear Creek.  For those that have done this before, you know it is a great opportunity to learn about and support the work CPW is doing to monitor the health of the fish population in the river.  This year’s dates are Monday September 12 and Friday September 16th, please send a note to John Egan (john.j.egan@icloud.com) if you want to attend…you must send a note to him to be eligible to attend.  Once we get closer, John will provide times and meeting locations for each day. As we have done in the past, CCTU will provide lunch.  You need to bring waders, boots and any layers you need to stay warm.  The project will go no matter the weather, so dress properly and bring rain gear.

Great Alpine Lake Event at Urad Lake, Sun, Aug 14

We had a great Alpine Lake event at Urad Lake this past Sunday, August 14.  We had about 28 CCTU members show up for the event.  They enjoyed Ron Belak’s presentation on alpine lake fishing techniques and tips, fished for about 3 hours and then did about 2 hours of clean-up around the lake.  Thanks to Ron Belak for all his insights, John Egan for organizing, and for all the CCTU members who showed up.  Most everyone caught fish, and a lot of Tiger Trout to net.  They also braved a couple of storms in the afternoon as well as a tough drive back down to town.  Look forward to doing it again next year and doing more combo fishing/clean-up events in 2023. 

Volunteer at CTU TroutFest on 7/18, get FREE Admission

CTU TroutFest Volunteer Opportunities – volunteer for 2 hours, get free admission

CTU’s TroutFest is Monday, July 18th from 5 pm to 9 pm at Coors Field!  They will have lots of outdoors vendors, fly tying and casting instructors, awesome raffle prizes, fly tying competitions, build a bug and lawntrouting opportunities, macroinvertebrate fun, and much much more!  They are in desperate need of volunteers for the event. 

 Volunteer opportunities include…

Registration Volunteer - Help welcome people, get them registered, and checked in

Raffle Area Volunteer - Help manage the raffle items, sell raffle tickets, and pass out winning prizes

VIP Area Volunteer - Help us welcome VIP folks, check wristbands, and chat it up!

Fly Tying Volunteer - Help Troutfest participants learn to tie flies and maybe even teach them your favorite pattern

Casting and Lawntrout Volunteer - Help teach other to cast and get the chance to catch the neon lawntrout

Build a Bug Volunteer - Help kids learn about invertebrates and build a bug at Troutfest

Macroinvertebrate Volunteer - Help participants learn about macroinvertebrates and how important they are to stream ecosystems!

Photographer Volunteer - Volunteer as a photographer of the event

Dress up as Fraser the Trout Volunteer - Dress up as Fraser the Trout, give trout high fives, and take pictures with Troutfest folks!

Sign up today as a volunteer for TroutFest!  All volunteer slots are 2 hours or less, so you can volunteer and have time to explore and enjoy Troutfest.  Each volunteer will get a complementary Troutfest ticket which includes your ballpark style meal and all the fun activity at Troutfest!

Click below if interested in volunteering…

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4fa9a92aa3fdcf8-ctutroutfest