Rocky Mountain Flycasters and Trout Unlimited

May Annual Meeting Ben Swigle, fishery biologist with CPW reported on work completed on the Big Thompson as well as fish population data. From all indications, the river seems to be recovering. Alex Whitting reported on the beginning of a longitudinal study of macro invertebrates. The preliminary data is encouraging.   President Mickey McGuire spoke to the State of the Chapter in his Annual Report which you can read in the President’s Beat.   Trustee Elections were also held and the following slate of officers were elected. See the photo below. L-R: Wil Huett-Past Pres, Ron Dickson-Trustee, Ruthie Ketola-Trustee, Frank Bub-Secretary, Colin Glover-Vice Pres, Mickey McGuire-President. Absent for the photo: Ryan Hogan-Treasurer   We also recognized contributions to our mission with awards in a number of categories. Those awarded for their work were Phil Wright, Paul Wehr, Bob Green, Dick Jefferies, and Kyle Battige. See the Award page.   This was the last general meeting of the season so we will see you all in September. Members of the Leadership Committee are on our Board page.

Big Thompson Clean Up Clean up leader Rick Musslemann drove into Estes April 27 ahead of time and picked up trash bags at the Visitor’s Center. They had lots of bags plus yellow safety vests, as well as coffee and donuts. Big T Collectors and Collection Wil and Jane Huett met up at the start point (mile marker 72 at the fishing pier), with Rick, Rick’s wife Peggy, and neighbors Terry and Erin Cochran. We worked our way up to about mile marker 69 by around 11:00. Rick continues “On average we each filled a large trash bag more than half way, and we picked up a bunch of larger/heavier items that wouldn’t fit into bags.   When we took the trash to the provided dumpster at the Lake Estes Marina we ran into a Chris Kennedy and few guys from Alpine Anglers. They had a similar amount of trash and we took a couple pictures together.   Afterwards my group went into Estes for lunch and a beer. It was a really enjoyable day. I’d certainly be willing to lead the effort (or similar) again in the future.” Good job by the Rocky Mountain Flycasters and Alpine Anglers teams!

Fishing the lower Poudre   On April 18, after ice-off and before run-off, Mark Miller and five others went up the Poudre to Gateway Natural Area to do some fishing. Mark says "The fishing was great, but the catching was definitely difficult...."   If you would like to join in an RMF fishing trip, check out the opportunities on our Let’s Go Fishing page.

10th Annual Youth Fly Fishing and Conservation Day Camp For the tenth year in a row, Rocky Mountain Flycasters will offer an award winning, intense, week-long day camp for youths interested in fly fishing and cold-water trout habitat conservation. Youths ages 14-17 are encouraged to apply for one of 15 spaces on March 1, 2019. The camp runs Jul 29-Aug 3. See the Camp page for more information and applications.   Topics range from entomology to knots, clothing to stream flow, trout habitat to trout feeding habits, invasive species to riparian watershed restoration, and much more.   2018 Youth Campers and Mentors

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

We learned last month that Rocky Mountain Flycasters has been chosen to be one of the local Cargill Canola Cares quarterly charitable contributions of $5,000. In addition, we may receive matching funds from their corporate headquarters. This important donation will go to our conservation program to help fund restoration projects within our watersheds. Be sure to attend the May meeting for the presentation of the donation. Thank you Cargill!

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RMF receives Awards at CTU Rendezvous CTU Rendezvous

Seven of our members attended the Colorado Trout Unlimited Spring Rendezvous held in Glenwood Springs last weekend. It was a great event with 23 of the 24 chapters within the state attending. In addition to the CTU staff, there were also a number of TU national staff in attendance. Colorado is fortunate in that some 24 national TU technical experts live in Colorado and are very accessible to us.

One of the great events at Rendezvous is the awards banquet. Last year our Chapter won awards for our Youth Programs and Dave Piske was awarded a major conservation award. This year, Phil Wright received the Outstanding Volunteer Award and Mickey McGuire accepted the award for Exemplary Chapter. These awards come only because many people donate their time to accomplish the mission of Rocky Mountain Flycasters.

RMF members pictured from left to right are Danny White, Ron Dickson, Phil Wright, Mickey McGuire, Colin Glover, Tracy Craig and Steve Craig.

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L.L.Bean donates to Platte River Veterans

Dave Morse accepts for PRVFF Rocky Mountain Flycasters President Mickey McGuire (right) presents three L.L. Bean Angler II fly fishing outfits to the chapter’s Veterans Service Coordinator, Dave Morse. The rods will be used by chapter volunteers to teach Northern Colorado veterans fly casting and fishing skills.
 
The fly rod outfits were awarded as part of a donation program through Trout Unlimited. For more than 20 years, L.L. Bean has been donating fly rods and reels to TU Chapters. This year, more than 100 chapters applied for the more than 400 donated outfits, valued at nearly $40,000.
 
For more of the story, see our PRVFF page.

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Mickey models a shirt RMF now has logo shirts

Rocky Mountain Flycasters is now offering special order fishing shirts from Columbia. Both men’s and women’s styles are available in a wide variety of colors and patterns.
 
Get the order form, make your choices and submit your order to get a special discount price on these functional, attractive shirts.

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New Order of Hats!

We got in a new order of RMF Logo Hats recently. New colors and new pricing. Hats are now priced 25% lower than before. Show your pride in the work of Trout Unlimited and Rocky Mountain Flycasters. Get your hat(s) from our merchandise page and wear it with dignity.

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What is noteable and quotable? See the brand new Quotes and Notes on the calendar page. Perhaps something you’ve written or said is included. There is a new one for every day of the year.

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Recently posted

• RMF has teamed up with the volunteer management system (VMS) company Volgistics to better manage the many opportunities we have to volunteer doing restoration, rehabilitation, and sustaining our cold water preservation mission. Connect with our VMS system on our newly designed Volunteer page.
• Small can be beautiful. Read Mark Miller’s story Fishing the Headwaters of the Big Thompson River.
• You can now download our calendar in digital format. See the new Calendar page. You can also download individual fishing events from our Let’s Go Fishing page.
• What is noteable and quotable? See the brand new Quotes and Notes on the calendar page. Perhaps something you’ve written or said is included.
• RMF fishing story from Marc McKenzie - Classical Music and Fly Fishing in Aspen.

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Upcoming Events

• May 25 Green River Fishing
• May 26 Green River Fishing
• May 27 Green River Fishing
• June 1 Kids Fish Fest
• June 5 Red Feather Lakes
• June 8 Gateway Trail Work
• June 12 Board Meeting
• June 29 Lake Agnes Fishing
• July 10 Board Meeting
• July 15 Trout Unlimited Anniversary
• July 20 Phantom Canyon
• July 27 Colorado Headwaters
• July 29 RMF Youth Camp
• July 30 RMF Youth Camp
• July 31 RMF Youth Camp
• August 1 RMF Youth Camp
• August 2 RMF Youth Camp
• August 3 RMF Youth Camp
• August 14 Board Meeting
• August 17 Phantom Canyon
• August 21 RMNP Small Streams
• September 7 Dream Lake Fishing
• September 14 Phantom Canyon

Are you a Sustaining Donor? Sustaining Donors are members of Trout Unlimited (TU), non-members, and businesses who recognize that without this kind of community support our Chapter can not adequately protect, conserve, and restore Colorado’s cold-water fisheries and their watersheds. Sustaining Donors are recognized at various levels. Contributions are greatly appreciated and we acknowledge sustaining donors in multiple ways. Find out more.

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What else? Want to find out more about what Rocky Mountain Flycasters does in our area? Take a look at the About Us page and download the brochure we prepared.

More on our Current Calendar

Behnke-RMF Research Fellowship

Rocky Mountain Flycasters continues to support the Robert J. Behnke-RMF Research Fellowship through donations for each year’s fellowship and we are actively seeking donations. Read more about the fellowship and you can use this Donation Form to make a contribution. This fellowship helps a Colorado State graduate student with research and honors the life-long contributions made by Dr. Behnke.

Rocky Mountain Flycasters’ Exclusives

Stop cross-water contamination! Newly Revised!

Whirling disease. Dydimo. New Zealand Mud Snails. Chytrid fungus. These are very real threats to our waters. If you follow some very simple, inexpensive procedures, you can help curb the spread of these diseases. See Common Sense Disinfection Procedure by Phil Wright.

Inexpensive Wading staff

Are you as "sure footed" as you would like to be? Are you ready for the spring run-off? The raging spring torrents can quicky take your feet from under you. It could be that you might need a wading stick. Here’s how to build one out of inexpensive/used materials. Phil Wright put together this helpful HOW-TO (pdf 412 KB) so you can have your own hand-crafted wading stick.