April 2022

TO CONSERVE, PROTECT, AND RESTORE NORTH AMERICA'S COLDWATER FISHERIES AND THEIR WATERSHEDS

Board of Directors
Officers
President: Mickey Fletcher
mfletcher15006@gmail.com
Vice President: Eric Ferguson admin@az-tu.org
Secretary: Sarah Herndon
Treasurer: Bryan Eto
Conservation Chair: TBD
Project Healing Waters Program Lead: Jim Owen
Youth Programs Chair: Steve Reiter
sreiter@cox.net
Membership Chair: Steve Reiter
Diversity Chair: TBD
Social Media: Eric Ferguson
Other Board Members
Dennis Jennings, Scott Koktavy
Newsletter Editor: Eric Ferguson
Address:
Old Pueblo Trout Unlimited
51985 E River Road, Suite 201
Tucson, AZ 85718
Contents:

New and Important
Programs
Conservation
Fishing
Events
New and Important
The New and Important section includes the president's monthly message, fund raising items and news about recent developments that effect fishing and conservation.
President's Message
Greetings Arizona Anglers:

Welcome to Spring 2022.

The Old Pueblo Trout Unlimited has just completed our first “Outing” event for 2022. On Saturday March 19, members attended a workday/fishing day at Parker Canyon Lake. The weather was perfect for our event. Several new members attended which turned out to be their first Outing with OPTU. We had a great time meeting family and friends of our organization. See attached photograph.

The day started with our members walking the shoreline and picking up trash located around the lake. We all gathered for a hearty lunch around noon. This included good food and friendly conversation. Some of our members went fishing after lunch, others just enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful lake view.

The OPTU Board is planning another event in May. One of our traditions is to honor our military veterans who are members of OPTU. The event in May will be to celebrate the service of our military veterans. This program is called; Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF). OPTU has an active group of veterans who participate in a variety of outings and events throughout the year. Plans for the May event are still being worked out. Please stay tuned in April for the specific details on the event. Watch for information in our “E-mail Blast”. The location of the event is planned for Parker Canyon Lake. It should be a fun day of fishing, food and fun.

OPTU is planning to return to In-Person meetings in September. May will be our last event until then. Please keep up with out Quarterly Newsletter over the summer. We can post outings, information, events and items for sale. Hope to see you at the Lake in May. Watch for details in your email.

Mickey Fletcher, NEW ADDRESS: mfletcher15006@gmail.com or telephone me anytime at 520-349-1774. Mahalo
Programs
The Programs Section below covers our regular scheduled programs and our outreach programs.
Monthly Meeting
There will be no monthly meeting in May, but keep an eye out in your email for details on the May outing at Parker Canyon Lake.


The Native and Wild Trout Conference will be occurring next week (virtually) on 4/21/2022. The Zoom link for the conference hasn't been sent out yet, but we will send it out as soon as it's posted. Below is some more info on the conference.


13th Annual Native and Wild Trout Conference - Virtual

April 21, 2022
 7:00p.m. - 8:30p.m. (AZ)

Sponsored by AZGFD and AZ State Council of Trout Unlimited
 
The Native and Wild Trout conference is attended by those interested in learning the current and future status of native and wild trout in Arizona. Our mission is to spark the interest of developing future plans to promote, restore and manage these native and wild coldwater fish species.

This conference, which was previously held in-person, will take place as a virtual event. Premiering for one night, live presentations will be given and a Q&A session will follow. The whole virtual event will be recorded and made available on the AZ-TU website for later viewing. See schedule of presentations below. 

Presentations (4/21/2022): 

-Welcome: Ty Gray, AZGFD Director 

-Welcome: Julie Carter, Aquatic Wildlife Branch Chief

-Apache/ Gila trout population and habitat update: Zach Beard, AZGFD Native trout and Chub Coordinator

-Lee's Ferry Fishery update: Jan Boyer, AZGFD Fisheries Biologist

-Brown Trout incentivized harvest: Jeff Arnold, NPS Fisheries Biologist 

-Live Q&A with Presenters

Trout in the Classroom
Trout in the Classroom has a brand new website! You can check out the site at https://aztic.org and check out the following presentation https://vimeo.com/649234229 from November for more information about the program and the new website.
Casting Practice

OPTU Teams with Dry Creek Outfitters to host a casting practice every Saturday at 8:00 am, at Ft Lowell Park. Everyone is welcome regardless of skill level. Most days there is extra equipment and experienced casters to help out beginners.

Project Healing Waters
Conservation
CONSERVATION: 

We had a successful cleanup day at Parker Canyon Lake for our first conservation outing of 2022. Thanks to everyone that came down and helped out!
Fishing
This section contains information on outings, upcoming trips, fishing reports and fishing tips.
Outings Update: Old Pueblo Trout

We had our first outing of the year in March, and will be sending out info for our next event in May soon. It was great to see everyone in March, and we are excited about getting our outings going again. If you have any ideas for future outings, we would love to hear from you.
Tips and Tricks
Check out the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center and Podcast



Tim Flagler's Tightline Productions, learn about fly tying and more

Arizona Game and Fish
Fishing Section (license, rules, etc.): https://www.azgfd.com/fishing


Latest Fishing Report: https://www.azgfd.com/category/news/
New Mexico Game and Fish
Fishing Report
If you have anything to report send it to Eric at admin@az-tu.org and we'll include it next month.
Nothing new to report this month.
Fishing Adventures
If you have any interesting fishing adventures to share, please email them to admin@az-tu.org
Events
No events scheduled at the moment
For Sale
Ross Saltwater V - reel w/ 2 spools and backing. Very good/excellent condition. Perfect for 9-11 wt rods. - $100

Rob Gillette
520-909-8588
Calendar
Press Button Below for OPTU Calendar
The calendar will be updated when events resume.