To conserve, protect, and restore North America's cold-water fisheries and their watersheds |
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Members may be enjoying the Memorial Day Holiday as I write this month’s message. This weekend there will be outside activities with friends and family. I was working with a veteran last week who reminded me of what a solemn day this is. I thanked him for his service to the Nation and said, “Never forget”. My message to the Veterans I work with this week will be a quote from the book: The Way of the SEAL by Mark Divine. In his book he described the following story.
The Native American legend “The Wolves Within” tells of an evil wolf and a good wolf that live inside us, constantly battling for control. Other versions describe the two opposing forces as Fear Wolf and Courage Wolf. The lesson is that whichever wolf you feed will win the fight. We can’t kill Fear Wolf because he’s a part of us - remember, fear is natural and sometimes even useful. But we can weaken his power. Negative thoughts and energy feed Fear Wolf, weakening us, leading to performance degradation and poor health. We can lock Fear Wolf up and redirect his energy into assertiveness and discipline. Meanwhile, we need to feed Courage Wolf. Positive thoughts and energy feed Courage Wolf, strengthening the mind, body, and spirit. Feeding Courage Wolf makes us more kind, patient, tolerant, powerful, and present. We’ll avoid conflict and become better leaders. All you have to do is start asking yourself, “What wolf am I feeding?”
The legend describes a young brave asking his grandfather, who told him the story, “grandfather, which wolf will win the battle?” Grandfather answered, “the wolf that you feed.”
Hoping you and your family enjoy your Summer Vacation. My plan is to have the Old Pueblo TU feed Courage Wolf all summer. Get out there and have some fun. The OPTU will return to monthly meetings/outings in September.
Follow our Email Blasts over the summer. See you on the water.
Mickey Fletcher, OPTU Board (mfletcher15006@gmail.com) 520-349-1774
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Gone fishing for the summer |
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Tentative Schedule for 2023 |
June-August - Summer Vacation
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There won't be any monthly meetings over the summer. Have a great summer of fishing and conservation and we'll see you back in the fall! |
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CONSERVATION CORNER FOR June 2023
by Jeff Collins
As you know our Board members are breaking for summer, but that doesn’t mean they are not working for you. There was a TU Regional meeting in May. Several of our board members went; I’m sure they’ll all bring back valuable information. These meetings are well attended and great info comes out of them. Participants also get a taste of the local fishing for that area.
I’m hoping you all get out and do some trout fishing this summer, but also think about what made your fishing so good? It’s probably work or policies that OPTU or TU was involved in. How many of you have caught an Apache Trout? How about a Gila Trout? Both are native trout to Arizona and the Apache can only be caught in Arizona. I have been a Lifetime member of TU since the late 80’s, all as a member of OPTU. yes I’m old, lol.
But several of our past Presidents and Conservation Officers were very instrumental in getting Gila Trout and Apache Trout in our State streams. They have never received the credit they deserve. First off, the Apache Trout was listed in 1987. At the time the White Mountain Indian Tribe had the only Apache trout in their sacred streams on Mount Baldy. I believe at the time there were 12 lineages, or home streams. Some had substantial self sustaining populations, some were struggling. AZGFD, USFW, WMAT, APACHE SITGREAVES National Forest and Trout Unlimited agreed to bring back the Natives. At the time the Late Jim Lynch was OPTU President and he made it a goal, along with Carm Mohle, AZState Chair for TU, to get the Apache Trout in WF of the Black. Work began. Barriers were built on two of the Tributaries and two consecutive barriers built on the main stem of the WF. All non natives were removed. The banks were reinforced, vegetation was planted. About this time Whitey Keebler was the OPTU president and invited our then governor Fife Symington to a Workday! He actually showed up landing in a helicopter. The lineage introduced was the EF White River Lineage off the Reservation. There was also this lineage put in a special creek near the Grand Canyon, Canyon Creek, in case of failure. The EF of the White had the largest population. During restoration Danny Hooper, Alex Duncan, Ken Whinton, Fred Fillmore, Jim Mania, Clay Hernandez, Steve Reiter, Robin Marsette, Mickey Fletcher and myself, all past or present OPTU presidents, were all involved in some way towards this project.
We all exhumed that great passion that comes when you feel so positive about something. Contract Agreements were written and modified as the Lineages started to disappear. I believe Lineages aren’t in the present language of the Agreements. Any change to the landscape or streams involved NEPA. which because of federal funding or lack of, slowed the process even more. It was also, during my presidency, to expand the recovery area. Reaching waters beyond the few miles of the WF of the Black. Creeks like Fish Creek, Stinky Creek, Hayground Creek, Conklin Creek, Home Creek, EF of the Little Colorado, WF of the Little Colorado, SF of the Little Colorado. I believe it amounted to at least 30 miles of stream! We, OPTU, partnered with the Boy Scouts, made two Eagle Scouts in the Process, installing temperature monitors in all the Apache trout waters. Also a small project to try and remove Crayfish, which are non native, headed by Joe Fagan. Another small project identifying the insect life in the WF of the Black, making yet another Eagle Scout!
It is coming soon that the Apache Trout will be delisted if it hasn’t already. But even though it’s a great accomplishment, is it ready? We really don’t have the 30 miles of self sustaining Water? The self sustaining populations are struggling. Fires have destroyed many years of work. Over grazing was an issue but has since been sort of resolved. There is a plan, with opposition, that would make the entire WF of the Black a self sustaining Apache Trout creek. Only one barrier would be needed near the confluence of the WF and the EF of the Black. All others, which are maintenance nightmares, would be removed. I think this is nirvana! This is what we worked for all these years; a place, only in Arizona, that people could come from all over the world to fish for Apache Trout. The brown Trout is the opposition which in my opinion occupy many stream miles already. The Black main stem is a trophy Brown Trout area already and wouldn’t be affected by this plan. Apache trout are tailor made for the fly fisherman; they take a dry well. I believe at least one waterway with a few tributaries should be dedicated to our native trout.r They are also our State fish, we should have an Apache Trout only stream. Please support this effort. Let you State Legislature Representative know. Let AZGFD know you back them on this effort. Look at our membership past presidents that i mentioned and others that put years of effort into this Nirvana Project.
I know I’ve gone on long about this subject, but it’s not over and I could have mentioned much more, but that would be a book. Upcoming there will be more Temperature Monitor Projects. Hopefully we will be physically involved as well as financially. At one point in my life I was the Arizona State Chairman for TU. During a National convention we started a committee to identify and introduce all of the Nations Native Trout. This project was incredible! Some states boosted several species; some only one. They all had unique properties. I was involved along with Mike Lopez of AZGFD and Jerry Ward of Apache Sitgreaves and Joe McGurrin of TU National to identify the Apache Trout streams, list if they has sustaining populations and the probability of recovery. This was all mapped by TU national. They did this in every state for all of the Native fish. I believe this project is ongoing. Some states offer recognition programs for catching their Native Trout. Arizona has a Recognition Program limited to all Wild Trout. Great goals and bucket lists. Variety is the spice of life. If you’ve read up to this point, I’ve probably peaked your interest. Get involved. The people who were instrumental in this project are now old like me or worse, have passed. We need the new young generation to get this done and create great fishing opportunities for generations to come.
Next month, I will discuss the Gila trout, our other Native along with New Mexico. Please be aware, this is the way I remember it. If you have changes or additions, please feel free to contact me. I am presently your Chapter Conservation Officer, Jeff Collins. Picture is for attention, it’s a rainbow, lol.
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We do have some Projects coming this Summer:
Kennedy Lake Cleanup
Saturday May 27 6:00 am fishing to follow, the Bluegills are willing, sight fishing bass
Saturday July 1 6:00 am fishing to follow, bass are up hitting dragonfly adults
Saturday August 29 6:00 am, fishing to follow, bass still on dragonfly’s
We now have a State Conservation Officer! I will be in contact with him on any workdays we might get in.I believe there should be both Apache Trout work and Gila trout work after the fires. More info to follow in upcoming Newsletters and Conservation Reports.
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Lie and Tie fly tying meetings to be held the first Monday of every month. This will be held at the Randolph Recreation Center, same place as our regular meetings. 6pm-7:30pm. We will take a period off during June, July and August for summer travel and put your flies to use.
Each meeting you’ll receive a packet of materials for that evening's flies, enough for about 3 flies each including proper hooks. You will also receive, at the beginning of this program, a notebook binder containing instruction on tying the fly and fishing the fly. Material packets and updates will come monthly at the meetings. At least that’s the plan now, lol. This article and updates will appear in this newsletter monthly.
Please bring your vise AND basic tools. OPTU will have vises and tools to borrow for beginners just getting started. If you are new to tying or a green beginner, please plan on getting there at least 15 minutes early for orientation.
Here is the tentative schedule, I’ll try and match flies seasonally:
Summer off
September: Terrestrials and discussion
Foam flies- hopper, dragonfly, ant
October: Life cycle of Caddisfly and discussion
Larvae, emerger, deer hair Caddis
November: Scuds, Damsels nymph and Dragons nymph and discussion
December: Attractors and discussion.
Hares ear nymph, Adams, Prince
-Jeff Collins
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June Tying Report
by Jeff Collins
Ok, so our tying sessions are non existent until September. We can still talk about it! What should we be tying for June? Well the Stone fly is still hatching with the prehistoric looking Salmonfly heading the list. There’s also a little brown and a Yellow Sally. All in your Dave Hughes tying book! Mayflies will be starting up; BWO just ending but PMD coming into full stride. Some Drakes toward the end of the month. Get a nice stream insect book and learn what the nymph and dry look like. Orvis has good books on this as well as Dave Hughes. Rick Haefle has a wonderful detailed book, with tying instructions! Caddis are the mainstay in Arizona, Elk Hair Caddis is the King Dry. It’s fun tagging an emerging pupa under it. You can tell when they’re hatching, they flutter around like a moth. Plenty of Midges are hatching in the evenings on our lakes. My suggest is to tie on a two fly system, one midge and a size 10 Royal Wulff. With the Wulff attached you’re sure to see your midge. Don’t forget the Damsel hatch on our lakes!!! It’s my favorite hatch in Trout lakes. If you can travel through the US I advise to follow the Damsel hatch going north, the first few weeks are the best. Early June in AZ to mid July in Washington and Wyoming.
There are plenty of creeks around Arizona to fish. Here are some suggestions:
Silver Creek, is stocked year round, stocked with Apache Trout. The upper area is closed in summer
Little Colorado river, parts aren’t being stocked but still holdover
Black river and tributaries, EF best bet, nice camping spots on creek!
Oak Creek, go during the week, weekends are crowded. Also has Gila Trout!
Tonto Creek has Gila Trout
Christopher Creek, easy access, heavily stocked.
Haigler Creek, browns, browns, browns
EF of the Verde, some easy access
Canyon Creek, big Zane Grey Project for wild browns
Lees Ferry, take a guide, there’s no place in the world like this one!
There are plenty of others. Grab a Forest Service map and explore
Don’t forget the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Plenty of streams, heart of Apache Trout Country! North Fork of White River is known for big browns. Diamond creek is a hidden gem. EF of White stocked weekly. My old favorite was Trout Creek, flows out of Hawley and has camping along its banks.
There is an excellent guide service and very reasonable, run by Cinda Howard. AZ Flyfishing and Beyond. I have a scheduled date with Cinda on small streams, I really want to pick her brain, she lives in the White Mountains. This will improve you learning curve tremendously; will make future trips more enjoyable, give it a try!
Read the beginning chapters of your Dave Hughes tying book will give you insight on tying up a box of flies, get started today. I’ve given you many techniques to get started, be creating, follow the instructions in the book. Also Charlie Craven has an excellent series of tying instructions on YouTube, check them out. Charlie also has a Podcast out through Apple. In fact there are many fly tying/flyfishing podcasts out now. They’re free, download some and listen while driving somewhere. Makes the trip go by quickly. Just google flyfishing Podcasts.
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I am presently in the White Mountains as I write this article. I have a Motorhome and we always stay 2 weeks at Fool Hollow. Trout fishing has been slow at Fool hollow but the ones I’m getting are in the 16” category! The water is extremely muddy; smallmouth bass fishing is nonexistent. I went to Becker on Saturday last week and was completely blown off the lake; I had absolutely no control over my float tube. Winds were 40mph and whitecaps. Waves were hitting me over the tube. I highly recommend carrying a PFD when in a float tube, pontoon, whatever. I use the CO2 cartridge type. My plan is to still try Silver Creek and maybe Becker again (I’m a glutton for punishment). Also this summer I have plans to go on both OPTU sponsored trips, WMAT area and Payson Area. I’m planning to go with Desert Flycasters out of Phoenix on a Verde /Tonto Streams trip. I bought a coupon at Christmas time discount to fish with guide Cinda Howard, my choice on date! I’m really looking forward to that one. Also Desert Flycasters is sponsoring a trip to Lower Utah, trout streams and lakes; hoping I can make that one! In July I’m in the process of planning a trip to Nome Alaska, my son and his family live there. Should be on time for Sockeye run, Silver Run, some Dollys and maybe try for the world record Arctic Grayling. It has come from the Nome area before, trades back and forth with Russia. And I usually do an August Colorado trip; Durango area. Hopefully my plan will all work out with some local trips in the middle. Maybe I’ll see you out on the water. I’ll update my travels and adventures in these newsletters and on Facebook.
Until next month, Jeff Collins.
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Fly tying instructor Jeff, also Teaches Project Healing Waters |
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NZ Mudsnails Confirmed in Canyon Creek
Anglers and others recreating in Canyon Creek are now required to clean, drain, dry and decontaminate their equipment after each visit.
Checkout the AZGFD news release for more details.
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A must see 3 1/2 minute video, just released, provides an overview of the Arizona program with testimonials from the students and teachers on the positive benefits they received from the program. The video can be seen on www.aztic.org.
Steve Reiter is the OPTU TIC chairman. If interested in the TIC program to spread the word or to volunteer, contact Steve at sreiter4@cox.net
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TU Western Regional Rendezvous |
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One OPTU member and four board members made it out to Taos, NM for the TU Western Regional Rendezvous this year. The conference provided a ton of great information and gave us chance to talk to other TU members across the west and TU National staff. If you are able to make it out to the next one, we'd highly recommend it. The keynote speaker for the conference was Len Necefer. He is currently living in Tucson and works at the University of Arizona. If you aren't familiar with him and his work, you should definitely check him out.
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Check out Jim Strogen's latest article in the Payson Roundup.
AZ TU has a new website with lots of great information about public policy, conservation and more. Check it out at the link below.
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Legislative Update
The AZTU staff are actively working at the State Capitol. We are monitoring a few bills of interest like the Arizona Trail Fund, Heritage Fund, and a resolution on the heritage of hunting and fishing in Arizona. One bill did pass the House and Senate that we were advocating against, HCM2002. HCM2002 implies that the solution to the housing crisis in Arizona is to transfer federal land to the state so we can expand development. Unfortunately, the places where we need more housing do not match places where we have federal public lands. Instead, as many city and county planners across the state have concluded, the solution to housing shortages is solved by more intelligent strategic urban development. Perhaps it’s unintentional, but HCM2002 came across as more of an attack on public lands than a solution to a housing shortage. Being that this is a resolution, it does not physically change anything, just more of a messaging bill. But its a message of transferring federal public lands to the state, which we don't support. We agree that in some instances the federal government is not always the best stewards of the land, but they do guarantee access for hunting and fishing which is our group’s main priority.
At this time in the session no new bills can be introduced, but the state has still not passed a budget, so they are far from ending this session.
Rural Groundwater Working Group
The Rural Groundwater Working Group is working on a strategy to get the Arizona Legislature to pass legislation to allow counties to manage their groundwater. AZTU is an active member of this group. We recognize that surface water and groundwater are inextricably connected. Continue reading here.
SB1306 Proposes Local Groundwater Stewardship Areas
A milestone was reached on January 27th when SB1306 was proposed in the Senate by Sen. Sonny Borelli. The companion bill is expected to be proposed in the House by Rep Leo Biasiucci. Continue reading here.
4FRI Stakeholder Group
4FRI, the Four Forests Restoration Initiative, has moved from the Planning Phase into the Implementation Phase! This is a major step forward, facilitated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act. Continue reading here.
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Native and Wild Trout Conference |
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The Native and Wild Trout conference presentations are now available. Click the link below to checkout the presentations.
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Be Well. Fish On.
Chris Wood
May 24, 2023
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“Be well. Fish on.”
Stewart Brown wrote those words with his finger on the rear window of a friend’s dusty pick-up after a day of fishing in Colorado. It was three days before he would go into surgery for brain cancer. A few of his friends noted how much peace fishing gave Stewart through his treatment, and they helped him in his final months to found a group called Reel Recovery - an organization dedicated to helping men with cancer heal by spending time on the water.
... Continue reading on tu.org
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THE STUDIO
A Film by Trout Unlimited with support from Simms
Scot Simmons has dealt with various forms of anxiety, PTSD and depression for most of his adult life. He is committed to creating a better life for himself and others, and he strives to be a better role model for his own family.
Premiering on YouTube, a new film from Trout Unlimited highlighting Twin Cities TU board member Scot Simmons’ path to creating a better life for himself and others as he strives to be a better role model for his own family. Fly fishing has helped him find his equilibrium.
You can watch the film for free here.
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The GVR Hunting and Fishing Club was gifted two Cumberland inflatable fishing boats similar to the image below. They are used but in good shape and include some accessories including a foot operated air pump. Similar new models sell for $250-$300 each. We will entertain any reasonable offer starting at $125 for both.
Contact Gary Williams for more details.
520-260-2479
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Nor-Vice and bobbin with extra spools, a Renzetti vice, lots of dubbing and hackle materials, a box full of hooks of various sizes. It is enough to get anyone started with tying or add significantly to anyone who already ties.
$300.00 for everything
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Guide Chase Harrison recently got his outfitters license after guiding 10 seasons and started Missoula Guided Fly Fishing. He's looking to attract new clients and offering a $100 discount on guided fishing trips in western Montana. Specifically the Bitterroot, Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Missouri rivers.
This is for TU members only. $550 per day. Let him know if you have any questions, he can be reached at 406-529-1200.
Chase Harrison Outfitter: 53584
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