Recent Posts

Area Shops and Guide Services

Area Shops and Guide Services (we encourage your support of these folks - they support us!) Arkansas River Fly Shop, 7500 W. US Hwy 50, Salida, CO  81201  (719) 539-3474 Broadacres Ranch, 25671 Highway 149, Creede, CO  81130  (719) 658-2291 Fox Creek Store, 26573 Hwy....

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Some wonderful words about Mark’s presidency

My 2 cents worth on Mark's presidency by Darrell Lewis (SLVTU Board Member) We could write a book on the list of things accomplished by the Chapter under Mark's leadership. A few things stand out. The presence of Kevin Terry has had a huge impact on the number and...

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Spring 2022 | A Few Lines From the President

Hello and welcome to my final “Few Lines” as president of the chapter. I will be stepping down from my position at the upcoming March meeting when we have our annual chapter elections. I joined SLV Trout Unlimited in 1998 and have served on the board most of those...

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Spring 2022 | A Note From the New Editor

I have only served on the board for one year. Mark has been a lifeline for me as the rookie Newsletter Editor. I am a student of leadership and have made it one of my mantras to recognize and learn from leaders in my life, Thus I feel compelled to share with you what...

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Conejos Meadows Resilient Habitat Project

Fishing is Fun ( POGG1,PMAA,202200002241) Final Report Summary: The Conejos Meadows Resilient Habitat Project created a low flow channel that will improve habitat conditions and connectivity to complex pool refuge habitat in a nearly 2-mile reach (9,200 linear feet)...

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Fishing in Cuba

Carefully planned and scheduled to coincide with the all-time peak in Covid cases, Mark DeSanto Jan and I arrived in Havana on January 13, three days ahead of our fishing week.  We rented an entire three-bedroom apartment in a perfect location one block from the...

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Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Spring 2022 Update

Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Spring Update Thank you for your service to our country! Project Healing Waters has continued with our Fly-Tyin and Rod-Building Classes for our disabled veterans throughout the winter months. Several new participants have been added...

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CTU River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp

June 12-18, 2022 - Skills, Conservation Principles, and Camaraderie. Colorado Trout Unlimited will host the 17th annual River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp for teen youth at AEI Base Camp in Taylor Park, Colorado, June 12-18, 2022. Since 2006, youth from across...

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August 2021 | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Thanks for taking a look at our summer newsletter. The summer seems to be flying by way too fast! Thanks to Don for getting the summer edition out as I am sure he is busy like we all are this time of year. Hopefully you have been able to...

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Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update

Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update Outings abound as COVID restrictions were lifted and our group was able to get out on some water for fishing of the extraordinary kind. Special thanks to Stan Price and all who make it possible to bless the life of a veteran...

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JIM & JAN on the BAJA

JIM & JAN on the BAJA After two COVID thwarted attempts to schedule this trip, my wife, Jan Crawford, and I finally made it to the Baja in pursuit of sizeable roosterfish, jacks and dorado. Our arrangements included six days of fishing starting on May 22, just two...

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2nd Annual Jim Creek Brook Trout Challenge

2nd Annual Jim Creek Brook Trout Challenge Trout Unlimited, alongside agency and organization partners, has been working to protect, secure, and enhance the population of the native Rio Grande cutthroat trout in Jim Creek since 2014. We have built and maintained 5...

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Board Meeting on the Rio

Board Meeting on the Rio When SLV TU Chapter President, Mark, announced the last board meeting would be officially conducted in the middle of a float trip on the Rio Grande River near Creede, it was not hard to get attendance even though it was in the middle of busy...

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Learning on the River

LEARNING ON THE RIVER Special thanks to our President, Mark, and two other members (mentioned below) for helping a few Del Norte High School Students learn about some of the science of fly fishing! Mark writes: It was the final day of class for the Aquaponics class at...

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Part 2 – The Fly Tier’s Bench

Part 2 - The Fly Tier's Bench By Doug Camp The second part of our virtual meeting will be a video demonstration of how to tie a darned good fly (see picture below).  Master tier Doug Camp will give the demo, along with some general hints useful for tying other flies...

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April 2021 | A Note From the New Editor

A Note From the New Editor First and foremost, please join me as we acknowledge Marty Jones for extraordinary service to the San Luis Valley TU Chapter over many years, including his most recent tenure as the Editor of this newsletter. Thank you Marty! My name is Don...

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March 2021 Virtual SLV TU Meeting

March 2021 Virtual SLV TU Meeting Thanks to the twenty folks, primarily from the SLV, who joined our fourth virtual SLVTU meeting in March.  The slate of candidates listed in the March newsletter (now shown on the first page of this newsletter) was unanimously...

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April 2021 | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Welcome to our April Newsletter. First, I want to thank Don Spencer for joining our Board of Directors as the newsletter editor. This is Don’s first newsletter and I can speak for the entire board in telling Don we greatly appreciate his...

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Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update

Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update While you may not have been aware of it, we have been having our own in-house (San Luis Valley disabled veterans only) rod building competition for the 2020 rod builders.  Thanks to the many who have been working in the...

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Tie-a-Thon Opportunity

Tie-a-Thon Opportunity

Tie-a-Thon Opportunity Are you a fly-tier?  Interested in helping with a project that benefits youth conservation camps?  Ian Rich is coordinating local efforts to tie 100 wooly buggers for this project.  He needs volunteers to tie 10-12 flies, in your choice of sizes...

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Hands-on Projects for the Season

Hands-on Projects for the Season As you can see from the first page of the newsletter, we're gearing up for an active season of projects.  The semiannual highway cleanup events (May 23 and September 19) will both start at 9 am.  Meet at the pullout at mile 4.5 of the...

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SLV TU is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting

SLV TU is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Monthly TU meeting Time: Apr 27, 2021 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Every month on the Last Tue, until Jun 29, 2021, 3 occurrence(s) Apr 27, 2021 07:00 PM May 25, 2021 07:00 PM Jun 29, 2021 07:00 PM...

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Last Cast | CONTINUED Fishing with Kay

Last Cast | CONTINUED Fishing with Kay

Last Cast We continue with our stories from the book "Fishing with Kay" Rio Grande Fishing By Bob Antiel I convinced Kay Watkins to go fishing on a stretch of the upper Rio Grande. We crossed over because he says the other bank always fishes better [I tend to agree]. ...

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February 2021 | A Note From the Editor

A Note From the Editor We always like to include pictures in the newsletter. If you have some good ones that you are willing to share, please email them to mbjones@adams.edu.  In addition to pictures, the editor would like to receive stories that could be featured in...

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February 2021 | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Thanks for taking a look at our February newsletter. This time of year, everyone in the water world starts eyeing the snowpack and thinking about what the runoff will look like this spring. It is still early with two of the typically...

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Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update

Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update Thanks to Stan Price for keeping this going during the COVID-19 pandemic!  Participants are gearing up to start a new year of rod-building with the very capable assistance of Darrell Lewis, and will continue tying flies using...

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SLVTU 2021 February Chapter Meeting

Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 7 pm This will be our third virtual SLV TU meeting, using the Zoom platform.  To access the meeting, please click on this link:  SLVTU February Chapter Meeting.  If you have used Zoom before, you know what to do after you click the link. ...

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From Deep Time to Game Time

From Deep Time to Game Time - A Snapshot of Cutthroat Evolution and Opportunities for Catching Rio Grande Cutthroat Today by Kevin Terry This presentation will speed through a few million years to reveal the trail leading to Colorado’s native trout assemblage, discuss...

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Last Cast | DAS BOAT

Last Cast | We continue with our stories from the book "Fishing with Kay" DAS BOAT By David Kenvin One fine summer day Kay give me a ring. He wanted to know if I would take him and a friend fishing in the boat on the Rio Grande. I told him “sure no problem” and we...

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January 2021 | A Note From the Editor

A Note From the Editor We always like to include pictures in the newsletter. If you have some good ones that you are willing to share, please email them to mbjones@adams.edu.  In addition to pictures, the editor would like to receive stories that could be featured in...

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January 2021 | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Hopefully everyone’s New Year is off to a good start! Let’s hope that things continue to improve in this new year and that we are finally able to put Covid-19 in the past. Having said that it will still be a difficult journey and things...

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SLVTU 2021 January Chapter Meeting

Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 7 pm Virtual TU Meeting on Zoom, featuring Kevin Terry and Doug Camp This will be our second virtual SLV TU meeting, using the Zoom platform. To access the meeting, please click on this link: SLVTU January Chapter Meeting. If you have used...

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November | Colorado Trout Unlimited News

Colorado Trout Unlimited News Despite COVID-19 Impacts, Youth Programming Adapts & Continues Despite COVID-19 impacts, Colorado TU is excited to share some successes in the Stream of Engagement programming from this fall. The youth education programs faced...

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Last Cast | Our Debt to Kay

Last Cast Our Debt to Kay By Joe Kolupke My stories of fishing with Kay Watkins have a simple plot: Kay invites me and perhaps two or three others to go out with him.  We head out to the Rio Grande or the Arkansas or the San Juan.  The other guys catch perhaps six or...

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November 2020 | A Note From the Editor

A note from the editor We always like to include pictures in the newsletter. If you have some good ones that you are willing to share, please email them to mbjones@adams.edu.  In addition to pictures, the editor would like to receive stories that could be featured in...

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November | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Happy November! I hope this finds you all safe and healthy in these wild times. What a beautiful fall we have had. Hopefully folks have been able to enjoy it on their favorite stream or lake. It seems like forever since I have been able...

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Sand Creek Project

Sand Creek Project

Sand Creek Project At the recent Colorado Trout Unlimited Fall Rendezvous, the SLV Chapter of Trout Unlimited was pleased to earn an "Exemplary Project" award for our leadership in the Sand Creek Reclamation Project! Congratulations to our chapter members and all the...

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Fishing with Kay

Fishing with Kay

Fishing with Kay A few years ago, some of the chapter members were sitting around enjoying adult beverages and shooting the breeze when we realized that many of us had some memorable stories that had one thing in common - they all involved fishing with Dr. Kay...

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Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update

Project Healing Waters Fly-Fishing Update Thanks to Stan Price for keeping this going during the COVID-19 pandemic!  Participants have been tying flies based on Postfly fly packets and have just recently submitted all the necessary materials for judging the rods they...

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SLVTU 2020 November Chapter Meeting

Tuesday, November 17, 2020, 7 pm This will be the first ever virtual SLV TU meeting, using the Zoom platform.  To access the meeting, please click on this link:  SLVTU November Chapter Meeting.  If you have used Zoom before, you know what to do after you click the...

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October | A Few Lines From the President

A Few Lines From the President Thanks for taking a look at our October newsletter. If you haven’t been out enjoying the amazing, albeit dry, weather we are having there is still time to get out and do some fishing.Unfortunately, we are still unable to hold a regular...

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Monitoring the Water at the Blanca Vista Ponds

Monitoring the Water at the Blanca Vista Ponds Member and Adams State Chemistry Professor Dr. Frank Novotny reports that two preliminary studies to monitor the pH, dissolved oxygen (D.O.), and temperature of the water at the Blanca Vista Ponds began in July with the...

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Sand Creek Project | By Kevin Terry

Sand Creek Project By Kevin Terry When I first heard about Sand Creek, I was in my first year of my first real job as a fisheries biologist. I was hired to manage the fisheries program for the Jicarilla Apache Nation in northern New Mexico, and the tribe is a...

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October 2020 | Member News

Member News Welcome to new member Mike Blenden, and to a member who has transferred to our chapter, Steve Prochnow! Thanks to our renewing members and contributors:  Bob Antiel, Charles Brown, John Bullington, Benn McGee, Stan Price, Norman Segel, Dan Street, Larry...

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Annual Meeting | 2020

Annual Meeting Many of you know that the last Tuesday of October has traditionally been our official "annual" meeting, at which officer/board elections are held.  However, two factors this year have led to a delay in this annual meeting (1) National TU has changed...

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October | Colorado Trout Unlimited News

Colorado Trout Unlimited News Q&A with Colorado's Senatorial CandidatesHigh Country Angler and Colorado Trout Unlimited had the chance to pose a series of questions to the major-party candidates for U.S. Senate – current Senator Cory Gardner, and former Governor...

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A Sad Farewell

A Sad Farewell With regret, I want to let you all know that one of our members has recently passed away.  Dr. Rob Benson, emeritus professor of geology from Adams State, lost his valiant struggle against cancer on September 20, 2020. Rob introduced me to the lower...

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Fall 2020 Highway Cleanup is September 13, 2020.

Fall 2020 Highway Cleanup is September 13, 2020.

Fall 2020 Highway Cleanup is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, 2020. Meet at the pulloff on the river side of CO 149, about 4.5 miles north of South Fork at 9 am on Sunday, September 13 for our fall highway cleanup. We will practice appropriate social distancing -...

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Fishing is Fun Grant Awarded for Conejos Meadows Project

Among the recent Fishing is Fun projects approved for funding is the Conejos Meadows in the San Luis Valley. In-stream habitat improvements will occur on 1.75 miles of the Conejos River downstream from Platoro Reservoir in the San Luis Valley. The project will address...

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Nice Catch!

Mark Konishi has had plenty of success catching some nice Rio Grande cutthroat, brown trout and brookies this summer.      

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Temperatures and Fishing during the Drought, Part 2

Temperatures and Fishing during the Drought, Part 2 Joel Condren, owner of 8200 Mountain Sports and South Fork Anglers, tells us that his guides are recording high temperatures on the Rio Grande in the afternoons, so he has instituted "Sun Downer" rules, which means...

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Responsible Angling in Drought Conditions, Part 1

Responsible Angling in Drought Conditions, Part 1 Presented by the San Luis Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited Upper Rio Grande Basin, Colorado Premise: The Upper Rio Grande has been in an extended drought for many years. Our water supply has varied widely over the...

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July | A note from the Editor

We always like to include pictures in the newsletter. If you have some good ones that you are willing to share, please email them to mbjones@adams.edu. In addition to pictures, the editor would like to receive stories that could be featured in the Last Cast portion of...

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July | A few lines from the President

Welcome to our summer newsletter! I hope this finds you all safe and healthy in these crazy times. Hopefully you have all been able to get out and social distance on the stream of your choice these last few months. Although we have not been able to have a regular...

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Last Cast | Fishing for a Book

Fishing for a Book By Marty Jones During our stay-at-home time, I’ve been revisiting my collection of books that are at least related to fishing.  I can classify many of them roughly into these categories:  How To, Where To, Why To, Who-Done-It-To, and Other. The...

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May | From National Trout Unlimited

May | From National Trout Unlimited

TU and our partners are asking everyone to practice #ReponsibleRecreation when outside enjoying America’s great fishing opportunities. Here’s what we recommend, given what we know about the threats posed by the coronavirus outbreak and the COVID-19 disease:...

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May | A note from the Editor

We always like to include pictures in the newsletter. If you have some good ones that you are willing to share, please email them to mbjones@adams.edu.  In addition to pictures, the editor would like to receive stories that could be featured in the Last Cast portion...

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Blanca Vista Ponds Updates

The City of Alamosa Parks and Recreation Department, together with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and SLV Trout Unlimited, have installed two handicapped-accessible fishing piers at the Blanca Vista Park ponds (just east of Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa). A Fishing is...

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