Denver's South Platte River Rehabilitation Plan Designed To Restore Fisheries

South Platte River is Back In The News
By Bruce Finley

The South Platte River is getting in the News more and more these days. No it's not just about what it was in the last 20 years but what is happening in the present! Thanks to groups like my Denver Trout Unlimited and the help of other supportive groups around Colorado, this important river system is getting all the help it needs and rightfully deserves.

South-metro leaders and a growing number of fishermen are pushing to let the South Platte be more of a natural river as it flows down from the mountains through the Denver area.

They're planning to rechannel the river, revegetate and bring in boulders to rehabilitate the wide, shallow waterway into a deeper, meandering river that could sustain significantly more fish. Not just wily big-mouth bottom-feeders — but trout.

Enhancing the South Platte, proponents contend, will lead to a healthier metro economy.

"We are the custodians of the river. It is incumbent upon us to keep that river a viable, healthy source for the ecology of the area, the wildlife, migratory birds and for the community," Littleton Mayor Debbie Brinkman said. "We're not doing this for economic reasons. There may be an economic benefit."

The Littleton City Council this month voted unanimously to move ahead with an ambitious revitalization project that will let the heavily dammed South Platte behave more like a natural river but still be controllable because of its urban setting.

The $4 million project run by South Suburban Parks and Recreation, with support from Arapahoe County and Littleton, would scoop a deeper channel into a 2.4-mile stretch of the river south of central Denver.



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Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas From Colorado!

All the best to you and your Family over the Holidays. Can't wait to hear from others about upcoming trips in 2012 as well as some fish pictures!

Happy Holidays from Everyone at FFA and also Boca Dawg








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Merry Christmas From The One and Only Christmas Island!

Checkout This Christmas

I have a few choice destinations on my list that always seems to stay just that, my dream destinations! Christmas Island is definitely on there. What makes Christmas Island such a choice destination? Could it be from a few of my friends visiting and the stories still resonating with me years later?

Perhaps an episode of Larry Dahlberg's show "Hunt For Big fish" 15 years ago where he hooked two bonefish at the same time there?

I think it's the endless pictures that show up online that keep me coming back for more!

See these great Christmas Island slideshow pictures at our fellow bloggers site:

The Caddis Fly




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Get Your Hoiliday Fly Fishing Gifts From The Angling Bookstore

Your Holiday Shopping is Here

Whether you're looking for the newest and latest books on Fly Fishing or you're trying to find the top collection of hunting books around, this is the place you need to visit. Besides having the best books around to wet your appetite for the fishing season, they also carry a unique sets of Notecards and artwork from my friend Bob White, who has some of the best outdoor artwork around.

Unlike the big bookstores, they are active outdoorsmen and able to provide the best products and service to their customers. Ben takes great pride in their company, their commitment to customer service and in the products they sell. Their online store is designed to provide you with a safe and secure environment to browse our product catalog.

You might have met them at the Fly Fishing Shows, where they have a limited amount of inventory, but certainly the best titles in the fly fishing industry. This online store is an easy way to please all of your fly fishing, fishing and hunting interests. Take a look around...we think you'll like what you've found!

Contact Ben today and settle in for the Winter with some nice reading material!




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Fly Fishing Santa is Back..Lookout For Santa on Your Local Waters!

The Fly Fishing Santa from Third Coast Fly on Vimeo.

Christmas is right around the corner and with that comes some cold weather for some of you our here in the Rockies. If you can sneak away for a few hours to fish you may have the river to yourself, than again you may come across Santa!

Keep your eyes open and who knows Santa could be out on one of your favorite streams taking the day off. Happy Holidays and I hope you get some of that outstanding fly fishing gear for 2012 from your local fly shop!





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Winter Fly Fishing Colorado Primer

What Is It About Winter That Calls You Back To The Water?

Is it the Lack of crowds? Is it the masses headed to the Hills to ski or maybe you just need to get out because, well you like to fish?

Winter Fly Fishing in the Rockies can be an experience all to itself if you need a day out on the water. Winter fly-fishing in Colorado is much different from Fall and Spring fishing, the people are gone, the scenery is awesome, and the pace is relaxing. Due the winter weather it can change minute to minute so be mindful of your area and always be prepared for that nasty storm at any time.

Definitely first and foremost you need to keep toasty and stay dry while Winter Fishing. A way to keep your feet warm is to always wear boot foot waders. Avoid various types of stock foot waders and wading shoes because they restrict the blood flow to your feet making them cold. You can also use the chemical heat packs in between two socks to help keep your feet warm on very cold days or go sockless if you're a tough guy. There are a ton of tips out there to do, it really comes down to how cold you get as well. I don't get that cold so my techniques may be different than others. My favorite gloves to use are capilene liners with a couple of fingertips clipped off. Over the gloves I wear fingerless gloves. One thing also to look out for since Winter time fishing means Midge Fishing, so watch out for those tiny flies catching your gloves when swapping them out.



It's almost a magnet for small flies to get snared on your gloves every 5 minutes so I just take mine off when changing flies. I always carry two or three pairs of different style gloves (for me and those who may forget) so that I can replace them if I get a hand wet holding a fish for a photo. I’m also a huge fan of cold weather wading pants of the micro fleece variety with anything that breathes and no sweat. NO JEANS ALOUD!!! This set up allows me to fish in various temps well below freezing in comfort and safety. Jackets, hood and socks can also vary so do your homework and don't forget to be comfortable, nothing worse than being stiff and uneasy all day in the cold.

Fish tend to hold in the lower layers of the water, sometimes coming into the shallowest areas when the sun warms a specific area. Deep nymph fishing is the most preferred fishing method for most in the winter time. Some use a sinking tip line that will quickly take the fly but I still change up and a majority of the time use floating line. If you are not using a sinking line, try adding some split shot weights to your fly if needed, just watch your casting. If you chunk streamers, any big streamer or heavy fly, slow down your casting motion and you'll eliminate a lot of knots before they happen. Nothing is also worse than trying to keep changing your flies when freezing fingers are present so keep it simple and be confident in a few flies and leave it. For a complete listing of top winter flies to use, Pat Dorsey is the man to listen to on what to use, I've used so many of his flies during the Winter that anyone of a number of them will work perfectly.

Winter trout are unlikely to rise to take a single fly normally. Trout save their energy for either a big hatch or perhaps a tempting morsel. Streamers can be effectively fished using a slow retrieve or through various stripping techniques. On rivers like the San Juan this is a prime time to be out fishing, or other places can be a dead day so make sure to also do some homework on what is fishing well and what turns on better for Spring fishing.

Your Guides Freezing?
Use vaseline, dip rod into the water, use your forceps and pock/prod, use cooking spray, WD40 spray? Too many to choose from I'll let you decide what works best. If you are "dipping" you rod to thaw the guides be very careful. While fishing the water tends to run down the line on to the reel. The result can be a frozen reel that can lead to a variety of problems; some of which can be hilarious and others not so funny - sprung reels and when a fish attempts to run smash leaders and in one case a snapped rod tip. There are a ton of ideas on what guys use so feel free to let us know what you think also, opinions always vary.

As a final note, I always take a few rods, nothing worse than one rod hanging up and either not casting well, the line gets hardened or you need to change up quickly without freezing changing your gear out on the same rod. There are guys I know that fish much more in the Winter season than I do (it's my busy seasonat work) so this is just a little information I can up with, I'm sure there's much more out there on tactics and things that work better. Get out enjoy some fishing and stay warm!


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Fly Fish Addiction 2011 Photo Contest Winner

And The Winner Is

Thanks to all that contributed to our annual FFA photo contest. Lot's of great stuff out there and plenty of talented shots taken. I could definitely learn a few things from some of the guys out there. I appreciate all the shots and sorry to those that didn't win this time.

The attached photo is from the Clark Fork in Missoula Montana. By Gus O'Bosky a student at the University of Montana.

Congrats to Gus, great shot! Gus will be checking his email soon for a new Orvis fly box courtesy of FFA. We could use more photos here at FFA so feel free to send fishing pics anytime and we'll be happy to add them to our main FFA website.

For those of you who are Orvis fans, checkout these great fly boxes. I own quite a few and whether you're looking for a new dry fly box perfect for that fishing shirt pocket or something bigger perhaps for streamers, Orvis has it.

If you're in Boulder, checkout the new Orvis store for some specials and new line of fishing gear for 2012.



Still Jonezin, Checkout These Similar Threads

• Jason Morrison (JayMorr) Photography
• Danny Adams
• Barry and Cathy Beck

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Hazardous Spill at Sand Creek South Platte River...Great Fishery Get's Hit Hard

Hot Zone Alert
Denver Post Link

State health regulators on Thursday issued orders formalizing cleanup work already in progress to stanch the the flow of hazardous liquid seeping into Sand Creek and addressing newly identified contamination spreading underground from Suncor Energy​'s refinery to an adjacent Metro Wastewater plant.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup coordinators determined that the black goo oozing from the bank of Sand Creek north of downtown Denver is "a gasoline-like material" that contains cancer-causing benzene. Highly toxic, benzene has been linked to leukemia, and federal authorities have determined that even minute amounts are harmful.


Sand Creek Petroleum Discharge Time Line
My fellow fishing Pal Trevor broke the story wide open on this event with a timeline including all accounts of what happened, check out his full story from this:
http://www.flycarpin.com/2011/11/sand-creek-petroleum-discharge-time.html

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