PRESIDENTS NOTES
POSTED Feb. 22, 2021 - Jim Strogen’s article that follows is an update on the Lees Ferry wild Rainbow trout fishery and the impact of Brown trout on the conservation and preservation of that fishery. Included in the article is notice of the March 2021 spring flow event. Jim is one of the four AZ anglers representing Recreational Fishing for the Lees Ferry fishery. The Brown trout incentivized harvest program and Spring flow events are complex and difficult issues to work through among the competing interests, agendas, and organizations. The Lees Ferry fishery is highly regulated by Federal, State and Tribal parties.
When I think of the prettiest places that I have fished for trout, Lees Ferry is certainly at
the top of my list. The Walk-In area is easily accessible and provides great vistas of a more
open section of the Canyon, but fishing upriver where the walls close in and tower over the
river is my favorite place to fish.
The boat trip up and back to the fishing locations gives you a chance to really take in
the beauty of the Canyon; and catching trout with this backdrop can’t be beat. The Lees Ferry
blue ribbon rainbow trout fishery is a treasure.
Now anglers have a chance to make some money while fishing too. In November, the
National Park Service (NPS) opened the Incentivized Harvest (IH) program to allow anglers an
opportunity to help control the number of brown trout in the Lees Ferry Reach of the Colorado
River below Glen Canyon Dam.
The NPS has determined that the number of brown trout needs to be reduced to a level
that will minimize the likelihood of brown trout posing a potential threat to the endangered
Humpback Chub population in the vicinity of the confluence of the Little Colorado River as well
as other protected native fish downstream. Larger brown trout are known to eat other fish,
including small rainbow trout, at a rate 17x greater than rainbow trout.
The intent of the IH program is to reduce the numbers of brown trout from their present
levels of approximately 15% of the trout population in the Reach, to their pre-2014 levels of
approximately 2-3%. The program is not intended to eliminate the brown trout population at
Lees Ferry, but instead, keep the population low enough to reduce the risk of possible
migration downstream of brown trout that could result if the numbers are allowed to remain
high.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in cooperation with Arizona Game and Fish
Department (AZGFD) remains responsible for providing a quality rainbow trout fishery in the
Lees Ferry area since the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam and the establishment of that
cold water habitat.
The NPS, however, is also charged with protecting native species and minimizing the
impact of introduced and invasive species in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and
downstream in Grand Canyon National Park. The original plan proposed by the NPS focused
primarily on mechanically disrupting brown trout spawning redds in the river, and then if
needed, an extensive (6-8 weeks, nightly) electrofishing effort for the entire Reach from the
dam down to Lees Ferry.
To avoid these much more aggressive actions that could be damaging to the rainbow
trout fishery, AZGFD and anglers were influential in having the NPS add the IH program in
advance of these measures to allow anglers to catch and keep brown trout.
This IH program needs and deserves fly fishers’ support. Even though we generally
release our catch, by harvesting brown trout through this IH program (and earning money for
each brown trout turned in) we hope to avoid the impact of these more aggressive
management actions on this blue ribbon rainbow trout fishery, which the NPS could employ if
the IH program does not work. It is also a way for us to protect native fish species downriver.
If you are interested in catching brown trout at Lees Ferry, learn more about the
Incentivized Harvest program at https://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/brown-troutharvest.
htm.
Anglers have their favorite flows to fish at Lees Ferry, and sometime during the coming
month should meet everyone’s preferred fishing conditions. The normal March flow fluctuates
between 8,500-14,650 cfs.
This March will provide an unusual opportunity for anglers with even greater flow
condition options. Assuming that there are no weather or safety delays, there is some repair
work below the dam on the dam apron that is scheduled to be performed by divers. To
accommodate these repairs, which will take five days, the flow will be reduced to 4,000 cfs
P0STED MARCH 29, 2020 - By Preston Larimer, Fly fishing guide - Taken from a Trout Unlimited Forum.
Fly fishing is a highly individualized sport. What I like will be very different from the next guy. My son and I are guides, but he has different preferences. I may have tried every indicator out there. There are no less than 15 different types in my stuff right now. I don't use the popular Thingamabobbers as they are heavy, tend to splash and the rivet can bend and cut the leader. Corqs are a great alternative which I use a lot. New Zealand Yarn is good, and you'll find that many people love it, but I dislike like carrying another tool on the water. I prefer something that can be changed quickly and on the fly as I change rigs often. Air-loks have some of the same problems as thingamabobbers, but are adjustable. I'm reserving judgement until their redesigned product returns to the market. Water balloons can be great and are adjustable, but a pain to put on and take off quickly on the water. Pulsa strikes tend to come off and become litter in the water. Lightning Strike Footballs and Fish Pimps are good, but if not put on well they'll also come off. A few friends that use Biostrike love it. However, they do a lot less nymphing than me and I find it comes off of the line too easily. My son loves Rio Kahuna indicators and has one or two on his line at most times, but he doesn't use them with clients as they are difficult to see. I recently tried a new one called GHOSTech, which had good features. They're adjustable, have a better locking system than Air-Lok, are versatile and cast well, but they we're not for me. I used to tie yarn indicators and liked them, but now I go with Dave Whitlock's Telstrike Indicators, made by Raineys, about 85% of the time. While not perfect, they combine the best of the others. On stream, I generally carry Telstrikes and CorQs because speed and utility are important.
Be aware of color. I use clear or white indicators and only use bright colors when a guest cannot see the white. I also use black when light is flat and it's cloudy or when fishing into the sun. During much of the year my go to indicator is a Chubby Chernobyl fly. I use it as a hopper dropper, or may use it with 2-3 nymphs below it, fished deep.
When fishing still waters there's another set of indicators I like but that's a story for another time.
POSTED May 23, 2019 - The information below is from a long time Colorado fishing guide, copied off a Trout Unlimited website. It is excellent for beginning and experienced fishermen and women. As a full time guide, here is my best advice:
1. Learn to recognize the fishy water, that is where your drift needs to be. A common mistake that I see as a guide is people not approaching water carefully, and standing where they ought to be fishing and casting to water that doesn't hold fish. Also, the trout's predators come from above--Ospreys, eagles, etc. They see up very well, they will see you up on a high bank, approach them low and from behind (I'm short, a great advantage here). Learn how to approach without spooking them, and don't wear bright, high contrast colors, including hats. They see you well. Learn to see them as well. Fine sunglasses may be your best friend.
2. Learn to cast well enough that you can hit the prime spot on the first cast. In most waters, that doesn't mean a long cast, just a good cast. Learn to make ONE back cast and ONE forward cast. No need to false cast very much. If you miss the prime spot, fish the fly where it lands, don't yank it out and recast. Hitting the prime spot on the first cast will greatly improve your catch rate. Be systematic and cover the good water thoroughly. i often watch a drift, tell the guest to move the fly over 2 feet on the next cast. Often their next cast moves over 10 feet. That reduces your chances. Don't flog the water! Be precise.
3. MOVE!!! The difference between catching a lot and a few is often in the amount of water that you cover. If they don't come up in a few casts, move. As you come to likely water, make your best cast first. Make a few more covering the water well, and move. Don't move too far, I often move upstream the length of my leader, and cover that water. But, I will often cover 1-2 miles a day, especially if i'm prospecting with a dry. In winter, I don't move nearly as much, as the fish are more concentrated in fewer places.
4. Get the drift down. This is all important. If your fly is dragging, even in the slightest way, you will catch fewer trout. I rarely use split shot, even though I am guiding on a very fast river. I use weighted nymphs. At some time, you will drop even a lightly weighted nymph into the water and I guarantee that it will go straight to the bottom, even in fast water. Thus a good drift, even without split shot will get flies down. Watch the bubbles, your indicator should be moving at the same speed or even slightly slower. Understand when and how to mend. I get a lot of compulsive menders that will mend in the wrong direction and at the wrong time. Often the same effect will be accomplished by just lifting the rod and not mending. Learn a reach cast. If you aren't catching fish, it is probably drag. Again, precision.
5. SET! Many fish are missed as the angler did not recognize the take and did not set. Nothing is wrong with setting to nothing, so if you aren't sure, SET. Don't be late. The fish just got a mouthful of feathers that it thought was food. The fly is coming out of their mouth is a fraction of a second, under water pressure. Practice on a stocked lake, and you'll realize how many fish are missed. I often take people out and they only catch a few of the fish that I put them over. They often don't believe me if I tell them that they just missed a fish, but they did. If the guide says "set!" it is probably already too late, you need to see this on your own.
6. Learn bugs. Learn to recognize rise forms. That way you will know if the trout just took the dun or the emerger, or was it a caddis or a mayfly? The rise form may tell you. Learn to recognize when a hatch is occurring, many people miss the signs and never see the bugs or the takes or the rises. Watch the birds, they know.
7. Learn safety. Use a wading staff. Learn how to dress for warmth and safety. Wear breathable clothing under waders. Never wear cotton. And for the love of God, wet wade in warm weather! Anything that you aren't willing to lose, attach to yourself. By all means put your name and phone number on your fly boxes. Don't carry anything with you that you are not willing to get wet, unless it is in a dry bag.
8. Learn etiquette. Also, etiquette is different for a tailwater than it is on a freestone. As there are more of us out there, we need to learn how to treat others on the water.
9. Learn knots--at least a clinch, an improved clinch, a perfection loop, a mono loop knot, a blood knot (alternatively a double surgeons) and get a tool for tying a nail knot. Watch you tube, start with a piece of rope or discarded fly line. Then smaller and smaller mono. Learn to tie these knots with your eyes closed. Practice. Don't mess with tangles too long. Guides are first professional un-tanglers. Don't unbraid, first cut the flies off, loosen the tangle and pull it free. Knots can be retied faster than you can untangle.
10. Fish multiple flies on the same rig. I can't remember the last time I fished a single fly. Multiple nymphs, double dries, dry-dropper, dry-dropper-dropper, double streamers, a brace of wets. Know the laws in your area though. Don't dish three flies if the law says only two. Colorado doesn't limit this, Montana does.
11. Practice. Golfers spend lots of time at the range, driving, chipping, and putting. Flyfishers seem to think that they can go fishing 5 times a year and be good at it. That is like a golfer going out five times a year and shooting par each time with no practice. It just isn't going to happen.
12. Learn how to play and land a big fish. Use the heaviest leader possible. I use 4X most of the time, sometimes 5X, sometimes 3X, I don't use anything lighter, and I catch thousands of trout on all kinds of water. Overplaying a large fish will kill it. Mishandling a fish will kill it.
13. Fly fishing feels awkward at times. Learn work arounds and how to deal with the inherent awkwardness.
Preston Larimer - Fly fishing guide Arkanglers.com - Buena Vista and Salida, CO. PH: 719-221-9397