OCTOBER 4th General Meeting!
"Renowned local angler, Dale Darling"
. . . Making Presentation to BFC Members

Boy do we have a treat for you at our October General meeting!

Dale Darling, owner of St. Vrain Anglers (closed for now) will present a new program on Dry Fly fishing. For all those of you who have been asking me about how Dale is doing, you'll have a great chance to ask him yourselves. He's writing a new presentation, one he's been thinking about for a long time now, on a subject we hold dear to our hearts . . . Everything you've always wanted to know about Dry Fly Fishing but were afraid to ask.

Dale has been known to do an amazing job communication about angling subjects. His last one done over four years ago was one of the largest turnout we've had in a long time and this presentation should be his best and he's writing and composing it especially for Boulder Flycasters.

Can't beat that for personalization of programs!!

He has fished for many years right here in our backyard and knows the Big Thompson like the back of his hand! He'll be using that expertise to prepare his program like he does when he fishes his favorite rivers, with skill and grace.

He's fished all over the world and his dance card is full of adventures both in fresh water and salt. Please join us for a chance to take a new look at Dry Fly Fishing that I know will give you a new look at an old and perplexing subject. Come prepared to take notes, ask questions and come away from this presentation just lick'n for a hatch!!

Also, our Clinic starting at 6:00 pm at the Spice of Life Events Center 5706 Arapahoe Avenue.
Dale will be tying some of his famous dry flies that will be covered in his presentation!

Paul and I were driving back from the Super-Fly competition in Gunnison a couple weeks ago and we began discussing why our members were reluctant to get more involved in both the club and also what drives us to volunteer in the first place. We further began to conjure up the thought of what if we didn't have the option of fishing our favorite rivers that we have taken for granted, rivers we fish regularly now! And, as we passed the South Platte River near Fairplay, how the Platte River fished 25 years ago!

In discussing the plight we face now, we went even further reflecting on rivers. The Gunnison before Blue Mesa, the Colorado, even the Big Thompson some 25 – 35 years ago. We both remember fishing all our home waters when we saw few, if any, anglers during a day's angling. Today, you can't fish the Blue River, the Thompson, the Poudre . . . anywhere along the Front Range without following the rivers only to find each pull-off filled with a car or two.

Why is that? Simple - we all recognize the sport we cherish so much, the peacefulness, the communing with nature, the chance to relax in such a beautiful setting as found along the rivers we have at our doorstep!

Are we spoiled? Will this opportunity last? Will we have these places to enjoy in our retirement and what shape will they be in for our children and grandchildren? Not a chance in hell! If I can be so blunt! Paul and I have watched in horror at what has been happening to our rivers that were once peaceful and unpressured. 25 years ago you would be hard-pressed to find a pull-out where there was a SUV taking up space. Now it's unusual to even find a space, let alone only one SUV! We find ourselves surrounded by anglers and really good ones, at that. Every weekend it gets harder and harder to find some peace and quiet and open water. I just can't imagine what it will be like in another 25 years. The only possible option will be pay and play private waters and you'll be paying a heavy toll to do your playing. That's why Paul, in his President's Message below, in this edition of the Reel News, offers his suggestion of “Investment Volunteering". What a brilliant idea!

Club members giving a little of their time now to help guarantee that when their time comes to retire, there will be waters available to fish on. Somehow that doesn't seem to far fetched, now does it! Investing in a few hours over a year's time to help conserve angling for our retirement! What a concept!!! With that said, think about giving some of your time toward conservation, a little time, in the big scheme of things isn't asking a lot.

Boulder Flycasters has a number of options for you to help. Middle Boulder Creek for instance, our number one project for the next three years and it's so close. How about South Boulder Creek and our quest to keep water flowing during winter low flows? Sounds so simple, but is really very complex! Or, how about Buffalo Peaks Ranch Stream Restoration and Improvement Project on the South Platte River in South Park, a CTU stream project starting spring of 2007, just to name a few.

We have many Trout Unlimited projects that can use some help. All of them are geared toward limited "time investments" in your angling future. If you are interested in finding out more about Investment Angling Projects or just to see how you can help (knowing that you have only limited time available for volunteering), contact Paul Prentiss at peprentiss@earthlink.net or phone him at 303.444.0270. You'll be glad you did and you'll be helping invest in YOUR angling future at the same time!

Here's a question. If you and every other member of Boulder Flycasters / Colorado Trout Unlimited could see your way clear to donate 5 hours of time ( 0.8% of your Saturday and Sunday daylight hours) over the course of 12 months, what kind of an impact would it have?
It effectively translates into 24 full time employees!

Click on the "More Information" about this article below link!

Paul Prentiss

More Information!

Annual Boulder Creek Clean-Up Wrap-Up!

It was a cool and blustery day in Boulder Canyon but in spite of the windy weather, 31 of us split into 13 beats and covered the 9.1 river miles from below the Boulder Flycasters Memorial Park (2.9 miles from the mouth of Boulder Canyon) to very close to the dam! We had a reasonably good turnout and picked up some 95 bags of trash which amounted to about 3.5- 4.0 tons. Not too shabby for a morning's work.

CDOT agreed to make the trash bag collection on Monday and called me to see why we went beyond our agreed upon reach of Boulder Canyon (we are normally scheduled to clean-up a two mile stretch that is our section of the river based upon us taking ownership of road clean-up 4 times per year), so we were credited with the entire canyon. CDOT was extremely happy with the project!

We served a KT Barbecue lunch which was eaten between gusts of wind! A fun time was had by all!! Sorry that I didn't get pictures this year as I had to hold up the shelter even though it was anchored by my Explorer truck and five large boulders!! Don't recall having winds like that anywhere in the canyon before. I'm ordering a milder breeze for next year in September.

Thanks for all those who helped with the clean-up. Here's the list of volunteers who spent the morning keeping our creek clean. They include in no particular order: Tom Finley, Mark Riley, Paul Prentiss, Dave Clark, Mike Malec, Sandy Platter, Randy Kryszak, Chad Pettrone, George Brandon, Walden Sweet, Joe & Jack Bellman, Tim D'Avis, Gary Oplinger, Frank & Linda Selto, Terry Escamilla, Brian & Wyatt Cleveland, Larry Macy, Kent Wilson, Peter Judkins, Nick Rzyska (BFC's Youth Camp Scholarship winner), Bill Terrill, Bill Leuchten, Bill Cook, Tyson & Mathew Powell and Malinda Kassen (of CTU) and her son!

Let do it again next year, Bob Bush

World Championship Update from Portugal by Jeff Currier, 2003 Bronze Medal winner

Here's an update direct from one of the World Championship competitors, Jeff Currier of the U.S. Fly Fishing Team. It came to us directly from an email I received from Jeff (who won the Bronze Medal in the World Championships in Spain back in 2003)! It gives you an insight into how the U.S. Team did in Portugal and how extreme the fishing has become! Interesting to say the least and a little perspective on what competitors go through in order to not only compete on a world level, but score individual and team points in the process. This story from Jeff is well worth reading.
Click below to get the low down!!

Click here for "World Championship Update"

SUPERFLY 2006 Competitions Available to Boulder Flycaster Members by Paul Prentiss

Superfly is a fly fishing contest and fundraiser for the Gunnison Angling Society/Colorado Trout Unlimited. It is scheduled on the first weekend after Labor Day at the Almont Resort. Two person teams compete to see who can catch the most inches of trout in one day with only 2 flies of their choice. The entrance fee is $400 per team which is a bargain considering the fishing opportunities, giveaways, and meals/entertainment. When you add it up, the amount is pretty close to the entry fee.
Not only do you get to fish without tourists, you'll encounter beautiful fall weather as an added bonus. Bob Bush and I did it this year and we would strongly recommend that other members in our chapter give it a go.

For "Superfly Information", click here

Board Election to be Held at our November 1st Meeting

Just a heads-up that we'll be holding our elections for board positions at our November 1st General Meeting. If you know of someone who's a Boulder Flycaster and would like to make a two year commitment to join our board of directors, or for that matter, a member of Boulder Flycasters who would like to be considered for a board position, please contact one of the existing board members. The list of current board members is found on the BFC web site. Please feel free to let us know if you're interested. We'd love to have you and we're always looking for new points of view and the commitment is really just a few hours each month and, as a bonus, we offer free fishing tips if that appeals to any of you. (For what those tips are worth!!)

Advertising in Reel News

For any of you who would like to advertise in our electronic newsletter, we are offering some very attractive rates. We reach approximately 550 Boulder Flycaster readers each month and with this plan, we can deliver your message easily and effortlessly each and every month of the year. Newsletters go out the last week of the month announcing the next month's program.

To request placement of an ad, you'll need to do two things. Create a "Microsoft Word page/s" that we can convert to html. This html page/s will be linked from the email newsletter and can be up to two pages in length (depending on size of file). A furnished photo & text to run with the ad in the text of the emailed newsletter will also be required.

Cost: We have three levels of ad types:

(A) Ads with advertising copy only . . . Cost:
a. $25.00 each ad plus $.20 for each click through
b. $20.00 plus $.15 for each click through (Requires a 1 year contract)

(B) Ads with advertising copy that also have information of value to BFC members . . . Cost:
a. $18.00 each ad plus $.15 for each click through
b. $15.00 plus $.10 for each click through (Requires a 1 year contract)

(C) Ads which are simply links to a commercial website via a name and/or logo . . . Cost:
$12.00 each ad flat rate

Fly of the Month - Ron's Neon Renegade

Neon Renegade - Recipe
Hook: Tiemco 101, size 14 - 18
Thread: Brown
Abdomen: Peacock Ice Dub
Hackle: Brown for Rear, Ice Braid Pearl for Front
Head: Brown

Tying Instructions:
Step 1: Start thread at eye and wrap to rear stopping at the bend of the hook.
Step 2: Tie in brown hackle at hook bend. Wrap forward to cover 1/3 hook length.
Step 3: Dub thread with Peacock ice dub. Wrap forward to cover 1/3 of the hook. Double the last wrap to make a firm body. This helps flair the front hackle.
Step 4: Tie in Ice Braid Pearl with enough short pieces to make a 360 degree hackle simulation. Trim braid to match the brown hackle size in the rear.
Step 5: Finish the head with distinct separation from eye and braid. If you crowd eye it is difficult to trim braid without reducing eye opening. Use a drop of floatant on the body to help float the synthetics.

Suggestions on how to fish: Use this pattern for searching the water. Fish it dry when there is no hatch or with a hatch in the same size as the hatch. Seem to work best in sizes 14 and 18. Try the 18 when tricos are on the water but the fish are refusing trico patterns.

BFC Calendar Events Listing for Fall, 2006

October 4th Presentation . . . Dale Darling - Dry Flies
October 25th Board Meeting ERA Realty
November 1st Presentation . . . Barry Reynolds - Pike and Carp Fishing
November 29th Board Meeting ERA Realty
December 6th Presentation . . . Holiday Party
December 20th Board Meeting ERA Realty

NOTE SPECIAL 2nd WEDNESDAY IN JANUARY DATE
January 10th Brian Capsay . . . Member - US Fly Fishing Team. Presentation on Fishing near Durango
January 31st Board Meeting ERA Realty

Remember, Meetings begin at 6:00 pm - Clinic; 6:30-7:00 pm - Business and Announcements; 7:00-8:30 pm - Program

We meet at the Spice of Life Events Center, 5706 Arapahoe Avenue (in the Flatirons Golf Course Complex).

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