Donate to RMFTU via Colorado Gives

- Before December 10 -

Donate to Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Unlimited (RMFTU) via Colorado Gives

Colorado Gives Day is a statewide movement to increase giving, and unites all Coloradoans in a common goal to strengthen Colorado’s nonprofits by giving to favorite charities online! Again in 2024, you can donate directly to RMFTU through Colorado Gives.

Why Participate?

Donating to RMFTU through Colorado Gives helps raise funds needed to conserve, protect and restore coldwater streams and rivers where trout live — including the Big Thompson, Cache la Poudre, and North Platte Rivers. RMFTU’s signature conservation project is Poudre Headwaters Project, the largest restoration effort of native Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Colorado history. With your generous donation, RMFTU can help save Colorado's state fish and expand important work in conservation and education.

Early giving begins on November 1, and you can schedule your donation. All you have to do is:

1. Visit: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/RockyMountainFlycasters

2. On the RMFTU page, click Donate and make your gift.

3. Make sure your donation is set to process on December 10, Colorado Gives Day.

4. Ask your FRIENDS and FAMILY to donate too (before December 10)!
   

Save the Date: RMF Holiday Party Dec 4 th , 6-9 pm

Remember, pre-covid, when we used to have a really fun Holiday party?

Well, let’s re-start that tradition this Dec 4 th , at C.B. & Potts.

Join us for a Holiday party for RMF members and their guests where we will enjoy an Italian buffet: Lasagna or Chicken Parmesan, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and brownies for desert.

*If you require a vegetarian meal, please contact Mark Miller at outreach@rmftu.org.

Fun will include:

Door prizes and a raffle for flies from the Fly Trees (Please bring 4-5 flies to hang on the Fly Trees)

And an Optional White Elephant gift exchange (valued at $0-$20, new or used or goofy) Only one wrapped gift per couple please.

Please, purchase your tickets by November 18th to reserve you spot.

For the 2024-2025 season we are changing the event to evenings on the First Monday of the month.

This months Pub & Dub will be Monday, Dec 2nd at 6:00 PM in the loft area at the rear of the taproom at the Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom, 3500 S. College Ave in Fort Collins.  Come and join us for an evening of socialization, swapping fish stories from your summer and maybe even learning a new pattern. 

“Pub and Dub” is a free event hosted by the Rocky Mountain Flycasters TU Chapter for members and friends to meet, have a beverage and tie flies. Marty Staab will designate a “Fly of the Month”, and the Chapter provides all tying materials (vises and tools as needed) along with video tying instructions on the big screen TV. Tyers of all abilities are welcome, and first time tyers will find themselves surrounded by others happy to assist. 

Please RSVP to Marty (Pub-n-Dub@rmftu.org) before each session, and let him know if you need a loaner vise or tools.

Please thank and support our hosts at Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom by purchasing a beverage.

This Months Pattern: WD-40 Flash

Instructions: WD 40 Flash Tips WEB.pdf

Video: WD-40 Flash

Donate to RMFTU via Colorado Gives

- Before December 10 -

Donate to Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Unlimited (RMFTU) via Colorado Gives

Colorado Gives Day is a statewide movement to increase giving, and unites all Coloradoans in a common goal to strengthen Colorado’s nonprofits by giving to favorite charities online! Again in 2024, you can donate directly to RMFTU through Colorado Gives.

Why Participate?

Donating to RMFTU through Colorado Gives helps raise funds needed to conserve, protect and restore coldwater streams and rivers where trout live — including the Big Thompson, Cache la Poudre, and North Platte Rivers. RMFTU’s signature conservation project is Poudre Headwaters Project, the largest restoration effort of native Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Colorado history. With your generous donation, RMFTU can help save Colorado's state fish and expand important work in conservation and education.

Early giving begins on November 1, and you can schedule your donation. All you have to do is:

1. Visit: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/RockyMountainFlycasters

2. On the RMFTU page, click Donate and make your gift.

3. Make sure your donation is set to process on December 10, Colorado Gives Day.

4. Ask your FRIENDS and FAMILY to donate too (before December 10)!
   

Donate to RMFTU via Colorado Gives

- Before December 10 -

Donate to Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Unlimited (RMFTU) via Colorado Gives

Colorado Gives Day is a statewide movement to increase giving, and unites all Coloradoans in a common goal to strengthen Colorado’s nonprofits by giving to favorite charities online! Again in 2024, you can donate directly to RMFTU through Colorado Gives.

Why Participate?

Donating to RMFTU through Colorado Gives helps raise funds needed to conserve, protect and restore coldwater streams and rivers where trout live — including the Big Thompson, Cache la Poudre, and North Platte Rivers. RMFTU’s signature conservation project is Poudre Headwaters Project, the largest restoration effort of native Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Colorado history. With your generous donation, RMFTU can help save Colorado's state fish and expand important work in conservation and education.

Early giving begins on November 1, and you can schedule your donation. All you have to do is:

1. Visit: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/RockyMountainFlycasters

2. On the RMFTU page, click Donate and make your gift.

3. Make sure your donation is set to process on December 10, Colorado Gives Day.

4. Ask your FRIENDS and FAMILY to donate too (before December 10)!
   

Our Chapter Gathering – Join us in-person!

This meeting will be at the Fort Collins Senior Center in Prairie Sage 1

Our chapter’s November Gathering will be our Annual Business Meeting one important activity will be electing the Board Officers and Directors at Large for the 2025 chapter activities year.

At our membership meetings this year we plan to take some time for our newer members to meet other chapter members. And hopefully start developing new friendships and meeting new fishing friends. Join us at 6:30 for socializing, the meeting kicks off at 7:00. We hope you will be there!

Our speaker for the meeting will be Boyd Wright from CPW. He will be giving us an update on the effort to restore Greenback Cutthroat Trout. This will be a very interesting presentation!

Our attendance at our monthly meetings has been low – we are averaging about 25 people. I’m mentioning this in hopes that some of you may start attending again. Prior to COVID, we used to have 40 - 50 people attend our meetings. We have some good speakers lined up, but it is hardly worth their time to come to Fort Collins to speak to us with such low attendance. So, we hope to see more of you at future meetings. - Mark Miller

November Chapter Gathering Fly Swap

The fly for the November Chapter Gathering Fly Swap is a fall favorite: The Blue WingedOlive (BWO)/Baetis fly. Chose to tie either a BWO dry fly or a Baetis nymph (size 18 or 20). These little flies work well during prolific hatches in the October/November timeframe.

Please let Dave Morse know, using the email link button below, if you would like to tie a fly for the swap. If you signed up at the October meeting, you're all set. As usual, tie enough copies of your fly so everyone will get one of yours. In return, you will get one from each other tier. Include a little recipe or toe tag attached to your fly with details of what materials were used. Submit your flies at the start of the November meeting and they will be sorted for all participants. We typically have 6 to 8 participants, but Dave Morse will let you know the right number a week before the meeting.

Save the Date: RMF Holiday Party Dec 4 th , 6-9 pm

Remember, pre-covid, when we used to have a really fun Holiday party?

Well, let’s re-start that tradition this Dec 4 th , at C.B. & Potts.

Join us for a Holiday party for RMF members and their guests where we will enjoy an Italian buffet: Lasagna or Chicken Parmesan, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and brownies for desert.

*If you require a vegetarian meal, please contact Mark Miller at outreach@rmftu.org.

Fun will include:

Door prizes and a raffle for flies from the Fly Trees (Please bring 4-5 flies to hang on the Fly Trees)

And an Optional White Elephant gift exchange (valued at $0-$20, new or used or goofy) Only one wrapped gift per couple please.

Please, purchase your tickets by November 18th to reserve you spot.

Donate to RMFTU via Colorado Gives

- Before December 10 -

Donate to Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Unlimited (RMFTU) via Colorado Gives

Colorado Gives Day is a statewide movement to increase giving, and unites all Coloradoans in a common goal to strengthen Colorado’s nonprofits by giving to favorite charities online! Again in 2024, you can donate directly to RMFTU through Colorado Gives.

Why Participate?

Donating to RMFTU through Colorado Gives helps raise funds needed to conserve, protect and restore coldwater streams and rivers where trout live — including the Big Thompson, Cache la Poudre, and North Platte Rivers. RMFTU’s signature conservation project is Poudre Headwaters Project, the largest restoration effort of native Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Colorado history. With your generous donation, RMFTU can help save Colorado's state fish and expand important work in conservation and education.

Early giving begins on November 1, and you can schedule your donation. All you have to do is:

1. Visit: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/RockyMountainFlycasters

2. On the RMFTU page, click Donate and make your gift.

3. Make sure your donation is set to process on December 10, Colorado Gives Day.

4. Ask your FRIENDS and FAMILY to donate too (before December 10)!
   

For the 2024-2025 season we are changing the event to evenings on the First Monday of the month.

This months Pub & Dub will be Monday, Nov 4th at 6:00 PM in the loft area at the rear of the taproom at the Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom, 3500 S. College Ave in Fort Collins.  Come and join us for an evening of socialization, swapping fish stories from your summer and maybe even learning a new pattern. 

“Pub and Dub” is a free event hosted by the Rocky Mountain Flycasters TU Chapter for members and friends to meet, have a beverage and tie flies. Marty Staab will designate a “Fly of the Month”, and the Chapter provides all tying materials (vises and tools as needed) along with video tying instructions on the big screen TV. Tyers of all abilities are welcome, and first time tyers will find themselves surrounded by others happy to assist. 

Please RSVP to Marty (Pub-n-Dub@rmftu.org) before each session, and let him know if you need a loaner vise or tools.

Please thank and support our hosts at Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom by purchasing a beverage.

This Months Pattern: GT Triple Double (Gordon Tharett)

Instructions: GT Triple Double Tips WEB.pdf

Video: GT Triple Double

Help Plant Trees in the Poudre Watershed!

 Join the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) for a day of tree planting in the Poudre Watershed! In the wake of the High Park Fire of 2012 and the historic Cameron Peak Fire of 2020, which burned over 208,000 acres, CPRW is working with private landowners to restore land by planting native ponderosa pine seedlings. Connect with the land, get your hands dirty, and help heal the watershed!

 Registration is required, spots are limited, and these volunteer events fill up fast. Click the buttons below to learn more and register.

 Tree planting requires bending over, squatting, digging and other physical activity, all of which will occur outside and within a burned area. Please be prepared for this type of work. 

 Learn more about the Cameron Peak Reforestation Group at: www.poudrewatershed.org/reforestation

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We are looking for 2-5 volunteers for each time slot listed to help build a kiosk for the Lost Lake Greenback Cutthroat breeding program, carpentry experience is helpful but not required, anyone is welcome. You are welcome to sign up for multiple time slots.

The kiosk will be built in Fort Collins for later installation at Lost Lake.

Helpful if you can bring: your own eye and ear protection, gloves, hammer, tool bag, drill and or impact driver and bits.

Remember: water and to dress in layers.

We plan to order pizza or something for lunch.

If you have any questions send an e-mail to Ryan Hogan at conserve@rmftu.org.

Help Plant Trees in the Poudre Watershed!

 Join the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) for a day of tree planting in the Poudre Watershed! In the wake of the High Park Fire of 2012 and the historic Cameron Peak Fire of 2020, which burned over 208,000 acres, CPRW is working with private landowners to restore land by planting native ponderosa pine seedlings. Connect with the land, get your hands dirty, and help heal the watershed!

 Registration is required, spots are limited, and these volunteer events fill up fast. Click the buttons below to learn more and register.

 Tree planting requires bending over, squatting, digging and other physical activity, all of which will occur outside and within a burned area. Please be prepared for this type of work. 

 Learn more about the Cameron Peak Reforestation Group at: www.poudrewatershed.org/reforestation

Email not displaying correctly?

View it in your browser

We are looking for 2-5 volunteers for each time slot listed to help build a kiosk for the Lost Lake Greenback Cutthroat breeding program, carpentry experience is helpful but not required, anyone is welcome. You are welcome to sign up for multiple time slots.

The kiosk will be built in Fort Collins for later installation at Lost Lake.

Helpful if you can bring: your own eye and ear protection, gloves, hammer, tool bag, drill and or impact driver and bits.

Remember: water and to dress in layers.

We plan to order pizza or something for lunch.

If you have any questions send an e-mail to Ryan Hogan at conserve@rmftu.org.

Our Chapter Gatherings resume September 2024 - May 2025 – Please join us in-person!

Please join us for our October membership meeting at the Fort Collins Senior Center in Prairie Sage 1, at 6:30 pm.

Our speakers for this meeting will be the Braker Brothers. You may recognize that name, as they have had several of their movies in the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) over the last few years. They will talk about using fly fishing films and good storytelling to communicate with audiences interested in fisheries and conservation.

We may also get a sneak-peek at a 10 minute film about how Artificial Intelligence is helping with fisheries conservation.

It should make for a fun evening! Join us at 6:30 for socializing, the meeting kicks off at 7:00.

We hope you will be there!

Speaker: Braker Brothers

This Month’s Fly Swap: “Fall Streamers”

Contact Dave Morse vetsflyfish@rmftu.org for more information on the Fly Swap.

Presenters and Exhibitors are the heart of the water festival!

We greatly appreciate the time, energy, and commitment that you provide in preparation and during the festival.

The Water Festival is a tremendous opportunity for you and your organization to share information about the importance of water and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.

The water festival is a one-day (mostly) outdoor event consisting of hands-on and thinking activities and exhibits designed for 4th and 5th grade students. The festival is limited to 45-classrooms. Each class ranges from15 to 30 students and will have a schedule to follow. The classroom teacher and chaperones accompany the students. Presentations run simultaneously with groups of students rotating from session to session. Each session lasts twenty-five minutes, with ten minutes between each session for you to prepare for the next class. The sessions run from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm.

We provide each presenter | exhibitor with coffee, water, fruit and pastries for breakfast, and a lunch for everyone in your group. We also provide you with tables, chairs, a 10 x 10 canopy, water and electricity if needed.

We encourage water-related activities that are interactive, hands-on, and fun, the more interactive the activity the more the children will remember.

Need help? We can help you create a hands-on presentation focused on a water-related concept that is important to your industry or career.

The 2024 Children’s Water Festival theme is “Our Water – Our Responsibility”.

You bring water to life for the students through the personal experience and interaction they have with you during your presentation.

Children’s Water Festival provides non-school, fun, hands-on lessons on how important our water resource is to all, including stream inhabitants. Our interactive game, “Who Eats Who At The Stream”, recreates the food chain in the aquatic ecosystem. This game enables us to teach elementary aged youth about how important cold, clean water is for our watershed. The Game Guides will be help to play the game and assist with set up and take down. A packet of information will be provided.

To be a Game Guide doesn't require any specialized knowledge, just a willingness to work with young people. The Guides will lead groups of 4th and 5th graders through the game play. Written instructions for the "Who Eats Who at the Stream Game" game will be provided. The Game will be set up in the morning and taken down at the end of the day. To signup for the full day please signup for both time slots as you can. Lunch is usually provided.

You can sign up to volunteer as a Game Guide for a half day or a full day. A full information packet including Game instructions and Festival parking and entry directions will be provided to all volunteers.

For the 2024-2025 season we are changing the event to evenings on the First Monday of the month.

This months Pub & Dub will be Monday, Oct 7th at 6:00 PM in the loft area at the rear of the taproom at the Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom, 3500 S. College Ave in Fort Collins.  Come and join us for an evening of socialization, swapping fish stories from your summer and maybe even learning a new pattern. 

“Pub and Dub” is a free event hosted by the Rocky Mountain Flycasters TU Chapter for members and friends to meet, have a beverage and tie flies. Marty Staab will designate a “Fly of the Month”, and the Chapter provides all tying materials (vises and tools as needed) along with video tying instructions on the big screen TV. Tyers of all abilities are welcome, and first time tyers will find themselves surrounded by others happy to assist. 

Please RSVP to Marty (Pub-n-Dub@rmftu.org) before each session, and let him know if you need a loaner vise or tools.

Please thank and support our hosts at Gilded Goat Brewery and Taproom by purchasing a beverage.

This Months Pattern: Sparkle RS-2

Instructions: Sparkle RS-2.pdf

Video: Sparkle RS-2 - YouTube

Hopefully you’ve heard we are trying to get our Casting Club up and running. Thanks to Bob Molzahn and Dave Handshue, and the FTC Parks Department, casting rings or targets were placed in Porter Reservoir at Fossil Creek Park. The targets are in the far southeast end of the lake (see map).

RMFTU, Colorado's only American Casting Association (ACA) club member, has installed nine ACA 30" official casting targets.

The RMF Casting Club will be holding the second annual Colorado State Casting Competition.

Saturday, October 5th 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM at Fossil Creek Reservoir Oval Pavilion 5821 S Lemay Ave, Fort Collins.

It’s a lot of fun – give it a try! Do you have an interest in attending and competing? Or just improving your casting skills?

Bring your own rods, but we will also have a few extra rods for kids who would like to take a lesson or try to catch a bass. Everyone should also bring your own folding chairs, water and any snacks you might want.

There will be three areas to compete in:

• Dry Fly Accuracy

• Dry Fly Distance - On Land

• 3/8 oz Accuracy - Spinning or Bait Casting Reels

Most of us, like myself (Mark Miller), are not great casters, but I will still be there to join in on the fun and improve my casting in the process. So please don’t feel like you have to be a superb caster to join in. The more participants, the more fun we will have. And it also includes a category for spinning and bait casting!

If you're not interested in the competition, we will also offer casting lessons, for both kids and adults. If you know someone who would like to try it, please invite them also. They don’t have to be members to participate.

Registration: we most likely will set up an on-line registration process, so we know how many people may show up. If there is enough interest, we may try to do a burger/brat burn also. Look for an email blast in late-September for more info on the registration process. 

The oval is a huge expanse of grass, so perfect if the young ones want to kick a soccer ball or play catch while Mom and Dad are casting. This will be fun for the entire family.

Remember, no hooks allowed on flies and plugs. Hooks will snag the targets and really mess things up. Just snip off the hook at the bend of any large dry fly and you're good to go. Using a stout 7.5’ leader also helps your accuracy.

Besides your casting rod you will want a light portable chair and bug repellent. Bob will bring some casting plugs and flies - but in the future members should bring their own casting plugs and flies which are available on the ACA website, Walmart, Cabelas, Jax, etc. But again, any high floating fly with no hook will suffice.

If you need more info, please email Bob at molzahn5@comcast.net, or Mark Miller at outreach@rmftu.org

Rick Takahashi: Tying Flies

July 12 - October 13, 2024

Rick Takahashi is well-known in the fly-fishing world as a top fly tier and member of RMFTU. Combining his background in color and design theory with “on the water” testing, he creates flies that look and fish great. Included in the exhibit are Takahashi’s handmade paper collages inspired by the Colorado landscape.

VISIT US

Museum website: thelovelandmuseum.org

Exhibit website: thelovelandmuseum.org/tying-flies/

Check the website for Museum Hours, Location, and Admission

The Loveland Museum is located in downtown Loveland on the corner of 5th Street and Lincoln Avenue.

General Admission is free and includes the Mezzanine gallery and more.

Admission to exhibitions in the Main Gallery is $7 per person ages 13+.

* RMFTU encourages you to donate while visiting the gallery.

Poudre River Clean-Up, National Public Lands Day

Forest Service - Canyon Lakes Ranger District

Description

The Canyon Lakes Ranger District is hosting a National Public Lands volunteer river clean-up event near the Arrowhead Lodge Visitor Center. The clean-up site will be at the Black Hollow area and will focus on trash accumulated during post-fire flooding events. Everyone is welcome to join, but please know volunteers will be working in and around moving water. Gloves, trash bags, and garbage removal tools will be provided. Volunteers should wear work clothes and waders and/or closed toe shoes capable of getting wet. All volunteers are required to sign a volunteer agreement.

Point of Contact

Carrie Cole
carrie.cole@usda.gov
9704200397

Rick Takahashi: Tying Flies

September 26, 2024

The Loveland Museum is hosting a Rick Takahashi exhibit, and on September 26 from 5 - 7 pm, Rick will be there talking about his love of art and tying flies. Rick is a long-time member of our chapter and would love to see you at his exhibit. The exhibit is free!

If you cannot attend the exhibit on September 26, it will run until October 13, 2024 in the Mezzanine Gallery.

Rick Takahashi is well-known in the fly-fishing world as a top fly tier and member of RMFTU. Combining his background in color and design theory with “on the water” testing, he creates flies that look and fish great. Included in the exhibit are Takahashi’s handmade paper collages inspired by the Colorado landscape.

VISIT US

Museum website: thelovelandmuseum.org

Exhibit website: thelovelandmuseum.org/tying-flies/

Check the website for Museum Hours, Location, and Admission

The Loveland Museum is located in downtown Loveland on the corner of 5th Street and Lincoln Avenue.

General Admission is free and includes the Mezzanine gallery and more.

Admission to exhibitions in the Main Gallery is $7 per person ages 13+.

* RMFTU encourages you to donate while visiting the gallery.

STREAM Girls 1.0 Volunteer Opportunities

Besides conservation, one of the ways we preserve fly fishing and cold water fisheries is to share our enjoyment and knowledge of both with the next generation. So, even though STREAM Girls is an impactful STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math) program for budding river conservationist and anglers, it's also how we can ensure the future of what is important to us. This full day program intended for girls from 4th – 8th grades, empowers girls to explore a local stream, collect flow data, sample macroinvertebrates, tie flies, and learn fly casting.

To be a Stream Guide Volunteer doesn't require you to be an expert, just have some knowledge and a willingness to work with young Girls Scouts to explore the River and understand the basic ideas of fly fishing. The CSU Environmental Learning Center is a good place to hold this full day program where the Scouts will form two groups that rotate through activities in the River, dry land fly casting, and fly tying in the morning and in the afternoon. Sign up to volunteer through iVolunteer here. Sign up to participate through SignUp at this link.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be coordinating a stocking effort to plant greenback cutthroat trout into Boston Gulch and Williams Gulch. This event will require hiking into predetermined stocking locations - details are below.

Volunteers will meet at the Potbelly Restaurant & Lounge in Red Feather Lakes at 10:15 to go over stocking logistics, project expectations, and break into hiking groups (half will be assigned to Boston Gulch, and the remainder will go to William's Gulch). The hatchery truck will arrive between 10:45-11:00 with 1-2" greenback cutthroat trout that will be bagged and ready to be hiked into their new home. The bagged fish will be transferred to CPW trucks, and volunteers will caravan to the trailheads, located within an hour's drive on semi-rugged roads. All-Wheel-Drive vehicles with at least 7" clearance will be necessary. CPW vehicles can be used to shuttle some volunteers if they have signed a CPW volunteer waiver form, and volunteers with suitable vehicles will be asked to assist with carpooling from the Potbelly.

All stocking locations will require hiking on game trails, not established hiking trails, ranging from a 2 mile round trip hike with 200' elevation gain up to a 7 mile hike with 900' vertical elevation gain. Volunteers will need to be able to carry a pack with their personal gear, snacks, water, and a bag of fish/water that will weigh approximately 10-15 pounds. A 65 liter backpack is ideal for carrying the insulated bags of fish. CPW has a few packs they can provide so please let us know if you need to borrow one.

Volunteers will be split into groups based on hiking ability. All groups will have a CPW or USFS leader to guide them. The plan is to leave the Potbelly by 11:15, start hiking around 12:15. The ultimate goal is to spread out the trout throughout each drainage as much as possible. Groups will be returning at staggered times depending on distance traveled and hiking speed, so it's best to assume this is a full-day event.

Volunteers should sign up for a group ranging from 1 to 4 based on perceived hiking ability, with 1 being the shortest distance and 4 being the longest distance at a fairly quick pace.

For more information visit the iVolunteer site.