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.

Our Chapter Gatherings resume in September – Join us in-person or virtually!

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

NO, it’s NOT just for old people, it’s just a good place to meet.

At our membership meetings this Fall 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. We are resuming our General meetings this month, September 18 is our first meeting. Join us at 6:30 for socializing, the meeting kicks off at 7:00. We hope you will be there!

We hope to have a chance for everyone to meet Nick Herman, owner of Fort Collins’ new fly shop, Mountain Fly located at 105 W Mountain Ave, Fort Collins, CO

During our September Chapter member gathering, there will be a very short business meeting to approve changes to the Bylaws. Attached to this message are three files; the original Bylaws approved in 2020, the bylaws showing the changes approved by the Board and a clean version of the new Bylaws. We will vote on accepting the new Bylaws; acceptance requires a vote by 2/3rds of the members present.  

The major proposed changes include:

1. Article III: Changing some language related to elections and Annual Business meetings. 

2. Article IV: Changing the term of Board Members at Large from one year to three years with one BMAL rotating off or standing for reelection each year.

3. Article VII: Adding an Events Committee and changing language within the committees to better describe their responsibilities.

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 casting course is open to the public and is a great place to practice, compete, and teach.

The RMF Casting Club has been holding informal casting competition and practice on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM to sunset at Fossil Creek Reservoir Oval Pavilion 5821 S Lemay Ave, Fort Collins. It’s a lot of fun – give it a try! You can also go by yourself anytime during daylight hours. The target rings will be there until we take them out in October before the lake freezes. Do you have an interest in attending and competing? Or just improving your casting skills?

If families come out, the park has a huge grass field for kicking a soccer ball, or fly or spin-casting. There is also a playground and skate park on site.

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 may 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,

RMF Volunteers needed to staff our booth and lead river Treks

Big Thompson Watershed Coalition is hosting our third annual Trek the Thompson event on Saturday, September 7th, from 9am-1pm at Fairgrounds Park in Loveland, CO

No registration is required to attend this free event, but registration is required if you’d like to join one of our three guided Treks – bird watching, native plant identification, and a river systems talk – please use the link below to register today!

Trek the Thompson is a FREE family friendly, community celebration of the Big Thompson River and watershed located along the Big T River at Fairgrounds Park. The event features interactive education stations where community members and watershed visitors can learn about the river, watersheds, wildlife, recreation, and all that the Big T provides for Northern Colorado. This year’s Trek the Thompson will also be in remembrance of the 10th anniversary of the 2013 floods and the amazing amount of collaborative recovery work that has happened since.

In addition to interactive education stations, attendees can also enjoy live music from local bands, participate in a free prize raffle, enjoy food from local food trucks, and join us on our newly introduced “treks” to go birding, ID native plants and insects, and learn about our river system.

The public is invited to stop by at any point during the event, however, registration is required to participate in event activities. Registration can be done before September 7th via the event website or at the event on the day of.

Visit the event website to register and learn more about our sponsors and the locally donated prizes.

RMFTU will be hosting a BMI Trek at the event.

Rocky Mountain Flycasters is a proud sponsor of this event.

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.

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, Sept 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: Icicle Pheasant Tail

Instructions: Icicle PT tips WEB.pdf

Video: Icicle Pheasant Tail - YouTube

To prepare for RMFTU’s fall 2024 stream temperature data retrieval campaign we will hold a Volunteer Training Field Day on Saturday, August 24. The primary intent is to train new volunteers in data retrieval and temperature sensor installation and maintenance.

Experienced volunteers are welcome to attend as a refresher course and to share their experiences.

As limited parking is available at the field day site, we will meet to carpool at 8 am Saturday, August 24 at the NW of the King Soopers lot on N College in Fort Collins. We will return by mid-afternoon.

If you have questions email Phil Wright. You and others can sign up for the training using the other button below.

Many people think they would like to be fly fishing on the rivers and lakes but they didn’t know where to start, and it looks difficult, and perhaps expensive. With this class Rocky Mountain Flycasters volunteers will present an overview of fly fishing and the river environment in a one-day instructional class. The class includes instruction in fly casting outdoors in the park. The event will be at the Chilson Recreation Center, 700 E 4th St, Loveland, CO 80537

Volunteers Needed to Help out.

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 casting course is open to the public and is a great place to practice, compete, and teach.

The RMF Casting Club has been holding informal casting competition and practice on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM to sunset at Fossil Creek Reservoir Oval Pavilion 5821 S Lemay Ave, Fort Collins. It’s a lot of fun – give it a try! You can also go by yourself anytime during daylight hours. The target rings will be there until we take them out in October before the lake freezes. Do you have an interest in attending and competing? Or just improving your casting skills?

If families come out, the park has a huge grass field for kicking a soccer ball, or fly or spin-casting. There is also a playground and skate park on site.

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 may 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,

2024 Information Coming Soon

-VOLUNTEERS NEEDED-

Join RMFTU and New Belgium from Noon - 6 p.m. to celebrate the Poudre River!

The Poudre RiverFest is a free, family-friendly festival that celebrates the Poudre River, promotes restoration, and educates people about our river corridor, an important natural resource in our community. The festival features activities for children and adults to explore the role of the river as an important habitat for wildlife, a lively recreation area, and a source for clean drinking water.

For current information visit the the Poudre RiverFest website.

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.

Many people think they would like to be fly fishing on the rivers and lakes but they didn’t know where to start, and it looks difficult, and perhaps expensive. With this class Rocky Mountain Flycasters volunteers will present an overview of fly fishing and the river environment in a one-day instructional class. The class includes instruction in fly casting outdoors in the park. The event will be at the Chilson Recreation Center, 700 E 4th St, Loveland, CO 80537

Volunteers Needed to Help out.