Make Room for Growth
A Story that is Close to Home
By: Tom Schultz, RMFTU Director at Large
July 4th, 2017 was an Independence Day to remember. I fished the tailwater of the Yampa River about a half mile below the Stagecoach Reservoir. The rainbows were stacked in the current like a convoy of merchant ships during WW II. One by one, I was able to net six beauties between 16 to 18 inches on PMD parachutes.
When I retired to Colorado in 2019, I couldn’t wait to return to the site of one of my best days. But alas, that stretch of water has been closed to fishing since 2021, as early as late May and lasting until November, due to low flows into and out of Stagecoach Reservoir ( Yampa Fishing Closures). Increased evaporation, reduced snow packs, and over-allocation during a decade-long drought, have restricted releases from Stagecoach leaving the trout in crowded pools with water temperatures often exceeding 75 degrees; in a tailwater! Fishing pressure would stress the trout to death and river managers now release just enough water to sustain aquatic insects and fish. Even years of abundant snowfall has failed to rejuvenate the Yampa as warmer days in April and May have accelerated run-off. Without summer rains, snow melt has been soaked up by parched, cracked soils before it ever reaches the river ( The Disappearing Snowpack). Higher daily temperatures, reduced snow and rainfall, and prolonged drought are all the result of climate change. In Colorado, our abundant streams provide for both fish and agriculture. To preserve both, we anglers need to support policies that conserve water and arrest the rise in global temperature.