FINALLY FALL & FANTASTIC FLYFISHING AT SACRED WATERS CO INC. & CHARITY FOUNDATION

​C.A.R.E. Report & Other need to knows @ SWCO.....
Conservation
Advocacy
Rehabilitation
Education 
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Howdy Y'all...

Well I been putting off writing our latest Newsletter and Blog Post an extra two weeks or so waiting for a change in the weather and water conditions. As my records show for the last 11 years we usually have a major storm system push through anywhere from three days to a week or more of rain & snow anywhere from mid-September to the first week of October boosting up water flows, cooling of water & air temperatures and the end of the dog days of Summer. Over the years of writing &/or conversations I had always referred to this as the “Refresher” the start of fantastic Fall Fishing. Through the past few weeks forecasts have been threatening rain & snowstorms for at least a few days each week with little to nothing to show for it. Yes, we have had some great guided fishing trips since my last newsletter & blog post, but I was even more excited for even better fishing/guiding with the “Refresher” that still has not happened. Recently to present we are in what I refer to as the “One & Done” “No Margin for Error” timeframe this usually happens in the dog days of late Summer but took a bit longer this year due to the large snowpack and Monsoons. Unfortunately, our normal Monsoons were below average precipitation and ended earlier than normal and as the rain stopped our local waters dropped like a rock to low, clear, glassy conditions more and more daily. But on the flip side of that fortunately it had cooled down drastically at least helping keep our local waters & trout cool and healthy. Who would've thought with all the snowpack(some still remaining), all the rain, and high water flows well above average till August 28th that from then on we would get back into a drought with below average flows almost immediately. Strange Times! We didn't start float trips/ raft guiding till July 13th (usually done over with too low by the 4th @ Best), our first safe & more easily fishable walk/wade guide trips didn't start till 7/17 on the San Juan River "Proper" other than a few tailwater & high country creek trips. Now back in drought with below average flows, Let it Rain, Let it Snow! Wound like to gain 30-100 CFS before Winter officially arrives and waters start freezing, not only will a boost in flows help fishing success, will also help with Fall/Winter migration, spawning, and prevent future Winter Kill. 

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Fishing, Hatches, Weather, & Water Report: 
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What a Fantastic year so far! Fishing has been good enough actually awesome (noted by enclosed photos) just got to work a little harder the usual for this time of year. Throughout September to present we had and are having great dry fly fishing and dry/dropper fishing. Mostly terrestrial flies as our aquatic insect hatches peter out and tend to be smaller species/sub-species of insects in late summer through the Fall. We do have hatches going off keeping the fishes looking up just smaller bugs, Blue-winged Olives (Baetis), Tricos, PMD’s, some micro caddis most all sz. #18 or smaller and of course terrestrials (grasshoppers, crickets, ants, beetles, true flies, etc.) We did have good Golden Stonefly fishing through late Aug. and most all of Sept. and can still be successful as the fishes are used to seeing and feeding on them but they are done hatching as it had cooled off a lot recently but in addition a Golden Stone dry fly pattern does look similar to a grasshopper too so fish may take it as either. Our last chance larger aquatic insect hatch is the October Caddis. These are the largest of our Caddis species ranging from size #6-12 and a very underutilized hatch/fly. Generally most anglers have never even seen our Oct. Caddis because they tend to hatch late in the evening and at night and with it getting somewhat uncomfortably cold as the sunsets this time of year many anglers pull off the water before the caddis even start hatching, other than that the effects of this hatch can last throughout the day same as stated about with the terrestrials and goldenstones they been eating them all night. Nymphing with Oct. Caddis larva or pupa can produce very well when all else seems to be a lost cause because these insects are active, moving about and hatching making them accessible to the fish.

Of course if the dry fly bite does totally turn off as it gets too cold, go to nymph rigs they will always produce as usual, flies such as The Turd (rubberlegs, girdle bugs), other stonefly nymph patterns being not only some of our largest insects & protein sources but some of our most abundant and accessible food sources year round. Also, with Fishes such as Brown trout, Brook Char, and Kokonee Salmon just starting to spawn or will be spawning very soon egg/spawn patterns are starting to produce and will continue to well into the future. Finally, the cold weather classics of midge larva & pupa and Baetis type nymphs are/will continue to produce till next Summer.

​ We will also experience another Fall dry fly fishing phenomenon most likely any time now as we are seeing weather forecasts of below freezing temperatures throughout next week. I had titled this the “Hopper-tunity” over the years. Generally in the late Summer or Early Fall we tend to have not only some of these drastic cool downs, but also normally these rain/snow storms which tend to start as high winds before it hits and high winds following the storm out. What happens during such events is terrestrial insects (land-based bugs) grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, ants, flies, ladybugs, etc. get blown into the water more often and in high quantities than during normal day to day. Other phenomena happen too with these drastic swings in temperature these terrestrial insects can be stunted or frozen in flash freezes/frosts at night and they cannot hold on to the trees, grasses, etc. and uncontrollably fall into the water more often. The other phenomena are with flying ants and ladybugs. Some of you may have heard of or seen these winged ant or ladybug hatches/migrations locally anywhere from late August into early October which does get a lot of press on the San Juan Tailwater in NM with the ants. This does provide some fantastic fishing opportunities when it is happening, but other strange things most people don't realize is with these intense swings in weather we can create uplifts/lofting of air from ground level up into the atmosphere which in turn carries terrestrial insects from lower elevations &/or warmer climates up into our mountain fisheries also with said uplift/lofting events it can also freeze some of these flying/winged terrestrial insects/bugs when they get to high enough altitude they become stunted or even die and they drop helplessly into the water becoming easy meals for the fishes at a time of year that we do not tend to have much aquatic insect activity/hatches. And finally, it’s what we’re used to, as for the fishes are used to… By late Summer through the Autumn we have very little to sometimes no aquatic insect activity most days and if we do have any they tend to be smaller aquatic insects (size #18 or smaller- Baetis, Tricos, micro caddis, smaller PMD’s,  Midges) which sometimes is not worth the effort of larger fishes to target. But the fish have in this time frames mostly been eating terrestrial insects and as that source becomes even more abundant and easier to capture as stated reasonings above or the total opposite they become lesser & lesser due to the change of Season/Weather the fish had become very familiar with this food source and are looking for this food even harder as it becomes more scarce as well as with the lack of much other food sources this time of year.

Weather Forecasts/Outlook: Click Links
Present week's forecast

8-14 Day Extended Weather Outlook​ 
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 Why the excitement and wishes for “The Refresher”? If we get a boost of water and some cloudier days our fishes will become more comfortable, calm, stay out of hiding more accessible, and willing to feed longer throughout the day. We also have large migrations of fishes in the Fall as Brown Trout, Brook Char, and Kokonee Salmon begin moving about our fisheries in spawning migrations as well as other species of rainbow trout, Cutthroats, Cuttbows move about some following the spawning fishes to eat their eggs, to feed up/prepare for winter, and/or to get to their preferred areas for Fall and Winter (wintering pools). With more water and some added color to the water fishes will be able to migrate much easier and more often. In addition to the angler with added flow & turbidity the margin for error widens not only getting more shots at fish but also being able to apply more techniques such as nymphing and streamer fishing which at present is not easy to do as both techniques tend to be a lot more disturbing in current conditions with weighed flies, possibly split shot, indicators smacking down to the low, clear, glassy water. With low, slow, shallow waters getting a good drift and/or not regularly getting snagged up is tough too. Also with a good push of water and applying other techniques such as streamers or nymphs will definitely up the odds of catching fish all throughout the day which is not the case at present with fishes lethargic, hiding out, and/or extra skittish for most the day till the waters warm to more optimal temperatures &/or insect activity starts towards the afternoon & evenings.

​Charity Events:

​Our United States of America Disabled Veterans Groups and Events have been wonderful experiences for all involved from our Professional Anglers, to our Volunteers, to our Veterans. To give back to those who've sacrificed so much for all of us as citizens of this country is so rewarding it's hard for me to explain in written word. All I can say is I have been doing these events for a long time now and the past 3 years because of Sacred Waters was even better to be able to dedicate all my time before, and during, to the event.  Being able to personally Guide every day, to provide Professional Anglers to our Vets, to provide well rested high-quality private waters to our Vets, PA's, and Volunteers. To be able to hang out and socialize with everyone. To stay up all night listening to people’s stories, being able to share my knowledge of the environment, of fishing, of life without prior work-related obligations pulling me away.

We had recently Hosted  Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing of Ft. Hood, TX.   09/18/19 to 09/22/19 . We had a beautiful log cabin right on the San Juan River with semi-private fishing access provided by the McEacharn Family at San Juan River Village. Plenty of delicious food cooked by our Volunteers and catered by local businesses. The money and food Donations from Stan Zuege & Pagosa Springs Realtors Association. Finally, of course all the Volunteer Guides & PA's, thank you Sam Bard, Dennis Davis, Alex “Xenie” Hall, Doug Hampton, and OG Mike Nesbitt.

Special Thanks to Mark "Pop's" Miller at Let it Fly for donating all the hats, t-shirts, waders/boots, and Flies for the event, Doug Dragoo Chairman of Mayfly Outdoors for yet another year of donations of Abel Reels & Ross Reels USA products & reels for door prizes. Thank you all for these donations not only did it make for a fun, rewarding, and exciting bonus to the event you did help provide these men & women of our US Armed Forces the ability to continue fly fishing and healing well into the future. Thank You.... 

Our big winner of a Ross Reels USA Evolution R reel at our SWCO & PHWFF events with Scientific Anglers Red, White, & Blue backing. Retired USAF veteran David Talasek. Starting this week's events & from what we heard overall Dave has been pretty quiet kept to himself kinda guy but for sure some #healingonthefly has really shined through by the last day of fishing Dave was chatting it up with everyone sharing what he learned, showing of fish photos, & super excited for future events. Dave had the most physical limitations of this group & with instruction from our @alexxenie had been very successful & improved dramatically in his flyfishing skills. No more deserving winner! But Dave wasn't the only Vet to walk away with Free Gifts from Sacred Waters Co , Ross Reels & Abel Reels of the Best Line Nippers made, Ross hats, Ross & SWCO decals, and of course plenty of new friends & wonderful memories. (all shown in enclosed photos) Thank you for your service ... Thanks to our Partners at Ross Reels, Abel Reels, Let it Fly, & Scientific Anglers for all the Free & Highly Discounted Gifts. 

Upcoming Event: Patriot Anglers of N. TX & S. OK. 6 Disabled Combat Veterans scheduled for Oct. 21st -25th, 2019. This group is a nonprofit of disabled combat veterans from all around Northern Texas and Southern Oklahoma. We had worked with this group since their start as a PHWFF Chapter before branching out on their own. We hosted them on trips here at SWCO in 2017, 2018, as well as joining them in Texas, Oklahoma, other locals in Colorado for events, fundraisers and such. *(Of course, any volunteers and/or donations are welcome and appreciated, housing is booked, cooks & food already taken care of but monetary, or fishing gear always welcome and helpful.) *
 
*Anyone interested in volunteering &/or donating for any of our Charity Events please feel free to contact us anytime via telephone, email, or contact forms on our 2 websites. Those of you who may have a group interested in what SWCO can offer, feel free to contact us too. *

New or Renewing Donor Fishing Memberships: 
 For   New/1st Time 2019 Donors/Members their rate will be set for 3 years at discounted rates listed below. It is to your benefit to renew annually if we ever must raise the rates in the future.
 *(We could still squeeze in 1 or 2 Silver &/or Gold Level Donor Members before 2020 to receive 2019 Discounted rates for the next 3 years.)*

 Thank You past & present Donors & Donor Fishing Members for making this all possible... 

 Discounted Rates for 2019: 
 Click Link: Learn More on how to become a Donor Member or to book a guided fly fishing trip. 

 We publish these newsletters & blogs as frequently as possible with all the need to know information about Sacred Waters CO, Inc. and Charity Foundation. C.A.R.E. Mission Goal accomplishments. Ongoing, upcoming projects & events. Weather & Water conditions forecasts. Fishing Reports & more...

​ We update our Social media pages with the most up to date daily information almost every day. For most up to date info Please Follow us on Facebook & Instagram​ give us a Like.

 Donate Today and help us protect our local fisheries and provide the healing benefits of outdoor therapy to as many people as possible. We can't really predict or control/change the weather, but we can provide the best fishing at the best times and protect our waters and fishes at the worst times. We can only accomplish this with your generous donations.  

 But, now back to the “One & Done” “No Margin for Error” factor… With our current water conditions of low, crystal clear, glassy and calm, bright, sunny weather as well as on the cold side especially in the mornings our fishes are extremely skittish and spook way easier than normal. The past few weeks and probably till we get some added moisture you generally have very little to no margin for error in your technique. Stealth mode fishing a quiet stealthy approach, long accurate casts, delicate presentations, and perfect drifts are the name of the game. For the most part you get One Shot to seal the deal hence the term “one & done” but on some cloudier days, evenings, or when there is some insect activity the fish can get a little more careless, feed heavier, and give you a few extra shots & put up with a few minor mistakes.

 ​Speaking of fish migrations and spawning fishes, we are not seeing much just yet some kokanee salmon starting to move up the streams, but fairly low numbers probably till we get a little more water. At present we have not seen any spawning browns, brookies or redds not much movement or pre-spawn feed up just yet. Some of you who follow us on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram may have noticed other Advocacy and Education topics such as careful wading, not fishing over spawning fish, etc. this time of year and promoting Redducation movements such as: mind the redd #mindtheredd , no redd raping #noreddraping , not a spawner #notaspawner ,  #carefulsteps #conscientiouscasts #forfuturegenerations , #leavespawningtroutbe , #redducation , &  #reddawareness .

https://flyfishtie.com/blog/f/spawning-trout--stay-off-redds-dont-fish-to-them 
https://www.troutprostore.com/class/how_trout_spawn 
https://mindtheredd.org/
https://www.facebook.com/mindtheredd/
https://www.instagram.com/mindtheredd/?hl=en

 As our season continues here through the Fall some of you who follow us here, on social media, and/or during guided trips will notice us pushing this message forward all throughout the Autumn and then again in the Spring/Early Summer when the Rainbows & Cutthroat Spawn. As Donors, Members, or followers of Sacred Waters CO you have embraced ethical fishing, so if you’re on social media please don’t be afraid to help us drive this message using the hashtags mentioned above.

So on that note:
ATTENTION: "Please Do Not Fish for Spawning Fish!”
Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Kokonee Salmon are in pre-spawn or full spawn depending on location. If you see two generally trophy sized trout parred up on a redd just admire their size & beauty and walk away. Ultimately you are saving the lives of possibly hundreds - thousands of fish you will have the chance to catch in the future by leaving those two fish to continue to finish their spawning ritual.

"Please be careful wading around too much this time of year, especially in easy to wade shallow gravelly side channels, tailouts and heads of pools or fishing in such areas, these are usually places fish make redds and spawn. If you see clean depressions in the gravel, or what looks to be a pile or pit of clean gravel please avoid wading through it."

NOTE: There is NO Snagging of Kokonee Salmon Allowed in the Williams Creek Drainage!!!
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 If a guide or friend is putting you on redded up/spawning fish, may want to question this, it is not illegal in Colorado, but does not make it right or ethical. It is illegal in some places, some sections of fisheries, some time frames, etc. Please do some homework and be aware of such laws, closures, etc.
Examples:
A Redd or referred to by some as a bed. Is a pile or depression of clean sand or gravel.
Spawning fishes, signs:
1. ) Sitting on a redd.
2.) Will not leave an area or if they do spook off, they come right back.
3.) Two fish of the same species but not always same species very close together or touching, or erratically turning sideways, slapping their tails on the bottom, and the obvious the sight of sperm &/or eggs being deposited. Or discharged upon handling after being caught.
4.) Most to All the fish are in shallow waters, side channels, very heads or tails of pools.
5.) If it's Springtime and you are supposed to be fishing in a primarily Rainbow &/or Cutthroat trout fishery. Or it's Autumn and you're supposed to be fishing a primarily Brown Trout or Brook Trout/Char fishery.
If it's a fairly mixed species fishery and your guide has you fishing areas stated above in #4 and especially if most of your fishes being caught are that time of year's species to spawn.  Thank You

SWCO Updates & Changes:
 You will notice here on our website and Facebook page as well as our affiliates' websites a totally new booking platform through our new booking agent FareHarbor. Those of you that are Donor Members will notice a change in our calendar too. With this new partnership with FareHarbor we will also have a couple affiliate booking agents too around town like Wilderness Journeys/Pagosa Rafting Outfitters. Since most all of us are on the water and out of phone service guiding or personally fishing daily this will help with quicker, easier, better communication and ease of booking of you trips. With much more exposure through FareHarbor and our partners we should be able to book more Bronze level trips not only helping get out the SWCO Mission to more people but raise more funds towards completing more and more Mission Goals. Another awesome advantage of this new system is our credit cards processing fees have lowered to a 1/3 of what we were paying which in turn will only help us build a bigger budget for future charity projects, events, and Mission goals achievements. 
New Professional Anglers and Board members have been added this year and you can get a quick introduction to them our websites’ About Us pages. We’re super excited to have some new blood in the organizations with much more diverse backgrounds and experience bringing new ideas to the mix. We’ll be adding more photos and bios to the pages as time allows.
We have been working on acquiring some more new private and public waters and permits most all still in process will update accordingly. Did have a current landowner partner purchase another ranch that we’ll be adding to the Conservation Ranches / Waters for next year as well as possibly two other new additional ranches. We have also started the process of surveying & mapping/drawing plans for some stream habitat improvements & repairs hopefully completed by next Spring 2020. 

​Thank You, Tight Lines;

Joseph Eichelberger  
 
Founder, President of Sacred Waters Co
Professional Angler, Custom Fly Tyer/Designer
Freelance Outdoors Writer, Photographer, & Fisheries Consultant

VISIT OUR SITE
 
 We want to hear from you. Email us at admin@sacredwaters.co​ or
give us a call (970)444-2187 or (970)731-1443
and we’ll be in touch! Thank you for your interests & support of SWCO.

(* Sacred Waters CO, Inc. and Sacred Waters CO Foundation are Equal Opportunity Employers and Service Providers working through Special Use Permits from USDA San Juan National Forest Pagosa District and the State of Colorado. Licensed/Permitted, Bonded & Insured Outfitter in Colorado #OUT.0003217 * )