SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME! It’s finally here! Summertime!

Sacred Waters CO., Inc. & Charity Foundation- July 25th 2019 CARE & Fishing Reports, and much more...

C.A.R.E. Report & Other need to knows  
Conservation
Advocacy
Rehabilitation
Education 
It’s finally here! Summertime!
Hadn’t it been a strange year so far? With extremely high snowpack in the San Juan Mountains in 2019 we have been experiencing significantly higher water flows for much longer this Summer so far. We had a fantastic float/boating season extended way longer than usual on the San Juan river “proper” by over three weeks longer than average. With a delay in our normal/average Monsoon Season everything has just now start its usual quick fall to slightly above average flows. This started to make wade fishing and dry fly fishing easier, safer, and more productive daily.
At present we are just now starting to see Monsoonal systems building up more daily and getting even more boosts in flows just as it had started it drastic fall, this is Awesome… Though some fisheries are a little different than you may be used to this time of year, this is extremely beneficial to our waterways & their fishes. I will always take more water than no water. Don’t be too discouraged though fishing is excellent, best we’ve seen in years… Nymphing and streamer fishing has produced the most and largest fish as usual, only difference lately is if technique and fly selection are correct the quantity and quality of fishes are even better then what you may be used to around here. Dry fly fishing is improving daily as the flows continue to drop, clear, & warm.

​Fishing Report:
This has been a fantastic float trip season. We had been booked up solid on floats most everyday the conditions allowed since our last newsletter. Nymphing & streamer fishing had been the best techniques in the high flows. Some hatches and surface activity but a little slow on an actual good dry fly bite, but for the diehard dry fly purest its possible to get some fish on dries in Mesa Canyon on the San Juan "proper". Got a lot of younger kids on their 1st ever floats, some their 1st fly fishing trip, and some their 1st trout, so much Fun.  With a ramp up of Monsoonal Storms the San Juan is staying at floatable levels. Now we are almost a month longer than average float season and maybe even longer. With isolated thunderstorms dumping mass amounts of rain some days in particular areas the river has muddied up at times. We can't promise perfect conditions or even fishable conditions with these recent & future storms but if conditions allow you can float Mesa Canyon/Bass Ranch on the San Juan river "proper" in Pagosa Springs still. For over a Month past normal and getting into starting a whole other month of floatable flows...

​Insect Activity/Hatches: 
Complete opposite of 2018 this year we have insect hatches/activity extending longer throughout the area. Last year 2018 we had most of our hatches done & over with pretty much by the 1st week of July all condensed into May & June before the normal busy fishing season/time. This season 2019 we are seeing hatches extent well past normal some 7-8wks past average. Literally saw Salmonflies every day, everywhere till just the last few days. Now with some added warmth to the water with hot, dry, sunny days and delayed Monsoons we are seeing even more hatches depending on location still some salmonflies around up high but finally about done. Now seeing more & more average Summer hatches, PMD/PED’s most everywhere, yellow sallies & golden stoneflies just starting, Caddis hatches slightly lesser than usual but happening, Green Drake populations aren’t as good on the west side as the east side, but we are getting drake hatches especially lately as the Monsoons roll in in the afternoon as it clouds up the Drakes come out. Not 100% sure on how the Hopper Season will be this summer, I have just now started seeing some grasshoppers this past week, no major numbers yet. In my experience though generally wetter years as this one grasshopper populations tend to be lower. Other terrestrial insects are flourishing this year with all the moisture & healthy vegetation now too with the Monsoons starting daily winds and rains continually feed these insects into the waters off of the terrestrial enviros. Tons of above average populations on ants, beetles, moths, flies, gnats, & mosquitoes around this year everywhere. And on that note be prepared with Insect repellent, netting, proper clothing because the biting insects’ mosquitoes, no-see-ems, gnats, deer flies, & horseflies are way worse for way longer around here so far this Summer.

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We been getting in some more guided wade trips with good conditions and excellent fishing the last few weeks, finally. Even got some 1/2days of personal fishing too lately. Oddly enough Salmonflies were just starting to fade away for the season but in some areas 2+ months later than normal for those waters. Got some good salmonfly dry fly fishing in as the waters dropped, warmed, & cleared since my last report. In turn much more caddis, PMD/PED’s, green drakes, yellow sallies, golden stones and midges hatching now. Dry fly and nymph fishing are both producing, with dry fly fishing improving daily with more insect activity, calmer, warmer, clearer waters. It's transitioning into Dry Fly Season! ​

Weather & Water Report:
What to expect here…
With Monsoon Season now in full swing first expect to get rained on most days. Be prepared with rain gear and quickest/easiest exit routes/strategy in mind. Mornings are the best weather & water conditions this time of year with Monsoons building and producing by the afternoon. We hope with this being a wetter cooler pattern and still having decent amounts of snow in the high country that water flows will remind full & cool all Summer. We were still able to do float trips on the San Juan River “proper” and with some added boosts of water from Monsoons it may last even longer we’ll see.

Flows are getting about perfect at present for wade fishing, yes higher than you are used to but full, cool, good insect activity, and much easier fishing than usual stealth mode summer conditions. Once you adjust & improve your techniques as per the conditions you see how easy and how good the fishing really is in these conditions.  For example my favorite flows for around here and relates to other streams that may not have streamflow gauges/monitoring is 300-600 CFS on the San Juan River “proper” which at present has held at mid-300’s-600 cfs the last two weeks and the Piedra River system I prefer 175cfs-275cfs with the last 2 wks. holding between 300cfs- low 200’s cfs. Navajo & Blanco River drainages, my preferred flows 100-200cfs with both getting to these exact flows this week. This in turn reflects on all the smaller tributary streams that feed our larger rivers. Most of you rarely seen these flows or experience the fantastic fishing opportunities we have at these flows most years by now. But as many of you have probably heard me say time and again late-July through mid-Sept. is the worst fishing in this area and over the years, I have been fortunate enough to condition many of people to adjust their fishing trips to the best times. But this year is different for sure (what it used to be many moons ago) where unless something super abnormal happens an excellent rebirth of our fisheries and the very best Summer fishing season in a long time. For example these snowpacks, water flows/reserves are recalculated every 20-30 yrs. depending on area & monitoring agency within most of our lifetimes this average has fallen in most of the western by 1/3 to ½ of what is was in the past records as to has our total global temperatures has risen every year. So, all & all this is the real/old normal, this is the environment and fisheries of back in my day, the great grandpa stories, the good ole days. Water is Life! If weather patterns & history repeats itself, we should see a few more of these snow/water years with then a level/stable period closer to new average, then possibly another drop off towards drought this may take 12-18 years to cycle through again.

Click Links below for two week weather forecast & climate outlook:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/
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https://www.nws.noaa.gov/wtf/MapClick.php?CityName=Pagosa+Springs&state=CO&site=GJT&textField1=37.24&textField2=-107.03&e=0&lg=ep

Recent observations &/or concerns:

With the large push of water this year you will notice many streams have changed. New stream channels old pools gone, new pools created, and the like. Most recently we had noticed much better fish numbers in the original stream bed/pools and more fish shifting around within the last week more into the newly created habitat as the flows are slowly dropping &/or more stable in some drainages.

Cutthroats are Spawning! Being a colder later start of Summer especially in the high country there are still plenty of cutthroats spawning lately. Please Mind the Redd and leave these fish be to do their thing and help repopulate our fisheries. (Information on how to identify & avoid spawning fishes mentioned in all past newsletters, blogs, & social media posts for last 10 yrs. for reference.)

Brown Trout Flourished! As the Drought of 2018 came to an end in the end of Sept.2018 with heavy rains and snow through the entire Fall and Winter our brown trout spawn was more successful than some years. Many of mixed species fisheries are showing higher populations of browns especially smaller/younger fish then the other trout species. Hypothesizes Brown trout do much better in warm water then other trout species with last years drought killing off some numbers of other species and full cool waters in the Fall and winter when Browns spawn gave these fish an advantage of more successful spawn and fry survival. The lack of the Fed or State restricting much fishing here locally and lack of most outfitters and anglers not restricting their guiding or fishing also may have drastically affected/hurt the rainbow, brookie, and Cutt population worse especially in our lower elevation waters than the hardier Brown trout. Some recent observations are showing this to be the case on our more easily accessible, more heavily fished/guided waters public or private as we fished/guided some of these areas at Ice out and recently as run-off has settled down more. But in those very few secret places left, the private lands managed by SWCO, it has been business as usual. No obvious signs of population loss no major dominant species changing, nothing much on the negative side at all, other than some relearning of some changes to the habitat and how to properly fish this new habitat. Which I know personally and some anglers & guides I associate with find it to be exciting change of pace and new learning curve keeping us on our toes.

On that note public waters especially at lower elevation have lower populations of trout at present than normal. Not all is lost, still good enough numbers just less than normal and with good water flows and cool water fish are migrating around and reestablishing in these areas. With good spawning of browns and brookies last year and most likely this year too, as well as rainbows and cutthroats having a good Spring & Summer so far this year wild trout numbers should only increase the next few years.

Concerns:
#1.) Waterways have changed, some ignorant people may not understand or like it… With a lot of private waters that have had poorly designed &/or even illegal stream habitat work done on them over the years this year’s run-off changed, rerouted/rechanneled streams. Concern some of these people wanting to “Fix” their sections of streams, get their favorite pool back.
Concern heavy equipment in our waters, and when!
With a good head of water this year we had some slightly better than and longer periods of insect hatches, repopulating the aquatic insect populations which had suffered because of all the stream work done around here way too often, improperly, or illegal over the last 10-15 years.

• Can’t remove and run over/crush the substrate of the river and its insect to build a manmade pool and expect fish to relate to a nice pool that lack insect (FOOD).
• Disturb and distribution of sediment by equipment in the streams. As work is being done generally at the lowest water of the year the sediment that flows and settles downstream into what was perfect habitats or areas for our different insects that are established there changes their optimal habitat needs. Can suffocate some species, bury some that aren’t equipped as burrowers to dig out to hatch and so forth. Same with the fishes/trout, lower flows, more turbidity, in turn can suffocate fishes, lower flows & murkier water can heat up faster to dangerous temperatures.
• Spawning fishes same goes with the eggs and fry of currently or post spawning fishes as in examples A & B.  As well as need spawning habitat, fishes and their eggs & fry need specific conditions & habitat to successfully reproduce this is Not large deep pools but shallow gravel bars, tail outs of pools, side channels & tributaries. So yeah to the anglers consistent pool to pool ratio is easier fishing, less walking or work, but not always the best for the overall health of the fishery as a whole.

#2.) Planting/stocking of full sized domestic/hatchery fishes believing to be helpful to fish populations.
Wrong, yes proper species and fingerling size at the right time & location can adapt more and be fairly wild as they grow, more apt to survive once full grown and better possibly of spawning.
Many fully-grown fishes, especially if it’s too many for allowable capacity of a fishery it is way more harmful than helpful. I refer to it as a snake eating its own tail…
Why?

• 1st. A full-grown catchable size fish is older &/or overfed.

As a fish is raised in captivity, their DNA genomes literally start to change with 1 year. Their survival/wild animal instincts start to fade as time goes by, spawning success diminishes, and aggression levels rise.

• 2nd Hatchery raised trout are more aggressive! As they are raised in tight quarters fed pellets, they must feed more aggressively to compete with all the hundreds to thousands of other fishes in the trough or pond just to get a bite to eat. When placed in a wild trout fishery they will tend to out compete the wild / native fishes and with the wild fishes having survival instincts many will just leave to find areas with less competition, more food and/or to just survive more peacefully. In turn if this location that had been stocked with hatchery fish is your private fishing area you pushed out the wild & native fishes to other areas as for public waters or possibly private waters that aren’t properly managed or regulated and those true survivors, the truly wild parents of the optimal species/sub-species for the particular habitat/fishery may just get killed by other anglers and never reproduce, never return to their favorite home waters, of your property, etc..

Some people see aggression as a positive and yeah it can make fishing way easier at times, but this also relates to lack of fear response to not avoid predators, anglers, and even eat items that are not even food or digestible. Plus, it’s just Not Real Fishing!

• 3rd. As Seasons and water conditions change these domestic fishes may not have the survival instincts to adapt properly to changing conditions. We have a drought and they don’t know to migrate to deep pools, cooler headwaters or springs, and the like get trapped and die. Same goes for Winter or Run-off, wild born fishes or even planted small young fishes that grew up in a waterway know where to go as per the conditions. Many of you may have heard me over the years speaking of Wintering Pools, Summer runs/pockets, Sanctuary waters and such.
• 4th. Spawning/reproduction. Many hatchery fishes lose the ability to successful spawn especially the longer they are domesticated. Some are purposely sterile. Some hatcheries only sell just females, or just males. Some are just so totally inbred, crossbred, just plain old genetically inferior all around. This to if some do successfully bred/spawn with existing native/wild fishes it is watering down the gene pool and passing on inferior traits and genetics throughout the fishery.
• 5th. Diseases! Like most closely contained, overly dirty, feed strange unnatural or contaminated food, domesticated animals tend to be more apt to catching and transferring diseases. Good example 2 of our 4 hatcheries have been shut down out of business over the years because of outbreaks of diseases, parasites, etc… Like Whirling Disease! This is highly monitored and regulated but not 100% effective that it can’t be spread through our fisheries by total accident.

So put all these factors together and you have a Never-Ending Cycle of buying and stocking inferior fishes year after year. As this cycle continues throughout time the recovery on the fishery will only take longer and longer if you want to try to be self-sustaining and wild ever again. And the odds of something like disease, overpopulation of 1 sex or another, lack of successful spawning, the list goes on and on… A Snake Eating its own tail……

I'll leave this with the last example that has been understood by most people after I came up with it.

If I gave you your perfect dream home worth millions of dollars, most beautiful perfect place you could ever dream of, whatever you want.
Except in this deal, you aren’t allowed to buy, grow, or kill food to eat. Not able to have sex, reproduce grow your family.
Then to make it worse every so often a large group of strange, crazy, hyper, hungry teenage boys get thrown in the house with you just total mayhem.
How long would/could you want to live there, if you weren’t allowed to leave how long you survive or what legacy would be left?
The majority answer is “Not very long…” & “None”!
Same goes with the fishes & insects… In improper stream work and stocking of hatchery fishes.

Things around here are only getting better daily, fishing is productive, and we thank you all for your support making this all possible.

We have some limited availability for a few high-level Donor Members left just a couple of each level. Plenty of Bronze Level day trips available for you to learn more about Pagosa Springs, experience our local waters with the most experienced Professional Anglers around, and learn more about Scared Waters CO, Inc. & Foundation.

We are getting booked up on Guided trips and everything is fishing better daily. Please keep a look out for more reports via this newsletter & blog posts. As always, follow us on Facebook & Instagram for the most up to date information posted almost every day. Thanks, Enjoy!

Charity Events on the Books so far for 2019:
At present we have 3 Veterans Charity Fishing Events already on schedule for 2019.
 
The Dark Horse Group, 5-6 Combat Marines who were the frontline in Fallujah, Iraq. These Marines are from all over the country. It is scheduled for Sept. 5th -9th 2019. **(With this group, any volunteers or donations, housing options, cooking/food, or money to help with travel expenses would be greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to contact me to discuss details, make donations, or to volunteer. Thank You!) **
 
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Group of Fort Hood, TX. 6 Veterans Scheduled for Sept. 18th -23rd, 2019. (PHWFF is a national nonprofit group we have worked with for 5-6 yrs.). Prior to and after starting SWCO we hosted chapters from Dallas, Ft. Hood, & Colorado Springs over the years. *(Of course, any volunteers and/or donations are welcome and appreciated. Housing is already booked, but monetary, fishing gear, and/or food/cooks always welcome and helpful.) *
 
Patriot Anglers of N. TX & S. OK. 6-8 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 already 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:
 
​Interested in fly fishing Sacred Waters Co or fishing in the Pagosa Springs area all while Helping the Environment, Disabled Peoples, Veterans and Youth. Check out Sacred Waters CO, Inc. & Sacred Waters CO Charity Foundation. Donate, Join, receive Tax-Deductions, Free Gifts, and/Guided Fly-Fishing Trips on awesome waters with some of the best, most experienced Professional Anglers as your guides.
 
For New/1st Time 2018 or 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.
​
Thank You past & present Donors & Donor Fishing Members for making this all possible for the last 3 years…
 
Discounted Rates for the late start of 2019:
Rates for New Donor Levels for 2019:
 
Bronze Level #1: (Private Waters/Lands & Floats) Was $150.00. Now Only: $100.00 tax-deductible donation once annually to SWCO Foundation, Applicable Guide Fees Apply and less (-) $25.00 on total Guide Fee on Bronze Level Donor Trips for all your trips in 2019 up to December 31st of 2019.
 
*(An Additional Discount -20% Off All Bronze Level Fees for Active Duty & Honorably Discharged US Military Members & Veterans with Military I.D. &/or DD-214 form.) *
 
Bronze Level #2: (Public Waters/Lands): Any donation amount of $25.00 or more tax-deductible donation once annually to SWCO Foundation and standard fair market Guide Trip fees per day/trip.
 
*(An Additional Discount -15% Off All Bronze Level #2 Fees for Active Duty & Honorably Discharged US Military Members & Veterans with Military I.D. &/or DD-214 form.) *

Silver Level: Was $3500.00. Now Only: $3400.00, Less (-) $25.00 off for Guest Guide Fees for all trips in 2019. $2040.00 tax-deductible donation to SWCO Charity Foundation and $1360.00 Private Conservation Fly-fishing Club Membership fee to SWCO, Inc.
 
Gold Level: Was $5500.00. Now Only: $5200.00, Less (-) $25.00 off for Guest/s Guide Fees per person per trip for all Trips in 2019. $3120.00 tax-deductible donation to SWCO Charity Foundation and $2080.00 Private Conservation Fly-fishing Club Membership fee to SWCO, Inc.
 
Platinum/Corporate Level: Was $10,000.00. Now Only: $9500.00. Less (-) $25.00 off for Guest/s Guide Fees per person per trip for all of 2019. $5700.00 tax-deductible donation to SWCO Charity Foundation and $3800.00 Private Conservation Fly-fishing Club Membership fee to SWCO, Inc.
 
*(An Additional Discount -10% Off All Silver, Gold, & Platinum Level Fees for Active Duty & Honorably Discharged US Military Members & Veterans with Military I.D. &/or DD-214 form.) *
 
For more Details or to become a Donor Fishing Member please review SWCO Donor Contract, Rules, Regulations, and Procedures Booklet by Clicking this link or visiting our Join Us / Donate Pages.
 
*Please keep in mind if you do donate in 2019 this will also be your membership renewal level for up to 3 years if you consecutively renewed annually. *
 
(*After January 1st of 2020 all Donor Member Level Packages will go back up to Original Pricing, Guest/s Fees will also return to original pricing, and all level prices are subject to increase as we expand through the future. *)
 
Please​ review the FB & IG Social Media Pages and our Websites. I hope it can help show you all more easily and clearly the Efforts and Accomplishments SWCO has put forth with you and other donors’ generous donations. These Social Media Pages are updated with the most up to date need to information almost daily.
 
 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.
 
 
Thank You, Tight Lines;
 
Joseph Eichelberger  
 
Founder, President of Sacred Waters Co
Professional Angler, Custom Fly Tyer/Designer
Freelance Outdoors Writer, Photographer, & Fisheries Consultant
 
Contact Us:
​http://www.sacredwaters.co
http://www.sacred-waters.org
 
(970)-444-2187
(970)731-1443
 
Sacred Waters CO, Inc.
135 Country Center Dr F 166
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
 
joe@sacredwaters.co
Sacred Waters CO Facebook
Sacred Waters CO Instagram
 
(*Sacred Waters CO, Inc. 501(c)7 and Sacred Waters CO Foundation 501(c)3 Tax-Exempt Non-Profit Organizations 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 *)