Here is a report from our brother fellowship in Colorado – FITR (pronouned Fighter since Greg is an ex-fighter pilot) which stands for Flyfishing In The Rockies). Greg, as many of you know, is a Captain for Southwest Airlines and with the coronavirus going on is finding plenty of time to fish. Here is his report to us (if you are ever in Colorado to fish you MUST look up Greg – he knows the spots)

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written and I’m WAY overdue, so here goes…
I’ve just added a trip from yesterday to my fly fishing logbook (gift from my daughters a few years ago) and I’ve been out 10 times since my first outing of 2020 in February! This is definitely not a race to see who fishes most, or who has the biggest catch (…not sure about this one…), nor will this cover every trip I’ve made. But rather it’s to provide some hope and remind you there IS a place-of-refuge for you somewhere on a river nearby (or not so near) during this extended COVID crisis. With a little planning and armed with a mask (aka neck gaiter), you can really get out and enjoy God’s creation here on earth right now with it’s spectacular scenery, AND find some fish willing to challenge your skills and show off their amazing colors!
So far I’ve visited the S. Platte Deckers area (the usual suspects: Hole-In-The-Wall, Bridge Crossing, near Oxyoke), Clear Creek inlet and upstream from Georgetown Lake (prior to Clear Creek County restrictions currently in effect [unless you’re a Clear Creek resident, no-one can travel on county roads and use any recreation areas, fish, etc until mid June]), Spinney Mountain Reservoir, the Blue River in Silverthorne both below the dam and behind the outlets in town, and yesterday to Happy Meadows…a stretch of the S. Platte situated between 11-Mile Canyon and Cheeseman Reservoir. Every one of these outings have been very meaningful in their own ways… outings with Doug Kretzmann, Jason Kaalberg, Fr. Ted Dorrance, his son Anthony, George Maniatis, his buddy Joel, my daughter Alicia, and with Fr. Lou! As the outside air temperature has been warming, the fish have been cooperating seemingly more and more each time! The “learning curve” on where to go has been steep and frustrating at times. Understandably, with COVID going on, many fishermen and women have been getting out on the water daily, so stretches that are normally challenging on their own during the week (Deckers area), are experiencing weekend-like fishing nearly every day! Finicky fish are becoming downright stubborn because of all the pressure on them. Getting up and out early to beat the crowds (not normally needed here in CO), starting out with confidence flies and then switching out repeatedly to find the right solution (which might normally work) has been leading to one or two fish after a full day on the water. So the key, my friends, is in searching out and finding lesser-known waters to fish… I’ve been having some of my best success lately by doing just that.  There are many, many legitimate reasons that we need to get past the current crisis we’re experiencing and, tongue-in-cheek, this is one of the reasons on my (secondary) list.
Please guys, if you want to get out but aren’t sure how to do it safely, call me. Or if you need/want a buddy to go out there with you (highly recommended), find someone on this email list and give him a call. I’m willing to bet he’ll be extremely grateful you did!
So here’s a little pictorial to inspire you to still get out and enjoy the water, find some cooperative (and beautiful) fish, and enjoy some fellowship at a “socially acceptable” distance! Let’s face it…we need all 3!
P.S. Our Annual Men’s Retreat to Water Valley Ranch in Encampment, WY in August is still on (as far as I’ve been told), so be ready to sign up once we release the details and link.
Truly He is Risen!
Your Brother in Christ,
Greg – FITR Lead