Duranglers Flies and Supplies: Supporting Conservation and the Fly-fishing Community for 36+ years.
In February of 1984, the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, led by Neill Peterson, John Flick and David Wilson, was certified as Chapter number 451 of Trout Unlimited. Among the founding members were Flick, Jim Herrig, Byron Hilliard and Tom Knopick.
The chapter was established only a couple of months after the founding of Duranglers Flies and Supplies by Flick and Knopick. John and Tom both recognized the intrinsic relationship between the business they planned to grow and the need for active conservation of the incredible cold-water fisheries to which they called home.
Pictured: Tom Knopick
This commitment by John and Tom and Duranglers has been carried forward, often with fierce dedication, to our present time and will carry on for the future. But, let’s go back and remember some of the past conservation efforts that Duranglers has helped advance.
Hermosa Creek, which is currently undergoing reintroduction of native Cutthroat to 23+ miles of East Fork and Mainstem, was an early focus of habitat improvement by Five Rivers TU and John, Tom and Jim Herrig. Most of this work was done on the reach above Hotel Draw. In addition, log structures were introduced on the East Fork for habitat development in the area of Hermosa Park.
The headwaters of the East Fork of Lime Creek also benefitted from habitat improvement undertaken by the Chapter.
Pictured: John Flick
One of the Rivers precious to John and Tom is the Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir, locally known as the “Lower D”. This tail water was created in 1984 when the Dam was completed. The result was a fabulous cold-water fishery that was stocked with Snake River Cutthroat Trout as well as rainbows and browns. The combination of (formerly) abundant cold water and great water quality allowed the bug life and fish to thrive. It was not uncommon to catch trout upward of 20” and 4 – 5 lbs. Needless to say this was the subject of many guided trips by Duranglers, video programs such as the Fishing The West TV show with Larry Shoenborn Guided by Tom Knopick and relentless attention to the conservation of the resource by the crew at Duranglers.
Then in 1990 the area began to endure a series of drier years. When McPhee was created an Environmental Assessment was undertaken, one of the first such assessments in the West. While the EAS called for releases of 70, 58 or 20 cfs, depending on the reservoir level to maintain the quality of the coldwater fishery, the fishing community felt these flows to be inadequate. This became abundantly clear when in just a few short years of 20 cfs releases most of the fish, particularly the healthy adults, died due to low water and heat stress. The golden age of the “Lower D” came to an end.
But not without Tom and John, personally leading the push for more water for the fishery. In subsequent years, they have been at the forefront of efforts to find water for the fishery and have been partners with Colorado Parks and Wildlife in helping to establish greater release of water for the fishery.
In the early 1990’s, Chapter leadership was taken over by Jay Engel and others. Jay had been a leader in the fly fishing community for years on the West Coast and was a tireless advocate for cold-water conservation, eventually being recognized with the Silver Trout Award. In the middle 90’s Jay passed away unexpectedly and was soon followed by the Chapter’s Treasurer. This left the Chapter leaderless and it went dormant for a couple of years.
In Spring 1999 a group from Duranglers led by John, Tom and Nate Bronson gathered a group together in the upstairs of Gazpachos, a local New Mexican restaurant, with the intent of reviving the Five Rivers Chapter. And, resurrect it they did, with John and Tom helping behind the scenes with fund raising and tolerating the occasional minor disruption from one of their part time employees, who had assumed the reins of the Chapter.
To this day in 2020, we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to John and Tom for their support and dedication to conservation of our cold-water fisheries, particularly in southwest Colorado. This was evident in 2018 when CTU recognized Duranglers Flies and Supplies as Outfitter of the Year at its Rendezvous in Glenwood Springs, just one year after recognizing the Five Rivers Chapter they helped establish and revive as Exemplary Chapter in 2017.
So let us raise a glass of whatever beverage is preferred and toast Duranglers and John and Tom for their past and future support of all of TU’s conservation efforts. To check in on what is happening fishing wise in Southwest Colorado or to just say hi you can reach them and Duranglers Flies and Supplies at 970-385-4081 or www.duranglers.com.
Tight Lines,
Buck Skillen, Past President, Five Rivers Chapter TU
Profiles in Conservation is a new blog series sharing the stories of important long-term leaders in Colorado’s fly fishing and conservation community. If you would like to share a story or nominate a flyfishing leader for this series, please contact us at info@coloradotu.org.
