Blog — Colorado Trout Unlimited

Carp Slam - Presented by Denver Trout Unlimited

Carp Slam XVII is Saturday, September 16th, 2023

Denver Trout Unlimited’s Carp Slam fly fishing tournament helps restore the health and habitat of Denver South Platte River and supports its environmental education programs like Trout-in-the-Classroom and Meet-the-River team building events. It also helps fund its continued fight for pollution protections on the Denver South Platte.

It’s a fly fishing tournament where the finest professional and amateur anglers in the region (and beyond) match wits with the wily and elusive common carp. Carp are one of the most difficult freshwater fish to pursue on fly – meanwhile, the urban South Platte River running through downtown Denver is one of the finest carp fisheries in North America.

The purpose of the tournament is to raise money for the reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Urban South Platte River below Chatfield Reservoir and through Denver.

Brand new Golden Ghost Lager is coming August 12th from River North Brewery Join DTU for a Denver South Platte River Cleanup event at 11:30am and we’ll head to RiverNorth afterwards to enjoy a cold brew and lunch from Moya’s tacos. $1 of every pint sold benefits the DSP!

Troutfest Colorado 2023 Recap

3,000 attend Troutfest Colorado at Coors Field

2nd annual celebration of conservation, education, and fly fishing a major hit in Denver

Normally, we see conservation expos and fly fishing trade shows stuffed inside convention centers or large resort hotels. Exhibitors in confined boxes, bumping elbows with each other while attendees work through isles weaving their way from exhibitor to exhibitor. This isn’t a bad design by any means, as their targeted audience will go where the event is, but how do you get people to a conservation and fly fishing event if they know nothing about the topics? One idea is to offer it for free and have it at a major attraction in a large city with plenty of free parking and nearby public transit.

On Saturday, July 8th, 2023, Colorado Trout Unlimited held its annual Troutfest Colorado at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Approximately 3,000 people entered the ballpark throughout the day to roam the mezzanine level of the stadium and visit over 50 exhibitors, watch films on the giant scoreboard, receive casting instruction, view professional fly tyers, and interact with numerous youth activities. The venue attracted not only TU members and anglers, but also many families and people who simply saw a free event at Coors Field and wanted to learn more about Colorado Trout Unlimited.

By utilizing the Coors Field scoreboard and having a large 30-foot exhibit, the TU message was loud and clear. Conservation films and presentations throughout the day shared what TU does in Colorado and why it’s important to conserve and protect our water. The scoreboard showed TU films such as “Decades: 50 Years of Colorado Trout Unlimited”, “Romeo November”, and “Querencia: A Love of Place”. Half of the exhibitors were non-profits, sharing what they do with all attendees that passed. The other half of exhibitors included manufacturers and retailers. Troutfest Colorado even included a barber cutting hair and a local tattoo artist.

Fourteen fly tying professionals set up shop at another exhibit to show the public their craft. With an open and inviting layout, attendees mingled with tyers as they tied flies throughout the day.

A large focus of Troutfest Colorado is on youth and interactive exhibits. CTU’s ‘Kids Corral’ was a large space dedicated to TU programs such as a Macroinvertebrates Station, Build a Bug Station, Learn How to Handle Fish Station, and more. Kids and adults even got to handle live macroinvertebrates, see them under a microscope and tie a fly to “Match the Hatch”. In addition, there were interactive water tables where attendees could build streams and see how they interacted with the land around them.

The event also has three casting areas; one for instruction and presentations, one for youth, and the other to demo fly rod company products.

Other special events and attractions at Troutfest Colorado included a special message from Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a donation presentation from Ross Reels to Colorado Trout Unlimited based on its Native Series Reel Program, and a showing of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival on the Coors Field scoreboard that evening.

“In its second year, we really wanted to make Troutfest Colorado an engagement event.”, said David Nickum, Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director. “We focused on outside-the-box advertising, including radio and targeted digital ads. We feel successful that many attendees didn’t know what Trout Unlimited was and that our message was clear. We hope these people reach out to their local chapters and get involved in protecting Colorado’s rivers.”

Planning for Troutfest Colorado 2024 will begin this fall, visit coloradotu.org/troutfest for more information

Announcing the Native Series Giveaway!

Announcing the #NativeSeriesGiveaway‼️ To ring in the long awaited fishing season, we’ve collaborated for conservation. The sun is shining, the beer is cold, and the Native Trout are making a comeback! We’ve teamed up with eight other brands to offer one awesome prize package. One lucky winner will take home the "Grand Prize Package" worth over $3,000 worth of gear! Follow all brands on Instagram for extra entries!

One lucky winner will receive a Ross Reels Colorado Cutthroat 4/5 Reel $495.00, Airflo Fishing Line of your choice $99.00-$129.00, One-year Trout Unlimited membership card & annual subscription to TROUT Magazine $35.00, Troutfest Hat, T-Shirt and stickers $100.00, Colorado Native Beer for a Year $500.00, Riversmith rack: Choice of Standard River Quiver, ShortCut River Quiver, or Swiftcast Rod Holder $479.00, $300.00 Flylords Merchandise Gift Card, Free day of fishing for winner and friend on a Rare Waters exclusive property of their choice $400, 2 pairs of Ombraz sunglasses $320.00, Sea Run Case of your choice $679.00.



Ross Reels Donates $31,125 to Colorado Trout Unlimited

Ross Reels, a leading manufacturer of fly fishing equipment and subsidiary of Mayfly Outdoors, proudly donated $31,125 to Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Poudre Headwaters Project as part of its Native Series Reel campaign. The presentation took place Saturday, July 8th at Colorado Trout Unlimited’s Troutfest Colorado event, hosted at Coors Field. The donation is just the first portion of a total giveback of $37,125 once all of the reels have been sold.

The Native Series campaign is a partnership between Ross Reels and Colorado Trout Unlimited with the intent to raise money for native fish species conservation through the sale of reels inspired by the specific species identified. 

The Greenback cutthroat trout was the first native species identified for the first reel and conservation project and is also the state fish of Colorado. The reel, called the Greenback Cutthroat Reel is a limited edition 2/3 size reel with only 495 units made, with $75 from every reel sold going to the Poudre Headwaters Project and Colorado Trout Unlimited.

The Poudre Headwaters Project is a conservation project specifically focused on restoring native Greenback trout habitat over the course of approximately 40 miles of connected river and lakes along the Cache la Poudre River all the way up to Long Draw Reservoir.

With the success of the Greenback Reel, Ross Reels also announced the release of the second reel in the series - the Colorado Cutthroat Reel. This special edition reel will again be limited to 495 reels with $75 from every reel sold going to Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Clear Fork East Muddy Creek project focused on Colorado River cutthroat trout habitat restoration.

David Nickum, Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director, shared his thoughts on the partnership saying, “Native trout have a great friend in Mayfly Outdoors and Ross Reels. The Greenback cutthroat reel has been a great success and is providing vital support to restoration efforts in the Poudre headwaters.  Now as Ross Reels continues the native series to celebrate the Colorado River Cutthroat trout and contribute to its conservation, we look forward to partnering with them on other projects in western Colorado and Utah to help secure a future for the native trout of Mayfly’s own home waters.”

Jeff Patterson, Mayfly Outdoors and Ross Reels Director of Sales, also commented, “This has been such a great "everybody wins" collaboration with Colorado Trout Unlimited.  Our Ross dealers really stepped up their support as well promoting this project through their shops with the Greenback Cutthroat being the ultimate beneficiary through the combined efforts.  Our shared customers also received a pretty cool looking reel in return for their contributions.  We love doing this kind of stuff, and look forward to more of it in the near future.”




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Take Action – Protect Colorado Wetlands and Headwaters

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On May 25th, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Sackett vs. EPA that sharply reduced Clean Water Act protections for wetlands that are vital to healthy and functioning watersheds. While not directly addressed, the decision also appears to put streams that don’t have year-round flow at risk of losing Clean Water Act protection as well.  Those ephemeral and intermittent streams represent a majority of Colorado’s waterways and are the sources that feed our larger rivers that support fisheries, as well as providing drinking water to our communities and supplies for agriculture. If we fail to protect water quality at its source, we cannot protect it downstream.

With federal protection for most of Colorado’s waterways jeopardized under the Court’s decision, we need the State to step up and ensure our waters remain protected. Please take a moment to ask Governor Jared Polis to ensure that the State takes on this responsibility so that state water quality protections are applied to keep our headwater streams and wetlands intact. With a strong State-level program, Colorado can continue to protect the high-quality water that we need for our fisheries, our communities, and our working landscapes.