Photo: Corey Kruitbosch

The Greenbacks of Trout Unlimited are excited to announce the 2nd Surface Film event showcasing top professional fly-fishing photography across the country at the Anthology Fine Art gallery (635 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204) on Thursday February 2nd, 2012. Similar to last year’s event, framed prints will be available through a silent auction to benefit Trout Unlimited.

This will be an exclusive preview event, and the gallery will be open to the public February 3rd and through the month of February.

New this year, the show attendees will vote for ‘best-in-show’ honors. The winning photographer will receive the National Trout Unlimited Professional Photo of the Year, a cash prize, and will be prominently featured in a future issue of Trout Magazine. In addition, a second place finisher will also receive a cash prize.

Please join us on February 2nd, 2012 from 7pm to 11pm to enjoy our industry’s best photography work, as well as live music and drinks. All ages welcome.

For more information, please visit http://thegreenbacks.org or http://anthologyfineart.com

The Greenbacks seek to promote native fish and their habitat through the engagement and recruitment of the next generation of Trout Unlimited members.

Photos from last year’s Surface Film event:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

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And that’s not all. Come see one of the best documentaries ever made by Felt Soul Media – Red Gold. For those of you that have seen it, it’s even better on a big screen (trust me). There will also be a panel from people directly involved in the fight to protect the people who have voted this project down – even though large mining companies continue to seek approval from government agencies to proceed – even after they said they would listen to the people.

Come out and show your support, learn about the proposed Pebble Mine, or to just enjoy a good time with friends.

Please RSVP through the following link. Get your name on the list now, as we’re expecting a large crowd!

Denver, Colorado
Oriental Theater
4335 West 44th Avenue
Denver, CO 80212
Free Admission

Hope to see you there!

If you haven’t heard by now, The Greenbacks group from Colorado Trout Unlimited has a great event planned for this Thursday at the Oriental Theater. I’m a part of this group, and I’m happy to say that we’re looking at a large crowd of eager anglers. This film (not released until November) has sparked a lot of interest at other premiers around the country. We have a great list of sponsors for the event, plus there’s a large raffle during the intermission that includes products from Orvis, Montana Fly Company, fishpond, Redington, Costa, and more.

Let me know if you’re going to be there – come by and say hello. Or, you can just heckle me while on stage.

Here are the details:

OCTOBER 20TH, 2011 DOORS OPEN AT 6:00PM THE FILM STARTS AT 7:00PM

AT: THE ORIENTAL THEATER

BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE HERE

Just a few of our raffle items

See you there!

Cardboard Kirk after traveling to Denver - have a soda!

It’s what legends are made of – traveling the world in search of getting that fishing fix. Unfortunately, the Cardboard Kirk (aka Cardboard Unaccomplished Angler) reached me at a time of record runoff in Colorado. What could I do? I really wanted to put a fat brown in his cardboard lap, but with lame bank fishing and the risks of flooding, we just couldn’t make it happen. So, Kirk and I headed up to Vail this past weekend for a fun day at the Teva Mountain Games.

While they wouldn’t let Kirk enter the 2x Fly-Fishing competition, we got a front row seat to enjoy it. Sorry, Kirk, I had to turn you around for moment to take a shot.

We wondered around all day seeing the dog jump, mud race, bouldering, and kayak competitions. We even ran into a few famous faces who wanted a picture with you.

Hilary and Amy from Outside Media

Also, the 2x Fly-fishing finalist, Kara Armano!

Kara Armano from Backbone Media

Thanks again to Rebecca Garlock of the Outdooress and Outdoor Blogger Network for creating Kirk and sending him to Denver.

Where do you want Kirk to go next? Comment below and we’ll try to make it happen!

Other great posts on Cardboard Kirk’s travels:

Fly Fishing With a River Damsel and a Cardboard Kirk

Cardboard Kirk Retains Unaccomplished Title!

Photo Courtesy of Trout Unlimited

As most of you know, there’s quite the issue in Colorado surrounding Denver Water’s and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District’s plan to divert more water to the eastern plane. This would further the threat to the already depleted ecosystem including insects and the trout that feed on them – but don’t stop there.

As Governor John Hickenlooper met with Western Slope water leaders last week, some interesting statements were made, as noted by Heather McGregor from the Vail Daily:

Hickenlooper, the former mayor of Denver, said he has received calls from Denver residents with large lawns who complain that conservation efforts by Denver Water have forced their water bills up by thousands of dollars a year.

“They’re irate, and they tell me Denver has the senior water rights and ask why they have to cut their use,” Hickenlooper said.

“My response is that legally, it is Denver’s water, but it’s Colorado’s water, too. You know, what makes Denver special and unique is because it’s in Colorado. And part of what makes Denver ‘Denver’ is the Western Slope economy — its ski resorts, the ranches and fruit orchards — and the Eastern Plains,” the governor said.

My first response is – People are “Irate” about watering their lawn? Are you kidding me? Why did you live in Colorado in the first place? If it’s about your lawn, I can show you many other states where you can move to. No, we live in Colorado because of its bueaty, its wildlife, and especially its mountains being an all year playground.

Scott Willoughby wrote about an interview with Jeff Elhert on the health of the Colorado and Fraiser rivers in the Denver Post:

The operative qualifier there is the word “should.” To hear Fraser fishing guide Jeff Ehlert tell it, the key food source once prevalent throughout the entire upper river corridor won’t be found in his neighborhood this year. The disappearance of the giant bugs is disturbing on many levels.

“We do a lot of guiding on the Fraser and Colorado rivers, and even before this we’ve lost a lot of insects. The green drakes on the Fraser are completely gone, a whole insect class that’s just disappeared,” said Ehlert, owner of Winter Park Fly Fisher and a 20-year guide with Grand County Fishing Company. “The other one was the salmonfly hatch on the Colorado. We still have them below Kremmling. But we used to get them on the river above Kremmling and now they are completely gone.”