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hopperfisher

Colorado flooding

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I know that this should not be the first on my mind, and it's not but does anyone know what the implications on the fish population are this massive flooding we're having? Yes, I said we, I'm a CO resident and I'm in the midst of this devestation, I'm in Colorado Springs so it's not so bad for us but please know that our hearts and out prayers go out to those in Boulder and surrounding areas.

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It's too soon to say, but trout have a way of surviving these cataclysmic events. A few will be killed, of course, but many will have found a hidey-hole, and will ride it out. In general, the fish will recover a lot faster than the people will...

 

Our thoughts and prayers for those who were affected.

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I think the fish will thrive once the muddy water settles, some of the eastern states that flood the most seem to have some of the best fishing.i think the flooding is worse for people than the fish..this is purely thought.

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Living in Colorado all my life i have seen almost all of my favorite fishing places flood at one time or another. This flooding is a lot worse than i have seen before on some of the streams and rivers so i don't really know if what i am use to will be the same this year. Normally fish survive if the mud content isn't high enough to choke their gills and they avoid collisions with debris. BUT most of them get washed out of their home runs and if they get out of the main channel they will be stranded in pools that will dry-up and kill them...normally low O2 in the water kills trout before drying. This chaos means the fish may take weeks before finding and claiming new territory and going into normal feeding behavior...that means you have almost no chance of getting them to take your flies.

 

Right now i am just hoping that they get into cycle before it gets too cold and i can get a couple of days of good bites before Halloween.

 

The biggest loss is in the bugs hatching out that draw our fish out to play. I am fairly sure that the October caddis that should start hatching about now and give great days of fishing will be so depressed in numbers that it will be hard to get a good day. I don't really know since this is all new to me this year...Just sit and hope they can still hatch close to normal numbers. Please let me be wrong on all of this...i have been waiting since may for nice hatch days.

 

As a native Coloradoan i am hoping that all this destruction to the people side will finally make all the transplants see that these mountains are too dangerous for building and living in. I was raised to respect the powers that be in these mountains...knowing that NOTHING people do can eliminate (or even diminish) the dangers. But all these transplants act like there is something that is going to protect them and they decide to ignore the obvious. I am sorry that this has happened to them but i take the stand that if you play with fire you get burned and shouldn't expect anything else. Between the fires, the flooding, the wildlife and the weather 99% of those living up in the mountains these days have no business being there and maybe now most of them will start to see that. It is hard to feel sorry for them when i am facing higher insurance costs because they were dumb and i have to watch beautiful areas get destroyed by their building.

 

I spent Friday trying to rescue horses and alpacas but i refuse to risk my neck to save people who ignored all the signs that are out there. This is a large part of why i quit doing search and rescue here years ago...the flat landers just seemed to get dumber every year. Luckily about 10 years ago the state started requiring licenses and training before allowing people to guide others on fishing, hunting, and other guided tours. It was bad during the 80s when there were a lot of "guides" coming in from out of state and getting into a business that endangered those who had no idea what to expect and in truth the "guides" didn't know either...now maybe they will do something similar before allowing any more building and moving into these mountains...but i doubt it.

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Flooding is a natural occurence that happens whether people inhabit an area of a watershed or not. While severe enough flooding can affect population balance, and catastrophic flooding can even remove a species from an area, God knew what He was doing in creating them, and even during flooding the fish are steadily adapting as much as they can, and are looking for food where it can be found.

 

I remember a day of horrendous flooding on Neshannock Creek PA, I had gone up there without checking the conditions, and the water was several feet above normal, the worst in many years. I did what we always do; looked for the most appropriate circumstance to find fish. This time, amazingly, it was a small eddy next to a sluice which feeds a grist mill. In there, with a beadhead Pheasant tail nymph, I caught fish during the flood!

 

It's the people who need the most concern. I've got family out that way, and it's been very hard on them.

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Well the floods are bringing stranger stories. One couple has about 2-3 feet of mud and gravel in their yard after the water went down...while looking at the mess they noticed something odd. After picking it up it was a gold nugget about the size of a thumb nail. There have been a couple of others reporting finding gold in the mess and now people are talking about sifting it all...good luck if they get serious because there is more than any-one could believe to sift through.

 

This storm didn't have a silver lining...it went gold.

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Dr Vette, you are a little bit harsh in your first post. I actually feel much like you do about a lot of those building in the mountains, and when visiting my brother when he lived in Golden he talked about the stupidity of building expensive homes in areas that are just looking for a reason to wipe them out. Like you said, fires, mudslides, floods, storms, are all magnified when you build in some of the areas the wealthy have to showcase their prosperity. I'm also looking at last year's hike in my insurance and thinking about next years.

 

There are areas that building should just not be allowed, or waivers need to be signed that you accept the risks and will not use huge amounts of taxpayer money for rescue and relief. I do not apply this to those who have lived in their houses for many years in towns that always had minor risks but those who build where they are told it is foolhardy.

 

Another thing they talk about is that this is the 500-1000 year special occurrence. That's like stating that nature has a calendar for "special events". In 22 years with the state of MN on road design I can remember three "100 year floods" in the same area. There is not even a guarantee they can get a lot of things rebuilt before nature makes it call again. Some things are unpredictable, like path of a tornado, severity of a blizzard, hurricane tracks, but of all the natural disasters, fires and floods are among those are seasonal and regular and we should start to realize that someday. How many times will they rebuild in Thompson Canyon before someone realizes anything builta there with the exception of slabs and toilet bowls are only temporary.?

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On Thursday Evening, I was able to take some back roads up into Poudre canyon (CR69 from Red Feather Lakes). The drive is about 20 miles on a steep dirt road that has several washouts in it. It puts you in Poudre Canyon at Glen Echo (Above the areas where 14 is washed out). River looked good from there all the way up to Joe Wright. Running a bit higher than normal but water was clear to slightly stained. That stretch of river looks as though it'll be none worse for wear. I am interested to get down into the lower parts of Poudre Canyon to see how messed up it is gonna be in the lower stretches.

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