I consider myself a conservationist; and I’m an avid Fly fisher. In my youth, (before the Fly-fishing bug struck me) my most favorite hobby was Placer Mining/Dredging. I did it for about 8 years, all over Northern California. It was a lot of very hard work. I never made much money at it; but that wasn’t the goal. It was a labor of hope. It was also the most fascinating education in trout behavior that I ever had. As someone with FIRST-HAND experience under the water with the nozzle in my hand, I can tell you that trout LOVED it. In fact, after a long day of unproductive dredging, I can remember taking off my wet suit and joking about a great day of ‘Feeding the Fish’. Let me explain…

 Once while dredging my way down to bedrock I had created about an eight foot deep hole. I was practically standing on my head, since I hadn’t taken the time to remove a larger area of material (rocks and sand) because I was in such a hurry to reach bedrock. I emerged from my hole to rest for a while and got quite a shock. There must have been 400 trout swimming around me! I had stirred up so much food for the fish that they were gorging themselves on hellgrammites and various larvas. I’d created my own hatch!

 No, I’m not a scientist; but neither are most of the people involved in this issue! Here is what I can tell you from personal experience. (We should be listening to people with experience, don’t you think?)

 While dredging, there are primarily three things that affect the fish in a positive way:

1. You are creating deep holes that trout will use as soon as you’ve gone, to keep them cool when water temperatures rise.
2. You are putting a lot of food into the water column.
3. The rocks that fall off the sluice box and back into the water (called tailing piles) are free of silt and provide great habitat for juvenile fish to escape predators.

 Furthermore, dredgers are not putting anything in the water that wasn’t there already. Yes, I’m referring to the law-abiding dredgers, the ones that don’t spill gasoline. In my opinion, there’s a hell of a lot more poachers and polluters than clumsy dredgers. As far as dirt goes – a good rain will dirty-up a river much more than dredging ever does.

 I know this issue at hand is about salmon and not trout. Obviously allowing dredging when eggs are present is not good for salmon (or any other fish species that you want to thrive). But that’s why there are laws, people! Yes – there are specific seasons for dredging. My opinion is:

• If those seasons need to be adjusted – do it!
• If certain critical habitat should be off limits – so be it.

 Our Salmon are more important that our hobbies.

 I’m just sick and tired of the assumption that many people make that ‘everything that humans do is evil and detrimental to the environment!’

 I realize I don’t have a PhD; but can we wait to pass judgment until more data exists? And when that data emerges, I hope it will be tempered with common-sense input from people representing ALL interests. How many times has the ‘popular science of the day’ proved to be a load of crap years down the road? Sadly our scientific community is full of corruption because of the way grant money is doled out. It has turned many scientists into whores – getting into whatever position you pay them to…

-John Carver

 The Conclave features more than 80 workshops and clinics on casting, fly tying, on-water fishing techniques and other topics taught by well-known instructors such as Bruce Richards, Lefty Kreh, and Bob Jacklin. The workshops are designed to appeal to a broad range of interests and skill levels. The fly fishing show features exhibits with the latest in gear, outfitters, conservation information and other related topics such as outdoor art and books.

 “This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in fly fishing,” said R.P. “Pete” Van Gytenbeek, CEO and president of FFF. “Conclave is the largest venue in the world where this many instructors come together to share their expertise and knowledge. No matter the skill or interest level, we have something for everyone in the family.”

During most of the 80’s, he spent the summers in Alaska and co-founded Crystal Creek Lodge. In 1989, he decided he’d had enough fun in Alaska and an opportunity to open a fly shop at Lees Ferry presented itself. Russell Sullivan, Wendy Hanvold and Terry Gunn decided to open Lees Ferry Anglers Guides and Fly Shop at Vermillion Cliffs Lodge. They leased a “sprawling” 300 square feet in an old gas station and proceeded to make a $15,000 opening order with Orvis (yes, they were originally an Orvis shop and Orvis endorsed outfitter). The day that the UPS truck arrived with their opening order the 3 of them were standing by with hand trucks to help unload the heavy boxes. The driver hopped out of the truck and carried 3 boxes which contained their entire opening order into the shop. They spread it out the best that they could over the 300 square feet and the shop still looked pretty empty.

Their first guide (besides Russell and Terry) was Bill Shultz. Jeff English joined the staff a year later. They opened their business during the largest fishing down-turn in the history of Lees Ferry (experimental flows of 1989-1991) and despite the down-turn they survived and grew the business. During the 90’s the fishing got better and in the process they became one of the largest retailers of fly fishing equipment in the southwestern US. Their guide service became one of the largest guide services in the country employing 14 full time fishing guides. They expanded their fleet of guide and rental boats to more than 20 boats and Ted Welling invented the ‘Bead Head Zebra Midge’ in their shop.

In 2000, Jeff English became a partner in the business. Jeff came from a real estate background and suggested that they needed to own real estate. A short time later Cliff Dwellers Lodge came up for sale. The lodge was run down and in desperate need of way too much work. It took them a while but they decided that this was the best move that they could make for the business. So they bought the lodge and went to work renovating it and moved the fly shop and all operations to Cliff Dwellers in June 2001. Their timing was great! The same year they moved in, the western US went into the worst drought in history and the Lees Ferry fishery began another decline that lasted for a few years. Once again they survived… Since then the fishing has experienced a dramatic improvement, they have done well in the lodging and restaurant business and their enterprise continues to grow.

Russell Sullivan retired from the business in 07 and is living the good life. Jeff English and Terry still guide full time. Wendy “Hanvold” Gunn, Terry’s wife of 13 years is general manager of Lees Ferry Anglers and Cliff Dwellers Lodge. They have a fly shop, guide service, rental boats, rental equipment, gas station, convenience store, restaurant-bar and hotel. Their staff (during our high season) usually exceeds 40 people and their are proud to work with each and every one of them. They recognize that it is because of them that they are where they are today. Terry states “I have never had so much fun in my entire life as I have had watching this business grow and it has been a great ride. On behalf of all the staff of Lees Ferry Anglers and Cliff Dwellers Lodge we want to THANK YOU, OUR CUSTOMERS, for making it possible for us to celebrate or 20 year anniversary”.

Note from the Editor:

Fishing at Lee’s Ferry has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life, let alone my fishing career. Fishing with Terry Gunn is an experience every dedicated Fly fisher should have before they die!

http://leesferry.com

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I was out with my friend Joe and we were investigating a small stream we’d heard of but hadn’t really explored very much. I was using a 3 wt rod and throwing a green foam hopper. I had just started investigating a fishy looking pool and had my hopper on the water ten feet out and to my left. There was a bush to my left and I wanted to lean way out and side arm a cast into the pool. I was shaking out more line, preparing for the cast when Joe (who was still climbing down the cliff we had to scale to get to the pool) yelled over the noise of a waterfall ‘there’s a big fish cruising your way!’ I leaned out and looked around the bush and saw a large trout cruising right toward me. I slowly moved my hopper directly into its path and it stopped, backed up, and looked at my hopper for a very painful two seconds – then slammed it!

The fight was on and my little 3 wt rod got quite a workout. I was rigged for the usual 6-12 inch trout we’d been catching all weekend. I remember a voice in my head screaming “don’t break off – please God let me land this fish”. Then I was suddenly aware of two things, I HAVE a camera – I DON’T HAVE a net! After a while, I handed the rod to Joe and said “it’s your turn to fight this fish”. I got down in the water on a little sandy ‘beach’ and Joe expertly guided the fish toward my outstretched hands. Four times it got within my reach – four times it exploded back out into the current. The fifth time was a charm, and I emerged from the water with the largest brown Trout I’d ever caught. Joe and I just looked at each other in shock. Joe snapped a picture…

The hook was firmly embedded in roof of its mouth and it took a while to remove it. This thing had some evil looking teeth. I got it back down to the water and placed it in some gentle current. But it wouldn’t move and I thought “oh no – I’ve killed it”. After a full minute of rocking the fish back and forth I thought the worst. I slowing loosened my fingers from around the fish and watched it pump its jaws for a good 30 second, then it slowing started moving its tail and glided away…

I know ‘big fish’ is a relative term, but two things made this fish very special to me:
1. It restored my excitement for fishing here in AZ
2. I caught it with my best friend and the man who taught me how to fly fish

It was a good day…

My Biggest Brown to date...

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