Author: Scott Greiner

By Jerry Wright

The Buena Vista Kids Fishing Derby was held September 5 at McPhelemy Park in Buena Vista. The annual event, a collaboration of Collegiate Peaks Trout Unlimited, Optimist International Buena Vista, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, was a great success and lots of fun. 

The day began with the Optimists serving hot-off-the-griddle pancakes and sausages with pre-warmed syrup. Yum! Following the Optimists’ breakfast, we registered 58 kids, each with high hopes of fish and prizes.  The kids grabbed their free T-shirt and fishing pole and headed off to find a special spot around the lake. This year, our T-shirts were provided by Souled Out T Shirts of Buena Vista. The fishing poles were provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and pre-rigged by Trout Unlimited volunteers.

Kevin Madler of CPW sounded the starting siren at 10:00 am and the fishing lines sailed out over the water.  Some sailed only two feet while others just dropped on the shore.  With some help, the bobbers all got into the lake. The fish, stocked by CPW a couple of days earlier, were hungry and cooperative. TU volunteers measured and recorded 73 fish landed, with the first fish landed 76 seconds after the starting siren.  After the initial frenzy, the next hour settled down the sound of kids laughing, families talking, and Cottonwood Creek bubbling into the lake interrupted periodically with “I got one”.

The ending siren sounded at 11:00 and the volunteers’ recording sheets were turned in and tallied. A wealth of prizes provided by Western Recreation and Cloud City Toystore were awarded by Kevin Madler and CPCTU President Chris Lamson. A listing of award winners is found in attached articles from the Ark Valley Voice and The Chaffee County Times.

Following the derby, the Optimists switched over from pancakes to a hot dog lunch. These people are amazing, efficient, and great to work with.

As the derby wrapped up, CPCTU volunteers took down banners, packed away supplies and boxed up T-shirts for another year.

Throughout this article the word “volunteers” appears.  That’s not just a word, but people who take time from their holiday weekend to make this event possible for the kids, the future stewards of this beautiful place. Thank you volunteers for putting kids first and letting them just have fun. Thank you Chris Lamson, Kay Krebs, Kieth Krebs, Barbara Plake, Jim Impara, Marjie Gray, Bob Gray, Judy Reese, Suzy Lauderdale, Steve Davis, Karen Dills, Reed Dills, Mark Zinkula, Teresa Zinkula, Colin Eleson (former Derby winner), Pam Simpson, Richard Frey, Steve Silva, and Hadley Madler.

You are awesome!

The Colorado Springs Chapter of Project Healing Waters (COS PHW) is the largest in the organization and has around 700 participants. Most participants are new to fly fishing, and many are new to fishing of any kind. All are looking for an enjoyable day on the water to heal whatever ails them. In partnership with the COS PHW, our Chapter will be hosting two fishing outings for disabled veterans. The first will be at Frantz Lake on Saturday April 18, and the second will be at Chalk Lake on Wednesday July 22. Each outing will be for 10 participants with beginning to intermediate fly fishing skills. COS PHW will provide participants with casting and fishing instruction, fly fishing gear, and transportation to the outings. We will provide the venue, a fishing mentor for each participant, flies that catch fish, lunch and snacks.

We need a “catering team” for each outing. They will design the menu for a hot lunch and purchase the necessary food items. Our Chapter will reimburse the cost. On the day of the outing, the team will transport tables, shade canopies, grills, etc. from the Chapter storage shed in Poncha Springs, serve lunch, clean up, and return gear to the storage shed. For past outings, a team of two couples with at least one pickup truck worked well. Two of the team members also could mentor while the other two tend the lunch spot.

For each outing, we need 10 fishing mentors who have completed the PHW training session. To give all our mentors an opportunity, current mentors can sign up now for one of the two outings. First come, first served.

We could use a few more fishing mentors. Mentors function as a guide to help their participant with all aspects of fishing while facilitating a fun day on the water. Mentoring has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience for past mentors. Qualifications include ability to catch fish on your own, patience to teach a few skills to a beginner, and completion of one PHW training session on how to be a great mentor. If we have some recruits, COS PHW likely will send someone to Salida or BV to conduct the session, probably in March or April.

Contact Gene Milus to volunteer for any of these openings or to get more information.