Team USA Championship 2006
“That was so cool, I learned so much. It was like a professionals workshop.” Those were the first words to come out of Trevor Wine’s mouth when I ran into him after his first day of the National Team USA Fly Fishing Championship this past June 1-4 in Boulder Colorado. For those of you who may not know, there is a huge international fly-fishing competition each year that is held in a different country around the world. It is comparable to the Olympics of fly-fishing. The United States has only one team and it is called Team USA. For years it was sort of an elitist hobby. Only a handfull of people knew about the World Competition and went on regular basis. Most of them were friends that had a passion for fly-fishing, and had enough money to travel and take time off work. Amongst these anglers were Jack Dennis, Jay Buckner and Walter Ungermeyer. In 2003, after suffering poor results again, they decided to open the competition up to the public and hold a series of qualifiers to find out who were the best competitive anglers in this country. That’s where Trevor and myself come in.
Last October, my friend Trevor Wine tells me about this fly fishing competition he is going to. The only experience I had with fly fishing competition was the casting contest at my guide school, and when a couple guide friends of mine named John Copland and Victor Babbitt, tried for a spot in the 2004 fly-fishing Masters when It came to the Walker River. I thought fishing competitions were lame. At first I wanted no part of it, but after reading their website and finding out what Team USA was all about, I thought I would give it a try. So off we headed to the Fresno regional trial. The thing that was most appealing to me about the format was that it is a straight fishing competition. There is no casting qualifier, and it is based purely on the amount of fish you catch. I also reveled in the chance to meet Jack Dennis and some of the best anglers from around the country,
I won’t go into all the details, but after the Fresno comp, both Trevor and I qualified for the National Championship. I was in the top 4 and Trevor ended up in the top Ten. Feeling pretty good about our first fishing competition, we both resolved to continue on to the Championship and try for a shot on the USA Team.
In March I attended another regional qualifier in Provo Utah. It was a good chance to hone my skills and learn as much as I could about the format and the rules, as well as size up the other competitors. Immediately there were several people who stood out as exceptional anglers. The first was the winner of the Fresno Trial and 2ed place in the Utah Trial, Lance Egan. Lance is considered one of, if not, the top competitive fly fisherman in the nation right now. He has two ESPN great outdoor games gold medals, took first in the Teva mountain games, as well as great results in every other contest he has ever entered. Others that stood out were current team USA members, Anthany Narnija (Team Captain), Ryan Barnes, Jim Hikey, Brett Bishop, Pete Erickson, Scott Roberts, Devon Olson, Josh Stevens, George Daniels, Brian Capes, and Eddie Pinksten. I could Asses that it would not be easy to make the team. Some of the other competitors had been trying for a spot on the team for a couple years or more.
So, when the time finally came, Trevor and I packed up our stuff and hit the road for Colorado. We left 5 days early so we could get out there in time to scout out the waters of the venue and prepare by tying any flies we might need. Neither of us had ever fished in the Boulder area where the contest was being held. We figured we would have a serious handicap to some of the other anglers that already knew that water. Also I pride myself in fishing with only flies I tie, so I wanted to be prepared and have some time to tie any fill in patterns that I might need for each specific venue. Trevor and I left late Saturday morning, and after sleeping in the truck at a rest stop, we arrived at a friend’s house in Ft. Collins Colorado on Sunday (Memorial Day) late afternoon. After visiting with our friend and his family for the remainder of the day, and a quick tour of Ft. Collins, we had regained our Barings and were ready to set out to scout the venues by Monday morning.
The first venue we looked at was the Big Thompson River near Estes Park. It is a beautiful little tea colored pocket water stream. Its only bad quality I could detect right off the bat, was the fact that it flows right along a busy road. As luck would have it, we ran into some of the other Team USA guys and got the low down on all the beat locations and venue locations. After a bit of chatting we decided to pull off and “Practice Fish”. We found a little spot to pull over and geared up. The water was just a bit dark, but the visibility was good. After flipping over a few rocks, we determined that the bugs that lived in there were really similar to the ones we had at home. Trevor and I split up and started probing the water with nymphs. After a few minutes of this and a nice fish on my first cast, I started to see some blue wing olive may flies coming off. I switched to a dry and proceeded to zap several nice fish on the surface for the next hour and a half. Every pocket that looked like it might have a trout, did. Trevor had similar success on nymphs.
We left feeling good about that river and the beats we had to fish. That evening, we went to check out he next venue, which was Lilly Lake. When we arrived at the lake, just a few miles up the road, it was glassed off and fish were rising everywhere. We weren’t allowed to fish the lakes, so we just looked at some bugs near the shoreline and left.
We camped that night back down by the river and spent a couple hours tying flies to match what we had seen. The next morning we met up with our team captain, Guy Jeans and other team mate, Scott Roberts, and fished together for a couple more hours. Guy and Scott had also qualified at the Fresno comp, so we were all grouped together as the California Team. After fishing the Big T with them for a while, we left for the long drive to the next venue, which was Clear Lake. Being a bit of a mountain man, I decided I wanted to take the back roads so we could see some more of the Rockies landscapes. From Estes Park, we drove south on quaint mountain roads until we reached Central City, and a road that on the map was referred to as Oh My God road. Sure enough, it lived up to its name. The road started out of town with a super steep windy hill. I had to drop my truck down to first gear just to get up it. Then as you crested the pass it turned to dirt and winded down a very steep grade. The view was spectacular, but I didn’t get to enjoy it much because there were no guardrails and I was white knuckled the whole time. Upon arrival at clear lake, we both assessed it was going to be a hard beat. It was very high elevation, not much food for the fish, and very steep along the banks. All the beats were littered with spin fishing garbage and the venue started at a boat ramp and pick nick area. We stayed the night and headed to the next venue in the morning witch was the South Platt at Waterton Canyon. The water was flowing at almost 300 CSF and was a bit off color. It was a long walk to get to where the beats started and the canyon was very hot. When we arrived at where the beats started, we surveyed a few, but got tired of walking. We stopped at a big pool that had a huge boulder at the top of it and a cliff on the far side. The whole beat was just one big swirling pool. We flipped over a few rocks and looked at some bugs and I said to Trevor, “I hope I don’t get this beat.”
That afternoon we headed off to the last of the five venues, which was the South Platt at Deckers. The water here is considerably different. It was flowing at only 50 CSF and was very clear. You could see many fish in the water, but being just after memorial weekend, there were also lots of fishermen in the water. There was one in just about every good spot. We camped out there again and Trevor fished a bit while I tied up some more flies. Feeling good about the venue, we headed off the Outlook hotel in Boulder, where the contest was being staged.
The competition started early in the morning so we slapped some fives with the other competitors, figured out what groups we were in, then headed up to our room to shower up and prepare our gear.
The way it works is, there are five people to a team, and this year there were thirteen teams. The teams are broken up into groups of 13. That way there is one angler form each team in the group. Those are the people you are competing against. That way you aren’t competing against all 65 competitors each session. You are just competing against the people who are experiencing the same conditions as you. In other words, the conditions change on each venue with each group that fishes it. Things like lighting, water temps, sometimes flows, and most of all fish getting pricked already and not wanting to eat anymore. The teams consist of prior Team USA members, and people who had qualified from previous competitions. Most qualifier teams were broken up by the regions were the members had qualified from. For instance, we were the Fresno 1 team. The British and Canadians also sent Teams to join us this year. So the goal is to catch as may fish as you can in order to gain placing points. The most fish in the group gets a one, and so on down the line unless you blank in which case you get an automatic 13. You fish 5 venues. Two on Friday, two on Saturday, and the last one on Sunday. This is where it gets tricky because you just get randomly selected in a drawing for the beats you fish. You have 3 hours to fish each beat and try to catch as many as possible. The rules call for no weight or indicators, so you have to use weighted flies and use indicator less techniques.
So in the morning all competitors load their gear into a truck depending on what flight you get. Then your whole group loads onto a bus and heads off for the first venue. The ride to the venues is often the best part. This is the only real chance you get, to get to know the other competitors. There was a great group of fellas on my bus. I learned more about fishing n Colorado than I had ever imagined just by talking to some of the locals during the ride. At one point, one of the controllers said something about unleashing the competitors soon and the whole bus started barking like a pack of rabid dogs.
So my first Venue was the Clear Lake. I was kind of relieved to get that beat because I wanted to get it over with. The beats had been moved a bit from when we first looked and I found out I drew a beat on the far side of the lake, near the dam. It was a rocky point leading into a cove. I got a truck ride over to access it. When I arrived, I met my controller, shook hands and began to scout the water. Each competitor has a mandatory half hour to scout their beat and rig up their gear. I rigged my rods up quick and used the rest of my time to spot fish. After a few minutes of looking, I spotted a nice little rainbow cursing the shore. I thought for sure I would get him first cast so I asked my guy to start the time. I cast a nice mayfly dry with a small bead head dropper at the fish. He came over, had a look, and promptly refused my offering. I cast in his path again and this time he refused again. I threw a third time and when he looked, I twitched the fly. He took a nibble at the dropper, but didn’t really grab it. I tried to set, and wham, my flies were up in bushes behind me. After that, I figured this beat was going to be a lot harder than I had thought. Two more hours went by with no fish, more tangles, and a bit of cussing. Finally I got a small rainbow to bite an ant on the surface. Though the fish were small, they were some of the pickiest high country fish I had ever seen. I managed to get a small brookie to hand as well, but he didn’t measure. The fish have to be at least 20 cm or about 8 inches. So at the end of It, I left with only one fish. It was good enough for middle of the road in my group. I came away with a 7 placing point.
The next venue was the South Platt at Deckers. I was kind of looking forward to this beat because I liked this sort of technical fishing. I also had tied some good bugs that I was confident would work there. When I saw my beat I was bummed at first. It was really shallow and didn’t look to have much good holding water. There were also two different guide trips fishing in that small section when we scouted the water the day before. While scouting the water out there, Trevor and I had befriended the local fly shop owner named Rich. I was stoked to see he closed the shop for a couple hours on contest day, so he could came out to watch. My beat was right along the road, so there were several other spectators there as well. I set up my gear, scouted the water, and asked my controller to start the time. I got lucky and pricked a nice fish on my second cast. I landed him and felt I was off to a good start. I proceeded to pick that water apart, starting at the bottom of my section and working up. I was using a size 14 caddis dry I had tied with lots of antron, with a size 16 caddis pupa dropper and a size 18 blue wing olive nymph behind that. I didn’t change my rig the whole time. I was surprised when I started pulling a fish out of every pocket. It was a good feeling to have some action after that grueling three hours on that dam lake. Most of the fish I was landing were rainbows. I managed to land every fish I hooked, which is almost unheard of in these kinds of events. Towards the end of my time, I spotted tow nice browns sitting in a shallow riffle near a bridge at the top of my beat. I had to make a tricky side cast to get the fly into the drift, but after a few tries I got it placed just right. Sure enough the bigger brown turned on it and wham, he was on. I landed him and whet back for his buddy. Sure enough he ate too. I was feeling pretty good about that and figured that would be it for me because time was almost up and I had already covered all of the water. I started down river to fish to one last fish I had seen that wouldn’t bit earlier. On my way down I spotted a big dark fish working his way up river. I cast to him and he bit. I fought him for a moment and SNAP, my 6x tippet broke. I thought that was it, but I re-rigged quickly with almost the same fly and cast again. What would you know? He took it again! After a long fight, during which my time expired, I managed to land him. He measured in at 55 cm or about 22 inches and turned out to be the biggest landed fish of the contest. I ended up measuring 12 fish and won that session. My new friend Rich, the owner of Decker’s Fly Shop, was waiting for me at the end of it with a nice cold beer.
The next morning I was on the Big Thompson. It was as I had thought, good fishing. Not as many fish as the S. Platt, but consistent action. I just fished a hopper dropper and covered all the pockets. All the beats here are right off the road, so there were plenty of spectators. All said and done, I netted 8 fish, but one rolled during the fight and my dropper grabbed his fin, so he didn’t count because he wasn’t fair hooked when I got him in. That was good enough for a 3ed. A fella named Norman from New Mexico had landed 26 fish! The next closest was 8.
The after noon wasn’t so good to me. I had to fish Lilly Lake and I drew the beat that Lance Egan fished in the morning before me. It was way back at the far end of the lake and very shallow. It was a bit more protected from the wind than other beats, so I thought I might have a good chance for some sight fishing. Sure enough right off the bat, there was a nice big greenback cutthrought cursing by. I threw my best mayfly pattern at him with a bead head dropper below it and he didn’t even look. The rest of the afternoon went much the same. I had a couple shots at fish, but none were even the slightest bit interested. I ended up getting blanked and watched my chances of getting a top ten spot slip away. Only 3 people out of our whole group caught fish that afternoon. Lance later told me that he had stuck 3 fish back there. I think they were the only 3 fish that inhabited that zone. Had I caught just one, I would have made the top ten and got a spot on the team.
Day 3 had me on the S. Platt at Waterton Canyon. The water in this section of the river was about 300 CSF and off color. The bus drove us up to our beats and started dropping people off. I began to worry and sure enough they dropped me off at the big whole Trevor and I had scouted and I said, “I hope I don’t get this one”. The controller informed me that no one else had even caught a fish in this section in the past two days. He then pulled out his lawn chair and a book and said, “Have fun out there” as he sat down and began to read. I worked the inside band hard with heavy nymphs under one of my hop-icators flies for the fist 40 minutes. Without even a grab, I figured my only chance was to try to cross the river. It was high, but I managed to cross in the tail out of the pool with the aid of a stick I broke off a bush on the shore. There was a huge boulder at the head of the pool and it had a very nice slough at the far side of it. I thought for sure there would be a fish there. I had to climb a rock and scale a cliff to get to it. I fished that little riffle hard for about an hour before I had to give up on it. With only a half hour left, I managed to pull one small bow out of the back of the big hole on a size 18 midge. I waded him across the river and he just measured. I managed to pull one fish out of a piece of water where 4 other expert anglers had gotten skunked. I felt good about that, but that one fish was only good enough for a 7 placing point.
That night there was a great big old banquette and the new Team USA members were announced. A guy named Mike Sexton from Colorado ended up taking the first place finish and qualified for the international team. I ended up top 20 and Trevor wasn’t far behind. We both had a great time and vowed we would try again next year. All truth be told, the other guys who were picked for the team deserved it allot more than I did. Also, after seeing some photos of the Venue in Portugal, I don’t really want to go over and fish there anyway. The real prize is just the friendships that are formed, stories that are told and memories that are made.
If you found this article interesting at all, check out www.TeamUSAflyfishing.com for upcoming qualifier events and Team News. There is some cool information on the there. Also be sure to check out www.askaboutflyfishing.com. There are some great interviews on the pod cast internet radio site, with many of the team members as well as the head coach and spokes person, Jack Dennis. Thanks for reading.