LEES FERRY, ARIZONA, 2011

Lees Ferry 2011 Trip Report
October 1-6, 2011
Colorado River at Marble Canyon, Arizona
14 hrs CE
Equine Lameness and Surgery
Dr. Nat White

The Lees Ferry Equine Fall meeting at Marble Canyon Arizona on the Colorado River was a grand success based on the response of the small group of attendees. The group included featured speaker Dr.Nat White from Leesburg , Virginia, Dr. Bill and Kay Shumaker from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Dr. Maury Brown also from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Dr. Mark and Maryanne Green from Charlotte, N.C. and myself. Dr. White's small group lectures were enjoyed by all.

The Colorado River this trip ran much higher and faster than previous years' trips, so more caution was taken in our wading attempts. Also, the wind played much more of an issue with the guides selection of fishing spots. However, by midday the temperatures would climb to the 60's to 70's, unless a late afternoon storm was moving in. The 3 guides we engaged all used slightly different tactics to catch fish .We rotated guides each day, allowing all in the group to learn a wide variety of techniques from each guide.

Guide Skip preferred to fish and wade in very shallow bar areas with a large dry fly attractors with a 7x tippet and a dropper using size 20-24 nymph patterns or egg patterns . Many large Rainbows in the 16 to 20 inch range attacked these dry flies

The second guide, Jeff, enjoyed fishing in slightly deeper water either wading or drifting from the boat . His custom fly setup included either a nymph or san juan worm with an attractor fly, or a strike indicator.

Our third guide, Terry, anchored up on sand bars, some quite deep, and directed us to cast and strip with green wooly buggers. His method allowed us to catch the larger Rainbows in the river. These Colorado River Rainbows all consistently hit like an electric shock, and they take off on long runs to the river. None of these fish taken with this technique were under 16 inches.

We hooked up 20 fish or so a day each, and lost at least that many. There were very many small and medium size fish present, which according to the guides, bodes well for the future of the fishery. The hatch in 2011 was excellent and should help create the future generations of 20 inch plus Rainbows.

As usual the accommodations and food were superb. The daily trip from the canyons to the river were as pretty as ever with lots of wildlife seen. We had a special treat on two afternoons, watching a group of desert Bighorn sheep scrambling along the canyon wall. Dr. Nat White was lucky enough to capture a photo of two rams battling over leadership of the group of sheep, truly a National Geographic moment. At dinner on the night before our departure, we discussed what future IAFFV trips we would like to attend, and how we would remember our Lees Ferry 2011 trip. We all hoped to return in the future and repeat another equine program once again in this unforgettable setting.

Rich Forfa, DVM, organizer