When I run across a person and business that offers exceptional friendly customer service, I like to blog about it.

Such a business is the

Qwik Pack & Ship
Pioneer Hills Center
5566 S. Parker Road
Aurora, CO 80015

(303) 400-3054 Fax (303)400-3064

I had a large odd shaped package to ship today. Monica, the owner of this Qwik Pack & Ship, offered friendly, knowledgeable help in selecting the exact box I needed. Help in finishing my packing to offer a safe shipment and finding me the best rate for my shipment.

What a pleasure to do business with a person who understands customer service like Monica does. If you live in the SE Aurora area and need professional shipping assistance, go to this Qwik Pack & Ship across from Wal-Mart on the north side of Chambers next to the liquor store at Chambers and S. Parker Road.

Tight Lines,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Snow in Colorado and surrounding states is the news yesterday and today. Lots of Snow doesn’t cover it. I-70 was closed last night from Morrison to Vail, Colorado. (A distance of 80 miles) This a historical closing. Emergency shelters set up in Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Silverthorne and other towns. This is a plain old fashioned Colorado Blizzard which has not let up yet.

As of Friday 4/17/09

1. 22.5 at Livermore in Larimer County
2. 22 at Red Feather Lakes
3. 21 at Shadow Mountain in Confir
4. 12 inches new snow at Winter Park – Great Sking
5. 6 to 12 inches in the Metro Denver area

This storm is wide spread covering Colorado, Wyoming and other states.

Snow fell heavily Friday night leading to the I-70 closing. For a period of time Friday all major roads including 1-25 leading into Wyoming were closed. I-25 is currently re-opened. Snow totals in much of the high country are expected to be 3 feet or more.

Plenty of snow to bring our snow pack up to average for South Platte Basin and SW Colorado. Other basins that were far above average will maintain that position. This snow will also reduce the fire danger for awhile which is a good thing. Avalanche danger in the high country. Plenty of water for the fishes too.

By Tuesday we are expected to be back into the 60′s so all that snow will be running downstream. Be careful if you are onstream in the next several weeks.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
The Stores at Fly Fishing Colorado
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

A couple of days ago, I inquired of Clickbank about access to their datafeeds. So I get  an email back about them. No problem, we have you set up. Just log in to use them.

When I log in, I am presented with a new Clickbank Contract. This contract has some 8 or 10 parts to it all of which are long and complicated. But persevering, I actually read the first six parts. It was the accounting and payment part that convinced me doing business with Clickbank as an affiliate was no longer worth the effort.

It is amazing the lengths some companies will go to just to protect themselves without offering anything to the people selling their products. Without affiliates, Clickbank is nothing but a dead marketplace.

I had not looked at their products for a while but there are lot more $15 dollar ebooks and $47 dollar software than there used to be. Following some of these out to the payment pages, I found PayPal on the payment pages more than Clickbank links. Guess the vendors are not too happy with the new contract either.

Did find one product that had a clear 8 paragraph contract. Each paragraph was only 4 sentences or less and totally understandable. It is amazing how clear a contract can be written when legal man is not involved.

Will Clickbank survive this major brain fart on management’s part. Remains to be seen.

But I won’t be an affiliate for them under such a ridiculous contract.

There are better affiliate networks out there than Clickbank selling similar products. Ones that pay with less restrictions and on time.

This is one man’s opinion.

A couple of days ago, I inquired of Clickbank about access to their datafeeds. So I get  an email back about them. No problem, we have you set up. Just log in to use them.

When I log in, I am presented with a new Clickbank Contract. This contract has some 8 or 10 parts to it all of which are long and complicated. But persevering, I actually read the first six parts. It was the accounting and payment part that convinced me doing business with Clickbank as an affiliate was no longer worth the effort.

It is amazing the lengths some companies will go to just to protect themselves without offering anything to the people selling their products. Without affiliates, Clickbank is nothing but a dead marketplace.

I had not looked at their products for a while but there are lot more $15 dollar ebooks and $47 dollar software than there used to be. Following some of these out to the payment pages, I found PayPal on the payment pages more than Clickbank links. Guess the vendors are not too happy with the new contract either.

Did find one product that had a clear 8 paragraph contract. Each paragraph was only 4 sentences or less and totally understandable. It is amazing how clear a contract can be written when legal man is not involved.

Will Clickbank survive this major brain fart on management’s part. Remains to be seen.

But I won’t be an affiliate for them under such a ridiculous contract.

There are better affiliate networks out there than Clickbank selling similar products. Ones that pay with less restrictions and on time.

This is one man’s opinion.

Invasive Species Control is a difficult issue because of the wide diversity of species involved.  Some advocate use of chemicals for controlling invasive species.  Others advocate non-chemical means to control these invasive hitchikers.

In Colorado signs warning about New Zealand Mud Snail infection in a stream or lake also maintain a 50% solution of 409 cleaner in a gallon of water will kill these critters.  This recommendation is based on a California study.  The only thing is the California study used commercial grade 409 found in Lowe’s, Home Depot or other commercial cleaning supply houses.  This type of 409 is much more powerful than the grocery story kind. If you have noticed, refill bottles of 409 are no longer available in many grocery stores. [ Also 409 is not approved by the EPA for invasive species control. Doing so in fact is breaking the law. Further 409 does not control whirling disease, zebra mussels or a host of other invasive species. (1) ]

The list of procedures to control or prevent spreading Invasive Species can be applied to anglers, boaters and aquarium owners.  Procedures include:

1. Physical Removal of all visible mud, plant material, fish/animals, sand or other debris from waders, wading boots, boats and equipment before leaving a stream, lake, pond, or other body of water.
2. Water Removal – from boat motors, jet drives, live wells, scuba regulators and tanks, recreational swim equipment, boots, waders, bait buckets, seaplane equipment.
3. Cleaning Recommendations
   • Wash your dog with as warm water as possible and brush its coat.
   • Use 40⁰C or 104⁰ or hotter water to clean your equipment.  Salt water is also a good cleaning agent. If hot water is not available, use a high pressure sprayer to clean boats, floats, decoys and similar equipment.
   • Chemical Alternatives to 409 or for equipment that cannot be exposed to hot water
     Dipping equipment into 100% vinegar for 20 minutes will kill aquatic hitchhikers.
     A 1% salt solution dip for 24 hours can be used in place of the vinegar process.
     This table provides correct mixtures for the 1 % salt solution in water:

     Gallons of Water	Cups of Salt
     5	2/3
     10	1 ¼
     25	3
     50	6 1/4
     100	12 2/3

   • Drying Equipment Thoroughly for at least 5 days before using in new waters.
4. Proper Disposal of Aquarium Contents and leftover live bait
   • Aquarium Content Disposal - Children can exercise considerable influence over parents when it comes time to dispose of aquatic pets.  Parents need to educate children that pouring the contents of an aquarium into a body of water or storm drain may be harming the streams and lakes all over the country.  Such disposal of an aquarium may be killing other fish, animals and plants that are already growing in lakes and streams. If a home can’t be found for the aquarium and contents, bury the critters and dump any water in the yard far away from storm drains.
   • Bait Disposal - may be a problem.  Bait may not be native to the area you are fishing.  Bait can carry disease or aquatic hitchikers so proper disposal is important. Leftover bait should be put in a trash can or on land far enough from water resources so they are not impacted.  Dispose of leftover bait water on land far from storm drains or water resources.  Improper disposal consists of pouring water or left over bait back into a stream or lake.  The bait may have come from an area not native to where it is being used.  Such a disposal practice may introduce disease or invasive hitchhikers into your favorite lake or stream.

 Reference for these control procedures — www.protectyourwaters.org

 The Federation of Fly Fishers  (1) has a slightly different take on control measures.  The FFF does not support the use of chemicals for cleaning boots, waders, boats or other recreational equipment.  The FFF supports three main methods to control the spread of invasive species.

1. Inspect – your equipment for dirt, plants or animals before moving to another stream, lake or body of water.
2. Clean -  your gear with clean water.  Without the use of chemicals, your gear can be cleaned in the water you have been fishing thus leaving what you may have picked up in the same water. Using high pressure water will help remove the small hitchhikers you may not see.
3. Thoroughly dry your gear each time you use it.
4. Never transport any fish, plants or animals from one body of water to another
5. Switch to boot foot waders with studded rubber lug soles to make cleaning gear easier. 
6. Take the Clean Angling Pledge and encourage others to do the same.

 Please do your part and help to control the spread of invasive species. What you do just might mean the difference in your favorite fishery surviving.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Invasive species are those that are not a normal part of an ecosystem or aquasystem.  Usually invasive species are introduced by human beings on boats, anchor ropes, wet felt soles, ballast water, aquarium dumps, releasing little Sammy into the wild and similar incidents.

The resulting impact on the ecosystem or aquaculture can be devastating and expensive. In aquaculture envioronments, major game fish depletions may occur with resulting loss of income and jobs for those who depend on recreational fishing.

Invasive Species Impacts:

Reduction in game fish populations may occur through direct fish kills, reduction of native food sources, interference with the reproductive cycle and reduction of oxygen content in the water. Such reductions in game fish populations are usually related to reduced gear sales, guided trips, less vacation trips booked and similar reduction of revenue in the affected area.

Zebra mussels in particular clog water plant intake pipes resulting in increased operating costs.  The also clog the water outlet pipes on power plants. Nuclear power plants in the Great Lakes region average $825,000 annually for zebra mussel control.  Zebra mussels accumlate PCB’s and PAH’s in their tissues 300,000 times greater than normally found in the environment.  Then they deposit these harmful chemicals in the pseudofeces.  Ducks and fish will then pick up the chemicals and may cause harm for humans that eat them.

These are only some of the impacts that invasive species have on communities, mom and pop businesses that depend on recreational fishing, water and power plants, human health and other negative aspects resulting from human transportation of these non-native species.  For more information on Invasive Species Imacts.  See www.protectyourwaters.org website from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Coast Guard for much more information about Invasive Species.

For an Invasive Species List . The first in this series on Invasive Species.  Next is Invasive Species Control

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Invasive species are an ever growing problem in the U.S.  August 9, 2005, three voracious Snakehead Fish were discovered in Meadow Lake of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens New York. (Ref: New York Times 8/9/2005 page C15).

The snakehead is a top of food chain predator with rows of sharp teeth and a torpedo shaped body designed to ambush its prey.  They will literally wipe out all other fish in a lake or pond if allowed to reproduce unchecked. 

July 5, 2007 Jerry Melton fishing the Catawba River in North Carolina caught a 1 pound 4 ounce piranha instead of the catfish he was hoping to catch. Imagine what will happen if there are more piranha in this river and they start reproducing.

 August 15, 2006, another angler Jack Clements caught an 11 inch Pacu, a vegetarian cousin of piranha, in Utah Lake near Provo, Utah. The Pacu article offers a fairly comprehensive look at the invasive species problem.  Much of the problem comes from people dumping their aquariums into local waterways instead of responsibly destroying the contents or donating the aquarium to a school or zoo. Dumping aquariums can spread plant disease, invasive plants or fish, snails and cause other problems for aquasystems.

List of Invasive Species

1. Snakehead Fish
2. Piranha
3. Pacu
4. Round Goby
5. Sea Lamprey eel
6. New Zealand Mud Snail
7. Aquarium Snails which may be from Asia
8. Zebra mussels originally came from the Black Sea.  Imported in ballast water of ships, they have become a major problem in from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Maximum out of water survival time for Adults in ideal conditions is 10 Days. A juvenile or veliger is about the size of the period at the end of this sentence and can survive in any residual water source.
9. Lion Fish — A venomous fish
10. Common Carp
11. Ruffe
12. Common aquarium Gold Fish
13. Didymo aka Rock Snot
14. Rusty Crayfish – Crusteacean
15. Spiny Water Flea – Crusteacean
16. Japanese Shore Crab – Crusteacean
17. Killer Algae aka caulerpa taxifolia – Plant
18. Hydrilla – Plant
19. Water Hyacinth – Plant
20. Purple Loose Strife – Plant
21. Whirling Disease
22. Bull Frog – In Oregon, the bullfrog is considered an invasive species.
23. Walking Catfish

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=invasive+species&search_type=&aq=-1&oq= links to a list of videos about invasive species.

The next post we’ll look at the Impact of Invasive Species.  The last post in the series will be techniques to prevent the spread of Invasive Species.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

If you got her before she bit you, great.  No itchy bite to scratch.  If not, better get some insect repellent.

Ever wonder what was in your insect repellent and the toxicity to the human body.  If you read the active ingredients and go  to 
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/ai_insectrp.htm, you will find a list of the EPA approved active ingredients used in applied and area insect repellents. 

How do you tell if the active ingredients have been EPA approved? Look for the EPA registration number consisting of the two unique company numbers followed by a dash and the product number.  There may be a third unique number representing the distributor number.  Any EPA registered and approved active ingredient has been evaluated to ensure it does not present health or safety concerns or adverse effects on humans, the environment or non-target species. Only EPA approved and registered pesticides and repellents may be legally sold.  Remember to always read the Safety Precautions before use to protect your pets and / or young children, your eyes and so on.

Commonly insect repellents are used against mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks and biting flies. The common active ingredients used are DEET and Picaridin. DEET formulations registered for direct application to human skin may contain from 4 to 100 percent repellent.  For fly fishermen, washing or wiping hands throughly after applying DEET based repellents is recommended to avoid damage to fly line coatings and fly rod finishes. Since trout have very sensitive senses of smell and taste, it is probably a good idea to wash hands before handling flies too. Picaridin usually is 5 to 20 percent.

Alternative repellent ingredients are called biopesticides that are derived from natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria and certain minerals. Common biopesticides used for insect repellents are Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, synthetic Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, IR3535 used in Europe for 20 years with no harmful effects before being registered with the EPA in 1999, Oil of Citronella from dried, cultivated grasses.  Oil of Citronella’s distinctive odor masks the CO2 or lactic acid on humans that attracts mosquitoes and other pests.

 I’ll do some research on other organic repellents for a future post.  In the meantime, here are some buzz off clothing alternatives.  The information on the organic Insect Shield Technology Orvis uses is fascinating. Insect Shield Technology is registered with the EPA.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

If you got her before she bit you, great.  No itchy bite to scratch.  If not, better get some insect repellent.

Ever wonder what was in your insect repellent and the toxicity to the human body.  If you read the active ingredients and go  to 
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/ai_insectrp.htm, you will find a list of the EPA approved active ingredients used in applied and area insect repellents. 

How do you tell if the active ingredients have been EPA approved? Look for the EPA registration number consisting of the two unique company numbers followed by a dash and the product number.  There may be a third unique number representing the distributor number.  Any EPA registered and approved active ingredient has been evaluated to ensure it does not present health or safety concerns or adverse effects on humans, the environment or non-target species. Only EPA approved and registered pesticides and repellents may be legally sold.  Remember to always read the Safety Precautions before use to protect your pets and / or young children, your eyes and so on.

Commonly insect repellents are used against mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks and biting flies. The common active ingredients used are DEET and Picaridin. DEET formulations registered for direct application to human skin may contain from 4 to 100 percent repellent.  For fly fishermen, washing or wiping hands throughly after applying DEET based repellents is recommended to avoid damage to fly line coatings and fly rod finishes. Since trout have very sensitive senses of smell and taste, it is probably a good idea to wash hands before handling flies too. Picaridin usually is 5 to 20 percent.

Alternative repellent ingredients are called biopesticides that are derived from natural materials such as animals, plants, bacteria and certain minerals. Common biopesticides used for insect repellents are Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, synthetic Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, IR3535 used in Europe for 20 years with no harmful effects before being registered with the EPA in 1999, Oil of Citronella from dried, cultivated grasses.  Oil of Citronella’s distinctive odor masks the CO2 or lactic acid on humans that attracts mosquitoes and other pests.

 I’ll do some research on other organic repellents for a future post.  In the meantime, here are some buzz off clothing alternatives.  The information on the organic Insect Shield Technology Orvis uses is fascinating. Insect Shield Technology is registered with the EPA.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Could a Fire of Biblical Proprotions happen?  Maybe it could, courtesy of a 1/2 inch long insect, the greens organizations and inept public policy.

When I was fishing the Blue River 7/25/08, I could see the receipe for a mammoth fire looming in the Blue River Valley. From the valley floor, up the mountainside the bottom 1/3 of the pine trees were green and top 2/3 were the rusty brown color of trees killed by the mountain pine beetle.

See the life cycle of the mountain pine beetle

It is not a matter if the fire starts but when.  Nor even how it starts.  After it starts, the residents of Dillon and Silverthorne, CO better have their belongings packed and gone.  I seriously doubt that fire suppression crews can react fast enough to save most of the towns.

These two mountain towns are not the only ones in danger.  The pine beetle has killed off enough trees in British Columbia, the kill zone can be seen from space.  It is an area larger than England.  (1)

The western pine beetle is the one we experience in the Colorado area as opposed to the Southern Pine beetle of Appalachian forests.

The western pine beetle is most damaging in California, but it is also found in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas and as far southward as northwestern Mexico. Forests most commonly affected are between 2,000 and 6,000 feet (600 to 1,800 m). But it can be found below 1,000 feet (300 m) and above 8,000 feet (2,400 m) in Mexico. (2)

While the western pine beetle acts as a natural thinner by killing slow-growning drought stressed trees, epidemic outbreaks such as we are seeing in the western US and Canada, can be the tinder for massive wildfires.  Imagine if you will 2008 California type fires buring in 8 of the 11 infested western states.  There would not be enough trained fire fighters to combat such a situation. Impossible you say.  Not at all, as large fires generate their own fire storm sucking in air at the bottom of the fire for oxygen and producing massive walls of high flames.  Once a fire gets into the crowns of trees, live or dead, with winds to drive it, it becomes extremely difficult to contain and put out. Fire doesn’t stop at state boundaries.

Ponderosa, lodgepole, Scotch and limber pine are the types of pines typically attacked by the western pine beetle. Bristlecone and pinyon pine are less commonly attacked.  There are two types of beetles that attack our western pines.  The red turpentine beetle and the engraver beetle.  The turpentine beetle attacks the lower trunk and the engraver beetles the crown area.  The male engraver beetle bores into the tree emitting a chemical to attract a female.  Then the couple bore out a nuptial chamber in which they mate. After mating, they bore out egg gallery tunnels and the female lays eggs at the edges of the tunnel.  The larvae feed on the inner bark; interrupt the flow of nutrients to the tree; resulting in death of the tree, usually within one season.  Once a tree is infested, it can’t be saved.  There are no effective sprays or insecticides for bark beetles.  About the only thing that does kill them is heat over 160 degrees F.(3)  Hence the high intensity fires that usually result in massive beetle killed forest areas help to kill the beetles and their larvae from the burning of the standing infected trees and the infected downed trees on the forest floor.

Controlling an epidemic pine beetle outbreak depends on identifying, cutting and removing brood trees.  Brood trees are still green and appear ok unless examined closely.  Look for pitch tubes and/or borer dust in the bark crevises or dust at the foot of the tree. If brood trees are found, they should be cut and removed from the area.  Pine beetles, will continue to live in the cut trees, mature and fly off to infect other uninfected trees.  The mature beetles have been known to move as much as 300 miles with a good wind. 

pitch tubes on lodgepole pine from pine beetle attack

base of lodgepole pine showing pitch tubes and frass

base of lodgepole pine showing boring dust and frass

mountain Pine Beetle galleries with larva visible

Living healthy forests take in a certain amount carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen as a byproduct. Thus a living forest acts as a carbon sink.  A dead forest of standing trees can’t absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. 

The downed decaying trees become a net emitter of carbon dioxide adding to the carbon load in the atmosphere.  Canadian scientists unveiled projections that between 2000 and 2020, the forest in British Columbia will have lost 270 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Annual emissions from the worst year of infestation come close to matching the average annual emissions from all the forest fires the country experienced between 1959 and 1999, researchers say. Over the 21-year period the projections cover, emissions from the affected forests appear comparable to five years’ worth of emissions from Canada’s entire transportation sector. (4)

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) using it’s new modeling system Carbon Tracker found that the 2002 North American drought left an extra 360 Million Tons of heat trapping carbon in the atmosphere, equivalent to the emissions of 200 million U.S. cars that year. The reason was the reduced ability of forests, grasslands, crops and soil to absorb carbon dioxide during one of the worst droughts in many years. (Bill Scanlon article Rocky Mountain News)

Drought combined with epidemic pine beetle infestations in North America have set the stage for a fire of biblical proportions.  And that may be what it takes to bring balance back to our forests caused by ill-formed public policy fostered by pressure from a small minority of greens with too many lawyers and too little understanding of what their politics are doing to our forests.

 The opinions expressed in this post are purely those of the editor. Other facts are noted for reference.

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com