Amid all the uncertainty involved in wildlife management, Jon Ewert lives with at least one assurance.
“I was born to be a fisheries biologist,” said the man who in January assumed purview of many of the waters of northwest Colorado. “This is the job I always wanted, even as a little kid.”
As it pertains to the revitalization of the Blue River, Ewert’s new assignment has become even more interesting and, perhaps, more rewarding than he ever might have imagined.
Both for its location squarely in the Interstate 70 corridor just an hour from Denver’s western suburbs and as a centerpiece for an increasingly populous Summit County and its tourists, the Blue ranks near the top on the list of Colorado’s most popular streams.
In recent years, not many among this angling horde went home with much to brag about.
Blame it on the whirling disease that decimated rainbow populations or painfully low flows from Dillon Reservoir. Or maybe even the fact that on busy summer weekends a fisherman needs to bring along that proverbial rock to stand on.
While the pressure many not slack anytime soon, there’s reason to believe the satisfaction rate might improve. In fact, that blessed condition already might have arrived. Anglers this season speak of more and better trout, a nebulous assessment that might have more foundation in timing and circumstance than real fact.
Much more certain is that the flow from Dillon Dam has increased substantially, a boost to fishing prospects. Gone, at least for the nonce, is the pitiful trickle that stifled growth and made trout more nervous than Michael Vick’s pet pooch.
“I’ve also heard reports that fishing is better,” said Ewert, who disclaims credit for any perceived improvement.
That boosts, he suggests, comes in part from a surge in mysis at Dillon Reservoir, along with a spawning migration by cutthroat-rainbow hybrids stocked in Green Mountain Reservoir, a positive 1-2 punch at either end of what is termed the upper part of the river.
Ewert, who spent the previous five years as a wildlife conservation officer in Saguache, reports that the mysis count in the reservoir reached its highest level in years and heavier dam releases flushed many more of the morsels into the river. In their millions, these tiny shrimp-like organisms at various times promoted extreme trout growth in the 2-mile-long section through the town of Silverthorne, where catch-and-release rules apply.
Largely absent during periods of low flow, mysis once again are fattening fish in a place with total public access and further enhanced by a recent stream improvement project that made more space for fish and fishermen.
Ewert thus found this the perfect spot to locate 600 brood rainbows from the Glenwood Springs hatchery, some as big as 20 inches, a bonus that perhaps hyped the perception of angling success.
The biologist is more excited about long-term prospects from two very different rainbow stocking operations, present and predictable, the other future and experimental.
“We have this ongoing program to stock 4- to 5-inch fish to keep the rainbow component,” Ewert said of a put-and-grow plan involving fingerlings beyond the WD danger. “The Blue has a large number of rainbow trout, but the public prefers rainbows.”
What really grabs Ewert’s interest is the prospect for introducing a hybrid of the WD-resistant Hofer strain to restore what could be a naturally reproducing rainbow fishery. The Blue River test likely will involve a cross with the Harrison Lake strain, noted for its propensity for spawning runs up into feeder streams.
“This could work well with Green Mountain Reservoir,” Ewert said. “A population of wild rainbow trout in the Blue could be just around the corner by a few years.”
For reasons that are more political than biological, the lower river also commands public interest.
A proposed land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and the Blue Valley Ranch, now a distinct likelihood, has stirred considerable controversy.
A positive aspect would be improved access to the 3 public miles below Green Mountain Dam, a prime fishery that now requires a difficult scramble. A Division of Wildlife survey taken a year ago revealed 132 pounds of trout per acre below the dam, almost exclusively browns.
Forty-six fish per acre were larger than 14 inches. The DOW standard for Gold Medal designation is 60 pounds and 12 large fish. Ewert is gauging this section for its potential as another site for planting disease-resistant rainbows.
Should this Blue River rainbow revival succeed, his conviction would be complete.
Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
