The Curious Case of Ham’s Fork

In this morning’s Denver Post, Scott Willoughby tracks the effects of discovery, publicity, and eventual badmouthing on a tailwater on the border between Colorado and Utah.  It’s a reminder of both the power of publicity to create unhealthy pressure on a fishery and of an adage we continue to put our faith in: “When everyone is saying a fishery is ‘over with,’ it’s time to take another look.”

“The tailwater below Viva Naughton Reservoir is not the prettiest place you’ll ever fish, unless beauty is measured in the color of rainbows. The beauties that lie in this pocket-sized stream double as hook-bending beasts, willing to strike a dry fly with an aggressiveness worthy of their weight class.”