Generous Strike Zone at Marabou Ranch

The Dallas Morning News Strikes again with another article about Marabou Ranch yesterday. I have fished out there on numerous occasions and it appears that they just had an ok day. Quite a few locals and owners of the properties around Marabou will tell you that the stream improvements Marabou put in have benefited the Elk River as a whole due to the increased quality of the habitat there. The healthy fish it has produced don't just stay on the ranch but have moved up and down the river.

Selected quotes: Article by Ray Sasser - STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Pat Stefanek was giddy with excitement, and the fishing guide wasn't even holding a rod. Stefanek ran through the tall grass that ringed the meandering stream, waving his landing net like a tennis racket, flushing a swarm of oversized grasshoppers. Some of the clumsily flying insects splashed down in the tailor-made meander at Marabou Ranch. As the hoppers drifted downstream, brilliantly-colored trout rose from their lairs beneath undercut banks, rocks and roots. They ate the grasshoppers and revealed their presence in the process.

Stefanek lined up my wife on a particularly big rainbow. Emilie is a fly-fishing novice, but she'd spent the previous day under our guide's watchful eye and her casting skills had made a quantum leap. Thanks to the 20 or so big trout she'd already caught from the Elk River, her fish-fighting technique had progressed even further.

Emilie's first cast landed just a little to the left of the big trout's hideout, drifting out of the strike zone. A trout in moving water is like a batter in baseball. The fish has a strike zone that's zealously guarded. Like an overanxious batter, a hungry trout will sometimes fall for an outside pitch, but the fish mostly waits patiently until the current delivers a juicy snack right down the middle of the proverbial plate.

"Cast a little more to the right this time," coached Stefanek. And, when Emilie complied, "That's perfect. This hopper will drift right over the fish." There was a silver and scarlet flash in the water, and Emilie's fly rod was bowed by an angry fish that pushed very near the 20-inch mark. I knew Emilie was in for a lengthy battle so I left her in Stefanek's capable hands and walked to the next likely spot. I didn't even cast the oversized grasshopper-pattern – just dropped it straight below me and peeled off a little line to allow a natural drift. The fly didn't move five feet before a trout tried to eat it.

The manmade meadow meander was a perfect way to end two days of the best trout fishing I've experienced anywhere south of Alaska. In some ways, it was better than Alaska because Alaskan trout are seldom caught on surface flies. Of the 30 fish I landed in two days, more than 20 rose to a big hopper. For the rest of the article click here. Back to the Marabou Ranch Steamboat blog main page for more.

Marabou Master guide in the news

The Dallas Morning News has a nice article on Steamboat Springs today with several quotes from Pat Stefanek a friend who has a "tough job" as a Master Guide at Marabou Ranch. Poor Pat has to Ski all winter and Fly-fish about 10 months a year.

Perfection in land of hoppers and droppers Saturday, August 16, 2008

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The first year Pat Stefanek spent in Steamboat Springs (1991), he had three jobs, just trying to make ends meet. One thing he knew for sure. He'd do whatever it took to live his version of a Rocky Mountain high.

"I was lucky because I made my passion my living," said Stefanek, master fishing guide and river keeper for three miles of upscale private trout waters on Marabou Ranch, just outside of Steamboat Springs, and 40 miles of private trout waters on North Park Fishing Club in nearby Walden, Colo.

"Steamboat Springs is the world's greatest place to live," Stefanek said. "The name alone is very cool, but there's a terrific outdoor lifestyle here that's hard to match. There are great trout streams in every direction, many of them public waters. I had 110 days of skiing on the mountain last winter – lots of powder days.

"Everybody is hiking and riding mountain bikes – it's just a great, healthy lifestyle. Whatever you think you're good at, there's a 12-year-old girl in Steamboat Springs who can kick your rear." (8 or 10 years old would probably be more accurate) For the whole article click here

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Marabou Ranch featured in NY Times Article

NYT photo
There is a great feature article in Sunday's New York Times that covers large ranch communities that go the extra mile to preserve the land for future generations> Marabou garnered most of the coverage due to all of the unique things they are doing to be good stewards of the land. If you would like to know more about Marabou Ranch give Jon Wade a call at 970-819-6930. I will give some perspective on what a special place they are creating out at Marabou, will send you more info and can arrange for you to see it in person. You can't truly appreciate Marabou without setting foot on the property.

From the NY Times: "Of all the attractions at Marabou Ranch, in Steamboat Springs, Colo., Jeff Temple, one of its developers, is most animated about the sharp-tail grouses mating grounds. “From April to June each year, about 50 birds come back, so we close off our trails and keep the construction away, he explained. “We set up a viewing area and go out at daybreak to see them. Open space is disappearing, he said, sounding more like a conservationist than a real estate developer. But Mr. Temple, a fourth-generation Steamboat resident whose father founded the Steamboat Ski Resort, sees a larger picture. “Here, were creating a legacy for our kids and grandkids.

Mr. Temple and his partners at Due West Land Ltd., which owns the property, have preserved in perpetuity 1,300 of the ranch'’s 1,700 acres. On the remaining land, they have created 62 lots what he calls homesteads— of 7 to 10 acres, priced at $2 million to $4 million apiece. If we’'re doing this right, each of our buyers can say they bought a 1,700-acre ranch, he said. Marabou, which sits along the Elk River, is among a widening group of expensive developments in Western states that are preserving land. At Marabou, Mr. Temple said, the developers decided not to place homesites along the Elk River or on the ridgelines, locations that would have reaped handsome profits. From a business perspective, this was risky,” he said.

We've said to potential buyers: ‘You can'’t have a home on the edge of the river. That's for everybody, he said. “Many of our owners are successful entrepreneurs used to running their own show. If you tell them they can'’t build their dream house, you risk turning them off, and away. But the conservation ethos has not deterred buyers. Since the 62 homesteads were put on sale early this year, 7 have sold, 9 are under contract and 11 have been reserved. It's an incredible piece of property,” said David Rayner, a communications executive from Denver, who bought a nine-acre parcel for $2.65 million this summer.

The fly fishing on the Elk River is quality, he said. A passionate fly fisherman, he has been casting on the river with his son, Michael, 18, throughout the summer and fall. In 2001, he and his wife, Cheryl, bought a 70-acre lot at Storm Mountain Ranch, a 1,000-acre development that was Mr. Temple'’s first in Steamboat.

The planning process for these low-density developments is lengthy. Mr. Temple estimated that it took an extra year to work out the details with Routt County officials, who supported the conservation approach. Marabou consulted wildlife biologists, agriculturists and others to create a master plan that would protect wildlife habitats and support ranching. One great way to preserve open space is to produce food on the land, Mr. Temple said. Marabou expects to produce 200 tons of hay a year, most of which the homeowners association will sell. Some will be used as feed for the 55 head of cattle and 15 horses on the property.

Marabou continues a long tradition of ranching in Steamboat Springs. To avoid overgrazing the land, ranchers rotate the cattle through different paddocks, a process known as intensive grazing because of the extra work needed to move them. When he is not herding cattle at Marabou Ranch, Chad Bedell, a former world champion steer wrestler, saddles up the horses at the development'’s barn and equestrian center and rides with owners on the 12 miles of trails. Mr. Bedell is one of five full-time employees whose principal duty is to show residents the art of fun.

Other master guides available to Marabou residents include Abi Slingsby, the Colorado state champion in cross-country mountain biking and Todd Lodwick, an Olympic Nordic skier and ski jumper who has won 17 national titles. We'’re avid skiers, so we'’re really looking forward to these services, Mr. Rayner said of his family. Mrs. Rayner and the couple's daughter, Lauren, 13, also plan to go horseback riding on the property.

Read the whole article here.

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Fly Fishing at Marabou Ranch

I went out to Marabou Ranch this morning to fly-fish with my father in-law Ted, a friend Todd and John from Marabou. If you think you know what fly fishing is like on the Elk River, think again. The level of improvements they have put into the river to enhance fish habitat is very impressive but let's get to the fishing first.

We arrived a little early so we would be ready for the hatch that has been going off between 10 and 2pm lately. It was a moderately overcast day and a little bit cool. Steve Henderson from Steamboat Fly Fishing was there to meet us and be our guide for the day. Steve is a great guy, knowledgeable fisherman and skilled guide. We started by walking up to one of the side channels of the Elk River and looked for fish. RIght away we saw a large trout on the other side about 20 feet away. Ted made a few casts and caught a smaller 18 inch Rainbow trout right away just as a much larger fish was closing in on his fly. The fish put up a solid fight and kicked off what would turn out to be a great day trying to outsmart the rest of his extended family.

Next we made our way upstream a bit and spread out over various holes and riffles. We each got several solid bites but the fish were pretty wiley and quickly returned most of our flies without the courtesy of entering our nets for a visit. Steve helped me bring up my game a bit and soon we were all rising to the challenge the fish laid down for us. The group fished up and down the area until about 2:30 when everyone left. Ted caught about a dozen fish ranging from about 12 inches to 3 large trout well over 20 inches. Todd caught about 9 with 2 twenty plus inchers. John and Steve also brought in some nice fish even though they were "working" to help us have a great day on the river. Both of them have it pretty well figured out in my book. Now that I think about it I was "working" too since I do need to understand all of the benefits of living in Steamboat Springs and each property my clients are interested in (I am pretty lucky too).

My father in-law has fly-fished all over the world and on the Elk River at and above this area before Jeff Temple put together Marabou Ranch. He loves the fly-fishing in and around Steamboat Springs to the point he often says that he knew it would be good here but never realized how good it would be. That said he wasn't very enthusiastic about what the Elk River had to offer in comparison to the Yampa River. Today really changed his mind about what was possible at Marabou Ranch. This is without without all of the extensive improvements they plan in place.

It would be one thing just to stock a river but they have hired some of the best people in the business to design and build improvements to the river. The idea is that improving the habitat will attract the largest fish in the river, grow larger fish naturally and keep all of them healthier will result in superior fishing that is suatainable over time. They have ordered generously from a large menu of ways to improve the Elk River through the ranch like adding limestone boulders for more flies to hatch from while using them to build beneficial structures. They put in just a few of the improvements in the river that are planned last winter so one has to wonder what it will be like once the habitat has time to grow some bigger fish and the full complement of improvements is in.

The list is too big to cover here but they are also adding 15 acres of ponds and streams through the property to provide a much longer fishing season that isn't blown out by the spring runoff and where the fish can cycle in and out of the river. They will keep the fish healthy by flowing 10 cubic feet per second of their water rights through the ponds and streams to keep the water cool and fresh. By the way I should mention that these pond and streams are not just holes and ditches but well thought out habitat for the trout with considerable attention to detail in their design and contsruction. It is an undstatement to say that Jeff Temple builds things right and beyond the expectations you form from the description. I have spent a good amount of time at Storm Mountain Ranch and I'm still impressed as I see how well Marabou Ranch is coming together.

One other feature of Marabou Ranch that I should mention is that they have their own private lease on 76,000 acres, giving over 40 miles of private fly-fishing on the North Platte, Michigan, Canadian and Platte Rivers near Walden Colorado. It is a reasonable drive or a very short flight by helicopter from Marabou Ranch. This fishery is well known for the quality of its fishing and stunning natural beauty since it is surrounded by the continental divide on one side, verdant pastures all around it and the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park in the distance.

Contact me if you would like to hear more about any of this or have me send you a stunning DVD that shows you more about the fishing and other amenities at Marabou Ranch. My number is 970-819-6930. Let me know if you are interested in a lot at Marabou Ranch and want to see it for yourself. I will arrange a visit to the ranch and a chance to fish it next time you are in town.

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