ANNUAL FISHING TRIPS

Retirees’ Adventure

Quite a few members of our Old Pueblo TU chapter are retirees who moved to southern Arizona to bask in its terrific climate and enjoy the sights and sounds of the unique and appealing Sonora Desert. But then, as always, there is the flip side—a salmo angler who retires in the Tucson area is plumb out of luck because trout and their cousins hang out where cold, clear waters flow; and that’s definitely not in southern Arizona. The obvious solution to the dilemma: pack up those waders, grab those rods and travel north, old man. You are no longer a 9 to 5 working stiff, you have paid your dues bro, just go!

Every September, a group of OPTU retirees have a fishing adventure lasting from ten to fourteen days. Over the past several years we have fished streams such as the Kenai and Anchor rivers in Alaska, the Green below Flaming Gorge in Utah, the Big Horn in Montana, Soda Butte and Lamar rivers of Yellowstone, San Juan in New Mexico, Animas and Dolores in Colorado and other waters. The 2009 adventure was to the upper Sacramento, the McCloud and other streams in northern California. The cost of the trips varies, from roughly $1,600 if by car to about $2,500 per person if the adventure calls for flying and renting vans. Drivers have their car expenses paid for. Any of these trips, as they say around here, is a ganga, a deal.