SOUTH FORK HOT & SNOWY
Hitchhikers Abound
.. A foot of snow and icy trails have not stopped the neighbors from visiting the good pools of the South Fork of the Madison River. The run is on and there's only a few days left. Large Woolly Buggers, Dark Spruce Flies, and Yellowstone Spruce Flies are the offerings being used to catch the late fall behemoths. Fish to 7# have been reported... The big fish have crossed the road and are as far up as the springs. Pop cans and litter make fishing a bit of an unsightly experience but today's snow should obliterate the trash. The bridge pool below the forest service road bridge has been an excellent place to catch the resting giants --- Long Rod, Careful Backcast, Avoid Willows, Land Submarine!
.. Protect Your Waters has an article about, (and reference to,) the growing trend to consciously and deliberately move about invasive species. Right now the movement is centered on endangered species. Read it HERE & HERE... The question posed by the article in Economist.com bears consideration:
Once the tinkering has started, who takes responsibility for negative outcomes, like losses to agriculture or changes to the aesthetic value of an area? There are too few good answers to these questions, and we need them, as the trend toward deliberate ecological modification looks set to continue.
.. Most of the fish in Yellowstone are transplants, (including the current stock of large brown submarines in the slim water of the South Fork.)
photo courtesy David B. Robert: Gallery, Site.
photo courtesy David B. Robert: Gallery, Site... Stop Hitchhikers also reports about the drive to eliminate the bluegill
from Japan. The fish was initially a gift of "Hizonor" Mayor Richard J. Daley to, (then prince,) Emperor Akihito, in 1960. It has since taken over the moat at the imperial palace and moved on to surrounding waters and Japan's largest lake; Lake Biwa. The emperor has make a public statement regretting the situation and is encouraging the population to eat - not release the "Prince Fish." Read it HERE... A review of the problems facing the local fish population, (particularly the Cutthroat strains,) can be found HERE. (The Yellowstone Cutthroat pages are HERE & HERE.)
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