Take three ingredients: water, sunlight and insects. Keep the water clean, allow it to run over rocks and fine gravel at a temperature between 40 and 70 degrees, sprinkle with healthy doses of the sunlight to encourage plant life and insects -- and voila, you have a beautiful, streamlined, rainbow colored trout. Few creatures on earth can rival the subtleties of color and majesty of the trout. There are so many varieties of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that full grown fish range in size from four inches (in some headwater streams) to over 50 pounds (in some lakes in British Columbia). It may seem peculiar that fisherman, and particularly fly fisherman, treat trout with such reverence. The reason may lie in the mystery of trout's habits. Trout in different rivers are as different as a Kalahari bushman and an insurance salesman from Topeka. They feed on different insects, at different times, at different temperatures, in different habitats on a given river or stream. A lifetime can be spent just unlocking the most basic mysteries of the trout. Trout can make a permanent home in a mountain stream 10,000 feet above sea level, or in the case of the Steelhead Trout, yards away from the ocean in a coastal stream. Had the trout not appeared on the earth millions of years ago, it's doubtful it would have evolved in the world's current freshwater habitats. In the next millennium, there must be a goal to save every river that supports trout -- no exceptions. A further goal, whenever possible, is to dismantle dams or any other structures that impede the natural flow of fresh water and the migration of trout. One organization that has done much to ensure a quality habitat for trout around the United States and the globe is Trout Unlimited. Visit their website at www.tu.org for more information.   | Home | Cultural | Environmental | Musical | Ordinary | | Contact Us | About the Authors | © Copyright 2007 fiftythings