When we pulled up to the Leadville National Fish Hatchery, manager Duane Monk and assistant manager Mark Maskill were busy loading Snake River cutthroat into a tank truck for release in a nearby reservoir. As we peered into tanks filled with 2-inch cutthroat, Monk told us that a volunteer crew from Fort Carson would carry the fingerlings into remote streams by backpack. A century ago, hatchery-raised fish traveled first class in rail cars. The waters, which had once held only native cutthroat, were stocked with nonindigenous rainbow, brook, lake and brown trout. Today, the hatchery produces 500,000 fish a year, with a special emphasis on bringing back the cutthroat.
Admission is free.
The staff is sympathetic to the piscine passions of visitors since the managers are anglers themselves. Although Monk favors the fighting brown when he's on the stream, he's not a trout snob. An old carp, he'll tug too. Inc. All rights reserved.