Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1920-08-29
THE HASKIN LETTER
THE LAND OF THE TROUT,

Denver, Aug. 17.-Colorado is now
reyered BY sportsmen everywhere as be-
ing the greatest trout-fishing area in
the country Thousands Of people come
here every summer for the sole purpose
of pursuing the elusive but abundant
trout, making Denver the base of their
attack The native Denverites are no
less enthusiastic concerning the unsur-
passed quality of the nearby trout
streams, SO that Denver has come to
possess a very trouty atmosphere.
Everybody talks trout, everybody eats
trout, and nearly everybody at some time
or other catches trout. Mountain trout
is the headliner on every hotel menu, I'M
less it is temporarily ousted in favor Of
lake trout; discussions of it's habits, af-
fectations and idiosyncrasies fill costly
columns in the local newspapers, and it
is constantly cropping up in the adver-
tising copy Of such unrelated articles as
kodaks, motorcycles and women's wear.
Then there are the dozens of shops
scattered all over the city which sell
nothing but fishing tackle and fishing
apparel. They are constantly crowded
by newly arrived tenderfeet in the proc
ess of trying on various kinds OF rubber
boots, guaranteed to withstand the most
violent exposure in Bear creek, with ma
tive guides who GLAZING to have all the
best fishing haunts reserved for their
own activities, and with bewildered fem
mime amateurs, desperately attempting
to master the art Of attaching queer
looking artificial flies. Judging by the
appearance of these stores, the owners
must all be rapidly becoming million
aires.
Patrons Select Their Fish.
Even the most casual tourist soon be-
comes infected with the spirit of con-
quest, and begins to wish that he could
have a hand in catching the infinitive
number of mountain trout that he con-
sumes. At least one Denver cafe has
recognized this vague longing on the part
of the nonfishing public and has capital
lied it in unique way. Connected with
it's dining room Is large tank contain
ing numerous live trout. The patron or
dering mountain trout for his dinner is
led to this aquarium, permitted to select
his own fish, and then to stand nearby
while Il waiter deftly bats and catches
that particular trout for which a hot
frying pan Is already waiting. This
novel plan not only assures the dining
public of fresh fish, but also affords it a
pleasant thrill.
No one knows how many trout are
removed from the trout streams of Colo
RADIO every year. So far as can be as
ccrtained, no statistician has vet come
along and estimated how many freight
cars it would take to haul them to the
eastern coast. or how many miles of fish
trail they would make il strewn an eighth
Of an inch across the continent. The
only way in which the fish and game
authorities can estimate is by the num-
Der Of fishermen who frequent the
streams. About 800 900 tourists have
had designs on the Colorado trout this
year, while the natives daily diminish the
stock by several thousand On the day
that the season opened this year, 500
fishermen were tackling Bear creek
alone, and the remoter streams, accord
ing TO reports of the forest service, were
equally crowded.
At this rate there would be only a
few seasoned and wary trout left ut the
end of year if the state of Colorado
were not so vigiIant in replenishing the
streams with new fish. But fortunately
the state has fish and game commits
sioner who is himself a sportsman and
therefore personally as well as officially
interested in seeing that Colorado main
tains its pinnacle Of trout fame. Under
the supervision of this commission, r. G.
Parvin, twenty million sturdy young
trout are artificially propagated and