09-13-2007, 11:10 PM
This past year, the Division of Wildlife Resources celebrated its Golden Anniversary of dropping fish out of the sky.
Utah started stocking fish with fixed-wing aircraft back in 1956.<br />
Many of the lakes in Utah are excellent places to fish, but you can't get to them with a truck or a car. The Uinta Mountains alone have more than 650 fishable lakes. The best way to stock many of these valuable fisheries-and sometimes the only way to stock them-is from the air.<br />
To better understand the program and where we are today, let's take a look back and see how these backcountry lakes used to be stocked.<br />
Stocking mountain lakes was once a slow process using milk cans and
dle bags to add a few fish at a time.
Milk cans and pack horses<br />
As you think back, picture in your mind an old-time Utah Department of Fish and Game biologist. You're watching as he leads a string of pack horses to a stream and stops.<br />
One by one, he unstraps a handful of milk cans from the side of each horse. Each can contains small brook trout fry. It's a long trek to the lakes he'll stock, and he's stopped at the stream to exchange the old water for fresh water.<br />
After he's exchanged the water, he ties a gunnysack around the top of each can. The sacks will help keep the water in the cans. Then he straps the cans back to the sides of his trusty horses.<br />
As the pack horses start walking again, the walking of the horses jostles the water in the cans. That aerates the water enough to keep the small fish alive. On long trips, he'll stop at least once or twice to add fresh water to the cans.<br />
The year is 1955. As he rides atop his horse, the old timer knows this will be his last trip. The new fixed-wing airplanes will replace him next year, and a way of life will be lost.
Utah started stocking fish with fixed-wing aircraft back in 1956.<br />
Many of the lakes in Utah are excellent places to fish, but you can't get to them with a truck or a car. The Uinta Mountains alone have more than 650 fishable lakes. The best way to stock many of these valuable fisheries-and sometimes the only way to stock them-is from the air.<br />
To better understand the program and where we are today, let's take a look back and see how these backcountry lakes used to be stocked.<br />
Stocking mountain lakes was once a slow process using milk cans and
dle bags to add a few fish at a time.Milk cans and pack horses<br />
As you think back, picture in your mind an old-time Utah Department of Fish and Game biologist. You're watching as he leads a string of pack horses to a stream and stops.<br />
One by one, he unstraps a handful of milk cans from the side of each horse. Each can contains small brook trout fry. It's a long trek to the lakes he'll stock, and he's stopped at the stream to exchange the old water for fresh water.<br />
After he's exchanged the water, he ties a gunnysack around the top of each can. The sacks will help keep the water in the cans. Then he straps the cans back to the sides of his trusty horses.<br />
As the pack horses start walking again, the walking of the horses jostles the water in the cans. That aerates the water enough to keep the small fish alive. On long trips, he'll stop at least once or twice to add fresh water to the cans.<br />
The year is 1955. As he rides atop his horse, the old timer knows this will be his last trip. The new fixed-wing airplanes will replace him next year, and a way of life will be lost.