craigd: I haven't ruled it out entirely, but as a product of the eastern deciduous forests myself (NW Pennsylvania) I do have an affinity for that type of biomass. I'm also haunted by the memory of how nice things still were out here even 10-years ago now(!). It's hard for me to go fish a stream (take the time, burn the gas) that once was beautiful and productive but now is crowded, trashed (not too-strong a word here), and essentially devoid of fish. I painfully understand why royalty in Europe (and/or the wealthy here) needed to make their best hunting and fishing spots private, because the hoi-polloi tend to destroy any such resource by abusive overuse. As a card-carrying member of said hoi-polloi, this bothers me to no-end, but...I have no other real solutions. Trout streams are a very delicate resource that doesn't much tolerate overuse and moreover... crowding is anathema to an old flyfisherman such as myself, as I fish to get away from it all (humanity, crowding, noise, etc.). As with most of the classic male pursuits (hunting, golf, gambling, drinking, etc.) fishing is an escape mechanism and there is no escaping from the crowds here in Colorado anymore. At least not on the Front Range. I also realize that this problem is endemic in the streams of the east and west coasts as well, thus my interests in "flyover country".

Last edited by Lloyd3; 01/04/24 10:25 AM.