Trout In the Community

Thanks to my guest blogger, Mrs. Hopper Juan.

If you live in or near Colorado Springs, you need to head over to Angler's Covey to check out the fish aquarium they have in the lobby of the building.  A Trout Unlimited project which originally started out as "Trout in the Classroom" has been expanded to "Trout in the Community" with Angler's Covey as the pilot site.  Colorado TU has had some five schools involved in the Trout in the Classroom program, which raises native trout in the classroom and uses it as learning experience where students monitor water quality, learn about trout habitat, environmental stewardship, and ultimately release native trout into the wild.  What a great program! And now we have Trout in the Community taking off at the Covey.  Back in December, Dave Leinweber hosted a pint night with some wicked beer on tap and cool commemorative glasses to raise money for a new aquarium.  Last month, the aquarium arrived and was assembled.  A few weeks ago, water was added and the pumps were running, and not long after that, there was a small basket with about 100 tiny eggs.  Much joking about treading on the redds and an easy snack on Ritz crackers gave way to a new joke about fishing with a size 34 hook and a piece of spider-web tippet when the little eggs hatched.  Now the fun starts.  The hatched fish were booted out of the nursery and immediately did what fish do--they hid in the rocks for safety and survival.  They are hard to see, but that doesn't keep me from looking about every five minutes when I'm at the Covey.    Check out this video and then get over there to see them in person.  They are changing by the day.