Page 60 - Flathead Beacon // 5.14.14

60 | MAY 14, 2014
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OUT OF BOUNDS Rob Breeding

Maggot Mouth

W
HITEFISH HAVE A BAD isselfevident.
$
rap. They are scorned by some And from an angling stand point,

as mere trash ish, but like whiteish on light tackle are a hoot.
most things in life, the story isn’t quite There have been plenty of days, es-
so black and white.
pecially in the cooler shoulder seasons,
HelpFor starters, mountain whiteish when whiteish gobbling up our weight- raise
evolved alongside native trout in the ed nymphs was the diference between
Northern Rockies. Both ish did just a fun day and a frustrating one. The ish money for
ine living together before we arrived on ight like bulldogs, often matching trout.
the Edgerton
the scene. So if you’ve got some silly no- It’s not as though they just roll over once
tion that you’re doing your local ishery hooked. I’ve watched dudes with big Elementary
a favor by chucking whiteish up on the whiteish on the line whoop it up, just
bank, think again. Yes, they eat some of until the moment they got the ish close Recycling
the same foods as trout, but the under- enough to identify. Then it’s as though
slung mouths of whiteish usually keep someone peed in their beer.
Program!
them hugging the bottom. Trout move I used to go through that same crash
up through the water column to feed, all and burn every time I landed a whiteish,

the way to the surface on blessed sum- but not any more. We all grow up some-
mer days.
day, and in my own incomplete journey 5k & 1 mile run at Edgerton Elementary
I’m not sure I’ve ever caught a white- an important moment was the one when
ish on a dry ly, though it may have hap- I realized that any day you catch a ish, SUNDAY, MAY 18th AT 1PM
pened and I’ve just repressed the memo- regardless of species, it’s a good day.
ry. I’ve seen them feeding on or near the I’m always happy to catch a whiteish
surface however, rising in schools. The now, though I still prefer trout.
Register online or day of
rise form is diferent that a trout, being The other great gift of whiteish is
a slighter without the substantial bulge that much of our great ofseason trout
of the surface. Whiteish, with that un- ishing has its roots in winter angling
derslung mouth, just aren’t as eicient traditions. Winter ishing was a white-
as trout at sipping bugs out of the surface ish game, and the old timers swear that by
ilm. It’s doable, but it’s not their forte.
in the colder months the lesh irmed up sponsored
So there may be some competition and they were pretty good, as long as you
for food, but in a healthy watershed I smoked them.

suspect its efect on trout populations is For me, it’s pretty good as long as
slight. I also suspect the same in regards you smoke it is code for not good at all,
to whiteish foraging on the bottom to but that’s beside the point. This was an The 2013-2014 Flathead
eat trout eggs. They can and do eat them, era when anglers wore union suits and
but like most animals in the wild, most scratchy wool to fend of the cold and Boter Club Board of
baby trout are created not to grow old, wrapped raw onion sandwiches in wax
but to be food for other ish.
paper for shore lunch. These anglers Directos extends our sincere
I’ve ished in waters that were out
drifted maggots through runs of white- apreciation to the community
of balance. Lees Ferry, on the Colorado ish, and to keep the larvae lively, they
River, was once a great trophy trout ish- stored the bait in their lips like a pinch membes and busineses for
ery. But the consensus these days is that of tobacco.
the introduced rainbows are so proliic Back in the day ishing the March your suport of Flathead High
that there’s just not enough food to grow skwala hatch on the Bitterroot we used
trophy ish the way the river once did. to joke “Darn, another trout. Can’t seem Schol Activities.
There are too many 8-inch trout ighting to catch any whiteish today,” as we re-

over the groceries.
leased ish back into the river.
There’s also the simple fact that baby I can’t hold a grudge against even
whiteish make up a fair percentage of a “trash” ish when it opens a door like
the diet of larger, predatory trout. In bull that.
Because of your monetary,
trout country the value of baby whiteish
volunteer and item donations

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