80 



( Oh, Ranger!' 



The sounds are still heard and remain unexplained. Hardly a sum 

 mer goes by without some excited fisherman coming in with a tale about 

 the weird sounds from the air above the lakes. 



The national parks are already the rendezvous of the trout anglers. 

 They can be made the finest fishing places in the country. They enjoy 

 certain advantages peculiar to themselves. They are at the headwaters 

 of streams where the water is cold and invigorating the year around, 

 just right for the gamy trout. These waters cannot be spoiled by pol 

 lution, the greatest enemy of the fish. The winter seasons, when the 

 parks are little frequented, give the fish their opportunity to increase 

 and grow. In at least half a dozen of the parks there are literally scores 

 of lakes and streams ideal for trout propagation. All that is needed to 

 complete this picture of fisherman's paradise is sufficient money to build 

 rearing ponds and raise the fish from fry to fingerlings. 



The mellowing influence of goin' fishin' has already been mentioned. 

 It is something that must be tasted to be enjoyed. Give a ranger the 

 hardest-shelled, most pompous dignitary in business or public life to 

 take out in the mountains, just fishin'. Watch him pull out the old pipe, 

 draw down the old slouch hat, loll around the campfire with the boys. 

 See him unbend, become "reg'lar." Keep an eye on him while he is 

 fishing. There is hope and optimism in his eye, there is youth in his 

 fingers as he zings out his line over the water. The way he jumps when 

 that trout hits the line ! Note that smile as he holds the speckled beauty 

 high for inspection ! "Ain't he a fish, though !" Hear him say it. Take 

 a deep breath as the trout hits the pan, alongside the coffeepot, over an 

 open fire. Aroma, oh, man! What if the fish is overdone? What if the 

 coffee is strong enough to paint a cabin? No chef could ever put into 

 food that delicious flavor of the mountains, tasted by a fellow when he 

 has been gom' fishin'. 



