Forest and Stream 
$3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1912. 
VOL. LXXIX.—No. 3. 
137 Franklin St., New York. 
Fishing in Colorado 
C OLORADO presents a happy combination of 
fishes to the sportsman. Trout and gray¬ 
ling are abundant and furnish the standard 
of excellence, but the hump-backed sucker, the 
white salmon and several other odd fishes offer 
By GOV. JOHN F. SHAFROTH 
the territories west of the one hundredth 
meridian. During the next fifteen years the 
trout in the more accessible streams, particularly 
those of the Eastern slope, suffered from the 
popularity of trout fishing. Adequate protection 
was arranged, and three species of trout intro¬ 
duced, the rainbow trout from California, the 
landlocked salmon from Maine and the Eastern 
brook trout. All of these have thrived, particu¬ 
larly the last, which is almost, if not quite, as 
successful as the various native species. Of the 
native trout there are four kinds, one of which 
is unique to Colorado. This, the yellow-finned 
or Macdonald trout, is especially worthy of note. 
It is much like the green-backed or native trout 
of the Eastern slope except for the lower fins. 
These are brilliant yellow. It is a fine species 
and reaches the weight of eleven pounds. Dr. 
Jordan, of Leland Stanford University, dis¬ 
covered this fish in Twin Lakes in 1889, and it 
is known only from these lakes and from the 
streams in the immediate vicinity. The common 
native trout on the western slope is the Colorado 
River trout, locally known as the red-finned 
trout. 
Concerning the caprices of trout almost any 
fisherman who has tried for them will have a 
supply of stories. Trout are notorious for their 
change of taste. One bait may be taken with 
alacrity for an hour or so, when suddenly the 
fish stop biting. A change of bait at this time 
frequently means a favorable change of luck, 
and again frequently not. What fisherman has 
not crouched near a still mountain pool and dis¬ 
gustedly watched the play of color on a fine 
“green back” as it repeatedly passed the most 
v. 
NEAR ESTABROOK, PLATTE CANYON. 
something distinctly different from the usual 
catch. The game fishes are of the best and will 
try both the skill and equipment of the expert, 
although the amateur may be sure of fish with 
nothing more than the hook and line, and the 
worm, if accompanied by a bit of good humor. 
Trout have always been favorites. It seems 
that they have a charm of their own to man, 
both civilized and otherwise, for even the In¬ 
dians prized these splendid fish. Perhaps this 
is due in part at least to the habits and habitat 
of these fish. In clear, cold streams, sometimes 
barely deep enough to cover its back, the bril¬ 
liantly colored trout moves about in plain sight 
of its pursuer and taxes his ingenuity to the 
utmost. The trout of merry England, of New 
England and of Colorado have each in turn com¬ 
manded the attention of fishermen, and to-day 
few fishing grounds rival the mountain streams 
and lakes of Colorado. 
Colorado trout were first brought to the 
general notice of Eastern fishermen by the ex¬ 
ploration of the expedition of Lieut. Wheeler, 
U. S. A., during the years 1871 to 1875. This 
expedition collected fishes among other things in 
ON BIG THOMPSON RIVER. 
