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Fishing: Creek cleanup will not happen overnight
Fifty years ago, Green Drakes disappeared from Spring Creek in Centre County after someone from a Penn State University chemistry lab dumped cyanide into the water. The big mayflies haven't been seen there since. "A bunch of us tried to reintroduce them by planting nymphs in the stream and duns in the foliage," said Dan Shields, of Lamont, Pa., who wrote about the incident in his book "Fly Fishing Pennsylvania's Spring Creek." "We even netted thousands of spinners from another stream, but they never took hold. We tried for three or four years, but it was no use." Although the recent train derailment and chemical spill on Sinnemahoning Portage Creek in Mc-Kean and Cameron counties was much bigger and more deadly, experts are cautiously optimistic that insects will rebound on what had been pristine, wild trout water, but predict a long, slow process.
Utah's game fish: Cutthroat Trout
This is the only trout native to Utah. It is often referred to as the "native" trout. Over the years the cutthroat has hybridized with other trout species, in particular the rainbow, so it is sometimes difficult to distinguish. The cutthroat gets its name from the "cut throat" markings, typically a red or orange slash located on either side of the lower jaw. But because of inner-breeding, the slashes may or may not be present. Often, the most reliable way to distinguish a cutthroat is by its orangish pectoral and anal fins. The back and sides of the fish are typically a steel-gray color accented with small, black dots. These dots tend to be more regular in size and shape than in other members of the trout family and are typically concentrated towards the tail. The tail of the cutthroat is slightly forked and this is a fish with long, sharp teeth.
Bird flu puts small dent in flyfishing business
DELTA, Colo. Lines of long, narrow, white buildings spread out across the ranch in the lush, green farmland of western Colorado. Inside are chickens, up to 85,000 in each of the dimly lit coops with interiors that feel like greenhouses and smell like outhouses. This is Tom Whiting's lab, where he creates new kinds of chickens or, more specifically, chicken feathers. Whiting is no mad scientist. He's a poultry geneticist and his company, Whiting Farms, is the world's largest producer of the chicken hackle that fly fishermen use for tying flies. Whiting keeps a watchful eye on his birds, from the time the chicks are hatched until their feathers are packaged and shipped to companies in roughly 40 countries. With the operation broken up among three ranches, Whiting has biological security from poultry diseases and protection from natural disasters that might wipe out his entire line.
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