tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321070.post788446841473232523..comments2024-02-27T11:26:39.655-07:00Comments on Southern Rockies Nature Blog: Relocating Trout after the Hayden Pass FireChas S. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923547685265741325noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321070.post-47690055309680394502016-07-21T17:21:19.722-06:002016-07-21T17:21:19.722-06:00In 1978 I was living in Breckenridge, and working ...In 1978 I was living in Breckenridge, and working at the Climax molybdenum mine atop Fremont Pass, between Copper Mountain (Wheeler Junction) and Leadville. While driving to work early one morning, I found that the highway dept had opened a new stretch of the road, the climb on the Summit County side of the pass. I came around a corner to discover a beautiful mountain lake next to the road. Clinton Reservoir, on the back side of Bartlett Mountain, where the mine is.<br /><br />I was a fishing fool back in the day, and hit the lake my next day off. I could tell a big fishing story, but I'll save that for another time. I'll just say that I caught five fish on five casts. One of them was rather large, and looked unfamiliar. Had trout for dinner that night. I learned later that when the reservoir backfilled it flooded some ponds back in the gulch, releasing native greenback cutthroat into the lake. The state closed the reservoir to fishing for years, using it as a hatchery to restore the trout to Colorado waters. And I ate one. I felt a little guilty at the time.Darrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14316091005058053074noreply@blogger.com