It’s not something I can conciously control, I like the places I find trout as much as I like catching them. Towering pines, bald eagles, both the sights and sounds of the woods are part and parcel of the entire experience.

No, I am not an eco-terrorist, but as I hike back to the car I see my way to bring trash back with me, most of it is other folks’ the rest mine.

I was emptying my vest from Saturdays episode (see below) and tossed the usual suspects; snarl of monofilament, soggy ciger butts (mine), left over wrapper from sandwich, when the radio blared that some well intentioned fellow has just jettisoned a grand piano from the International Space Station.

On the “Mixed Message” scoreboard I would rate this an eight. While Woodsy Owl is admonishing us with, “Give a Hoot, don’t pollute” their sister agency is giggling over whether they can hit Bejing from here…. “I dunno Bob, I would lead it a like a sumbitch,  Houston out.”

I draw the line at space junk, I’ve seen Joe Dirt and unless a martian waves at me – it’s likely something I am better off not touching.

As we are on the subject of water, another interesting tidbit surfaces about a study of the effects of estrogen on Colorado trout.

Specifically, left-over birth control effluent is the root of a number of Evils, including the creation of “Metrosexual” trout.  A 123 fish sample of Boulder Creek – below Boulder’s sewage plant yielded 101 female, 12 male, and 10 “Intersex” fish – showing characteristics of both sexes.

” It’s the first thing I’ve seen as a scientist that’s really scared me..”

While the site and its links are rife with liberal bashing, it is is worth an eyeball.

Metrosexual trout – can this be the real roots of “selective trout?” Females are big, males are small, and the fish we encounter that don’t immediately eat our offering are choosy? I will test this hypothesis by tying a dozen well dressed and perfectly coifed flies – for those choosy occasions.

I saw that Davis Lake was to be poisoned again. Davis Lake had Northern Pike introduced years ago by anglers unknown, and their potential spread into the California Delta, has most fishery biologists trembling in fear.

My last couple of outings featured prominent signs warning anglers about New Zealand Mud snails , how they might be spread via wader or wading boot.  It appears as if we’re entering a new paradigm, the angler as pollination vector for foreign hosts. 

It is intimidating, what with the mosquitos carrying West Nile virus and Bird Flu, the northward march of Fire ants and Africanized bees, add in Zebra mussels, and Rock Snot, and a side arm seems necessary.

Not minimizing the issue in the slightest, this represents eco-change. Much of it will be for the worst, but what ecosystems and native California species were wiped out with the introduction of Brown Trout (1894), Kamloops Trout (1950), and (1879) Striped Bass? 

Freshwater is in short supply in most states, so applications of long lived toxic chemicals are out of the question, too many drink it, the rest farm with it. On the surface, it would suggest that once introduced, a foreign species without natural enemies can be slowed, but not eradicated.

Evolution and the process of natural selection are powerful things to tinker with – I would assume that Mother Nature will fight back by making Zebra mussels incredibly tasty to whatever is left.

In the meantime wash your waders – and remember only the cold emptiness of Space has slowed us, and that too appears temporary. Some poor Martian is enjoying  a quiet day afield, unaware that these are the Good Old Days, and fishing was really good before those damn Earthlings showed…