The pursuit of wild trout takes the Tight Loops crew cross country to take on Rio Grande cutthroat.
From Tight Loops:
“Join us for episode 5 of For Wild’s Sake: The Rare Trout Chronicles, season 1! A series which explores human beings relationship to the natural world, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of how and why we assign value to wild things and places. In a quest to illustrate rare and threatened species of wild native trout in watercolor, artist Chase Bartee and wife Aimee set off on a multi year, cross country adventure of discovery.
After several months of desert rambling, and unexpected lockdowns, we’re finally turned loose and back in search of rare trout specimens to illustrate. Our quest leads us to the White Mountains of eastern Arizona in search of Apache Trout (Oncorhynchus apache) but the winds of fate have other plans. With early season temperatures skyrocketing, the streams in Apache Sitgreaves National Forest were swollen with runoff, forcing us to abandon ship and kill some time in New Mexico while we waited out the torrents. Luckily, with improved conditions we were able to seek another rare trout, The Rio Grande Cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis) which holds the title as the first salmonid described in the New World by European explorers. But with a history that long predates the Conquistadores, and a rocky and unstable present, the future of this unique trout is anything buy certain and we quickly discover that they may be harder to find than we originally thought.”
To check out more from Tight Loops, please click here.
