I have been following an interesting discussion that has been developing on a fly fishing e-mail list that I subscribe to. It began when one of the list members who resides in B.C., Canada, took a vacation in New Mexico. While there, he had plenty of opportunity to fish the San Juan and other waters in the State. When he returned home, he provided us all with a fishing report that was very interesting, and included his daily catches, fly patterns he used, and even weather details.

New Mexico is known for its huge efforts at stocking large numbers of trout throughout the State. As a result of this, New Mexico, and especially the San Juan is enjoying a reputation as a great place to take a fly fishing vacation. But are there problems with dumping large numbers of hatchery fish into our streams and lakes?

For some places, there would be very little fishing if it were not for hatcheries. I know that in my own Province of Ontario, much of the excellent fishing in the Great Lakes tributaries is due to the massive stocking by both the Government and local angling clubs.

After reading the report regarding the fly fishing in New Mexico, I had the impression that although the fishing seemed pretty good, there remained a certain amount of disappointment in how easy it was to catch trout. Many anglers believe that hatchery fish simply do not offer the same challenges as wild fish.

What is the answer? Should we continue to pour funds into hatcheries and stocking programs to ensure that there will always be fish to catch? Or, are we perhaps not doing enough to ensure the survival of wild trout?

Some on the list felt that perhaps the problem of declining wild stocks were caused in part because of the easy access we have today to what used to be wilderness areas. With the growing use of ATV's, the greater numbers of logging roads which assist anglers in travelling further to pristine lakes and our generally more mobile society, should we just be accepting of our declining wild populations? Should we be considering restrictions on those who want to pursue wild fish? Is there any practical way to halt the increasing numbers of anglers who have access to rivers with wild fish?

Many solutions have been proposed. Some of these include more legislation such as decreasing the length of our present fishing seasons. A very controversial solution would be to grant certain individuals and/or organizations the right to charge their own fees to fish a particular body of water, or part thereof. In return, the 'River Keepers' would use these funds to ensure the health of the wild fish and their environment, and by careful monitoring, enforce their own regulations.

The great fear in this solution is that fly fishing would again become an elite sport. In some parts of the United Kingdom, it is impossible to fish excellent rivers unless you are very rich and can pay the fee the local River Keepers demand. On the other hand, the fishing is good.