Not quite ready to grab a pale morning dun off the surface…

Just got thess great videos from Rachel Lutterman at White Mountain Elementary about the progress of the trout in the third grade classroom. She reports counting at least 22 of the tiny rainbows swimming around in the tank and feeding on the fish food that was supplied with the materials they purchased through a fund raising program.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m assisting with the Trout Unlimited “Trout in the Classoom” project at White Mountain Elementary in my old home town of Ruidoso. Third grade teachers Rachel Lutterman and Michelle Thurston have been coordinating the project, which got going late last year when my good friend Ken Tabish from Albuquerque (President of the Bosque Chapter of TU) and I met to set up the equipment in Michelle’s classroom.

In the next video, you can see the fish taking food from the top of the water. Fly fishermen, like me, really like this kind of surface action when we engage in catch and release fishing on our clean, cold fisheries in New Mexico.

I’m planning to go up to Ruidoso in the next few days just to check on things. But it’s clear to me that Rachel, Michelle, the other third grade teachers and, of course, the 3rd graders, are really on top of this project. I’ll keep you posted.