About 5,000 years ago the blueback trout followed melting glacers into the ponds of New England. Now, the once abundant population has dwindled to alarming levels. One of the causes of this population decline has been the introduction of the rainbow smelt. The effort is pushing on to rid the waters of the small bating fish so that the bluebacks can flourish again.
In the fall issue of TROUT, Murray Carpenter tackles the issue of the blueback trout. Carpenter also produced a piece for National Public Radio entitled Rescuers Plan to Kidnap Rare Fish (click to listen). In the clip Carpenter joins biologist Frank Frost on a trip to Big Reed Pond to see how many bluebacks they can catch. The trout would then be transported to a hatchery to spawn while the smelt problem is dealt with.
Have you ever caught a blueback? Tell us your story in the comments!
By Dee Dauphinee October 6, 2010 - 6:43 pm
Hi! I’m a fly fisher, author and instructor living in Maine. I’ve caught scores and scores of bluebacks…even have come up with a couple of flies I tie just for them.
I’m finishing-up a book of essays about fly fishing around the world and there is a chapter about bluebacks.
For a time one could google me and there was a long article I wrote about bluebacks. It’s probably still floating around out there.
Dee