Join Tight Loops for their latest episode in For Wild’s Sake: The Rare Trout Chronicles, season 1!
The Rare Trout Chronicles is a series which explores the human relationship to the natural world, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of how and why we assign value to wild things and places. Tight Loops artists and content creators Chase Bartee and wife Aimee follow the quest to illustrate rare and threatened species of wild native trout in watercolor.
After spending several weeks in NM, the two return to Eastern Arizona in search of its fabled and threatened native trout, the Apache Trout (Onchorynchus apache). If you have found yourself fishing this area, you know that finding the Apache Trout prove challenging, especially while trying to catch them with a fly rod.
DESPITE PERSISTING IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS FOR NEARLY A MILLION YEARS, APACHE TROUT HAVE BEEN ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION SINCE THE SETTLEMENT OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
–Tight Loops
Introductions of non native trout, as well as unchecked livestock grazing and agricultural diversions have proven more than these unique fish can handle. Thankfully, nearly 80 years ago the White Mountain Apache Tribe were quick to act, and have managed to protect the trout for now, but they still face myriad threats. We learn about them all as we navigate the ashes of recent megafires in search of the few remaining wild and native Apache Trout.
