The season of the “Biggest Fish Story Ever” is starting soon and I for one cannot wait. This will come as a surprise to most of my family and friends, as I am not known for my skill at this sport. I was first introduced to fishing with the wide variety of the “one-that-got-away stories” told by friends who loved to go to their family’s favorite summer get-away on Lake Erie. Their additional recounting of equally tall tales of luring their elusive quarry in the smaller lakes and river hidey-holes especially intrigued me. It was each individual’s special way of pulling me into the story that held my interest even more.
I cannot recall any more riveting tales than the ones describing the harrowing struggle to prevail against such elusive quarries. As a camp counselor, I learned to help the kids in my cabin bait their own hooks and sit in the hot sun with them. Most of them waited patiently for the tug on their line. For some reason, putting the worms on the hooks didn’t bother me and I loved being with them when they reeled in their first fish. Later their story of capturing the biggest fish kept us all entertained.
Glancing at the front page in the Feb. 24 edition of this paper a few weeks ago, I was immediately pulled into a different kind of fish story. The headline directly under the masthead, “White River Fish Facts” tells the sad tale of five of our local native species struggling to survive and thrive. The statistics offered during a recent presentation by an aquatic biologist for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife to the White River Alliance in “State of the Fish: What’s happening with fish in a challenged White River” more than piqued my interest. I read the entire article. Reading the story until the end, I realized that most of the big fish stories I heard in what I still think of my “Old-Timer” years concerned verifiable facts about the prevalent fish still collected in the “upper reach” of the river: Mountain Whitefish, Flannelmouth Sucker, Mottled Sucker, Rainbow Trout, and Brown Trout.
I also remembered my own outings with local government personnel from the National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Geological Services. I most likely wasn’t the preferred reporter invited along on those trips with other local journalists from all over northwest Colorado, yet I learned the most important skill of reporting on the facts if I was writing a newspaper article rather than a feature story. I never have been able to keep track of a list of specific facts or numbers well, so I only used the written information and statistical numbers sourced from those people who could back it up with the updated, verifiable information at hand. Unfortunately, my experience as a creative writer previously was not helpful at all. When I quoted some of my more interesting interviewees, the words they used to describe the people, places and events of those “good ole days” held my attention and captured more of my interest. This often led me to writing an article to meet a deadline and using non-primary source quotes in my articles.
Over the years, a few phone calls or letters led me to comb my rough drafts over and over to make sure I had the correct information before submitting my article. Oftentimes, it was too late and my mistake would be listed in next week’s edition of the paper. I can actually count the dwindling number of my newspaper friends, who can still entertain me with all the times they are called into account by their readers, on one hand. It leaves a lasting impression. Come on, cut us a break. It seems as if we all attended the afterschool program of investigative journalism, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” That is all any of us need.
By DOLLY VISCARDI – Special to the Herald Times
