BY KAREN BOSSICK

Time for your Superman cape.

The Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited is enlisting volunteers to rescue trout in the Big Wood River today.

Would-be rescuers should meet at 1 p.m. today—Monday, Oct. 9—at the Valley Country Store, 869 S. Main St. in Bellevue. From there they will proceed to the Glendale Diversion just south of Bellevue.

The Trout Unlimited organization has been rescuing trout which become trapped in the canals for the past 11 years. The effort, done in conjunction with Idaho Fish & Game and the canal companies, has resulted in thousands of trout being returned to the Big Wood River.

Volunteers from the organization recently helped relocate 525 trout up to 18 inches long trapped in irrigation ditches in the District 45 diversion irrigation ditch in the Howards Preserve area of Bellevue.

After irrigation season comes to an end, the headgates to the ditches are closed so that water no longer flows into the ditches. The irrigation ditches become disconnected puddles and trout that have strayed into the ditches become trapped. They die if they’re not rescued, said Keri York, Big Wood River project manager for Trout Unlimited.

“Installing fish screens on Big Wood diversions is quite costly and may be an option in the future,” she added. “In the meantime, efforts of the local Hemingway chapter, in conjunction with Idaho Department of Fish and Game and local irrigation districts and canal operators, is helping to save our fish populations.”

Volunteers taking part in the Howards Preserve rescue were Mike Bordenkircher, Cathy and Tom Mendenhall, Eric Eberhard, Bob Knoebel, Darlene and John Finnell, Carmen and Ed Northen and York.

They stretched nets that are weighted on the bottom from one side of the ditch to the other. They then moved the fish slowly up a 60-foot stretch of the disconnected waterway.

Eventually, they circled the net around the fish, then carried the netted fish by bucket to an aerated water tank on a trailer.

Trout Unlimited Hemingway Chapter holds meetings a 5 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at Whiskey Jacques in Ketchum. The meetings, which always feature slide presentations of local or even worldwide interest, are open to the public.

For more information, contact Ed Northen at hemingwaytu@me.com or 949-246-9372.