Alberta's Trout Highway: Barry Mitchell's fishing legacy remains a hot commodity

For Alberta anglers, a book on trout fishing by the late Barry Mitchell has become like the Holy Grail.

Despite being published nearly 20 years ago, Alberta's Trout Highway: Fishing the Forestry Trunk Road is sought after by many, found by few, and expensive for those who do track down a copy.

Requests for the book are often posted to Alberta online fishing forums, but it's rare to find a used copy selling for anything under $300. Amazon.ca currently has one in very good condition on sale for $592.98.

The rising value of the book comes as a bit of shock to Mitchell's daughter, Jen Stange, who spoke to CBC News from her home in Red Deer on Thursday

"I had no idea it had gotten up into that range," she said.

"I just attribute it to my dad's really informal style of writing and how he wanted to share what he knew with as many people as he could reach."

As a tutor of academic writing at Red Deer College, Stange knows a thing or two about the written word. She believes fans of the book enjoyed her father's conversational tone.

"My dad had a very sort of informal, everyday person kind of way of writing," she said. "It was not just a how-to guide but also like sitting down with a friend and shooting the breeze."

Bill Robertson agrees.

He's a purchaser for The Fishin' Hole, a popular fishing store in Western Canada that sold the book when it was still being printed. 

"I think what makes the book a little bit different than other fly fishing books is Barry's sense of humour and his personality really comes through," Robertson said. "An easy read and packed full of good information."

Robertson explained that most of that information is still valid despite the book's age. 

"Obviously there's great demand for it still as by the prices on Amazon and elsewhere," he said.

When asked if he has a copy Robertson said "I do", and quickly followed with "not for sale."

"To me it's worth more to hang on to it and re-read it once in a while," he said.

Stange explained that her dad's book is about more than simply teaching people how and where to catch fish in Alberta.

"His thoughts on streamside rules and etiquette, and just all of those kinds of things that maybe we don't think about," she said. "He spent years doing what he called 'research', which means fishing."

In addition to penning the book, Mitchell and his wife Ann also published the annual Alberta Fishing Guide for more than 40 years, with much of the information gathered during those "research" trips.

The trout highway referred to on the cover of Mitchell's book is Alberta's Highway 40. It's a segmented forestry road that runs along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, from the Crowsnest Pass in the south to the Peace Country in the north. 

Don Andersen, who builds custom bamboo fly rods in Rocky Mountain House, joined Mitchell on many of those expeditions over the years. The 75-year-old's memory of those days is as clear as the streams they used to fish. 

Andersen suspects Mitchell's initial ideas for the book came to him one summer weekend decades ago. The pair had planned to fish at the Mitchell family cabin near Cadomin, but it was being used by another relative.

"I said 'you got a sleeping bag?' and he said 'yeah'. I said 'well I got a pickup and a tent, how about we load up full of gas and groceries for four days and we'll come back when we run out?'," Andersen explained. 

"So we started to wander."

That year they headed west of Rocky Mountain House, the first of many such trips along the trout highway.

"A year later we did a wander up into the Grande Prairie area," Andersen said. "And then later on we went and wandered down into the upper Old Man (River) and we stayed wherever we happened to be."

Over the years the two avid fishermen continued to cast their lines in streams all the way down to the 49th parallel and back north. Each time they explored new areas they took notes.

The knowledge gained during those expeditions was invaluable. Mitchell was happy to share the information with anyone who would listen and it turns out he bent the ears of some pretty important people.

His tremendous contribution to Alberta fishing is still being felt today.

"About 20 odd years ago Barry wrote a letter to address the biologists in the province decrying the fact that the fishing regulations along the eastern slopes in Alberta were unfortunately way out of date," Andersen said.

"Barry made representations up and down the province and then sat on what you would consider to be an expert body of people that worked to develop the angling regulations we know today."

Even now, evidence of Mitchell's conservation efforts can still be found on Highway 40.

"Along roadside, river crossings, you see little yellow and black signs detailing the regulations on that particular water body," Andersen said. "That was a direct result of Barry putting those signs and things in place from southern Alberta all the way through to northern Alberta."

Mitchell also made efforts to restock streams and rivers with native species that had been depleted. His work earned him the Order of the Bighorn, one of the highest conservation honours in Alberta. He's also been recognized by Trout Unlimited and a central Alberta pond has been named after him.

Despite passing away in 2015, the man's legacy is alive and well. It's a huge source of pride for family and friends.

"He would be honoured, I am honoured for sure, our family thinks it's pretty neat that he's respected in that way," said Stange, who is quick to point out that he was first and foremost, a family man.

"As well known and respected as he was as an environmentalist, and a fisherman and a publisher, he was an even better dad."