European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bob Bachman keeping watch on wild Brown Trout from his Blind along the Creek with computer binoculars and video recorder. Hooked on wild Brown Trout by Earl Bohn associated Pressi t s easy to Tell Winter is Over. The purple to Nesel is sprouting the tree toads arc singing in squeaky unison and Bob Bachman is Back on the Banks of Spruce Creek drawn by i he prolific wild Brown Trout. It is the Lime of year when millions of fishermen trek to cold lakes and running streams around the country for the Start of Trout season. Bachman tramps to the fool of Tussey Mountain near the Central Pennsylvania Hamlet of Spruce Creek. But he carries no fishing Rod or bait. Instead he totes a portable computer binoculars camera and video tape recorder. Bachman a 46-year-old Penn slate doctoral candidate in ecology comes Only to watch. As a tinge of Green slowly crept up the Mountain he resumed his Vigil for the fourth year. A former submarine officer with 20 years service in the Navy Bachman s life now revolves around the plentiful wild Brown Trout which he believes faces a Long Range threat from encroachments on the environment. I give a Damn and i fell that if i wanted to have any say about what 1 see happening i should go out and study the  and watch the fish he does. Bachman will sleep in a camper at night and sit quietly beside the Stream by Day hidden in a Burlap draped Blind until Frost turns the Mountain red and yellow. I basically live Here All summer he says adding that in the 1,500 hours he s spent beside Spruce Creek he s seen things thai would make Many a Veteran Angler foul his line. One of the biggest surprises is learning How Little we actually know about fish especially wild Trout for which Many people spend great sums on tackle and to Fly Here and there for the Best Trout fishing he says. Bachman Hopes to report his findings in a doctoral thesis that May help conservationists manage and per haps one Day build Trout streams. He knows of no one who s Ever studied Trout As intensely As he is doing with out interfering with the fish in some Way. He s debunked several fishing myths which lie used to believe along with Many other anglers. Fishermen tend to think Trout feed Well when the water is High and Muddy. But i be seen a Trout feed 300 times an hour in shallow water in the Middle of August he says. Another popular belief is thai rout Lite under Oier banging Banks and in deep water. Thai May be where fishermen catch Trout but that s not where the fish Are All the Liim Bachman says. Instead. In Ike up positions anywhere in a Stream where to i spend the least amount of Energy to gel them. I i. He says. T of ceding spots Aren t randomly selected either p Man says. Wild Trout position themselves in very precise locations which they consider their personal Jyro Purly. That blew my mind Bachman says. It s incredible to sit up Here and Sec the same fish in the same spots for three Summers in a  he believes the Trout pick spots protected from Swift currents by rocks tree limbs or variations in the Stream Bottom. I be been a Fisherman for 30 years but i sure have changed my thinking about fish since coming Here he says. One of the hardest things about this business is getting people to believe the things i  Bachman apparently picked a Good Stream to conduct his research. In May and june it s a Ball up Here he says. Fish shooting All around flying through the air. Sometimes i can look up the Stream and Sec 30 fish feeding All at  his site is located on Penn stale property. Most of the land bordering the Stream is privately owned. Bachman says he has four hours of video tape showing the wild Trout fighting off the locked fish. Individual fish Are identifiable by the unique patterns of Brown spots along their backs and sides. Trout fight by flaring their fins bumping and some times nipping at each other s fins he says. In the conflict the larger More dominant wild Trout seemed to suffer the most. They were the bouncers. I be seen wild Trout on their sides gasping from the exertion of the struggle. The subordinate fish just move out of the Way he says. Bachman has other news that May disturb some fish Ermen. Fishermen catch fish when the fish makes a mistake. Fish Don t just go around chewing on Metal Hooks with feathers in them he says. Bachman won t get a Clear View of Spruce Creek s Brown Trout until the water High and Muddy from Spring rain and melted Snow calms Down. When it docs he expects to see some familiar faces. Here s a Nice fellow Bachman says holding a color photo of a 13-Incber. A really pretty fish. He s one of the Guys that did All the bouncing. He was out there the first Day 1 Ever came and he was Here the last Day i was  edit volunteers by for $1.000 or so people buy the Opportunity lie on their bellies in 150-Dcgrcc heat and co Tams. Or if it seems More attractive they find whether they can fool wild Llamas by lugging to dung heaps Back and Forth. This year about 1.300 people will actually Lay Cash for this kind of thing. For the Price of a comfor. Vacation they will live in tents Ward off bugs and do t sweaty tedious exhausting things that scientists rather avoid. They Sre he clientele of Earth watch a sort of profit scientific peace corps Bat stiffs expedition All Over the world. Anybody Between the Ives of 1c and 80 who has the time and the Money can go bad. We see ourselves As a service to scientists Mary Blue Magruder one of Earl watch s 20 full staff members. But we also want to counteract the that scientific research is Only for Harvard types. If Yoi Are a truck Driver from Iowa you can help a biologist u  Earth watch does get truck Drivers from Iowa a with school teachers advertising writers doctors e a cars Farmers salesmen and lots of other people Don t get much Chance to play scientist. It s a new version of Tom Sawyer says Magruder. We re Gelting 1.300 people to paint the Fence and buy the paint  this year Earth watch is sponsoring 65 expeditions it Africa Asia Europe North Central and South America and sundry islands in Between. Each Jaunt is headed by i professional scientist who gives the helpers orders i m pushing wheelbarrows shovelling dirt and driving trucks. Volunteers this summer will dig for Man s ancestors ii Swaziland Analyse monkeys on St. Kills unearth a Pagan cemetery in England track Horseshoe crabs in Flo Ida interview retired school teachers in Vermont com pile genealogies in Eastport Maine and Survey Thi natural resources of the out islands of new Guinea. Each year scientists who want help with their re search make about 200 requests to Earth watch s head quarters at a mansion in Belmont mass., a suburb West of Boston. Then Earth watch picks the projects that volunteers j will most Likely be interested in. Most of the expeditions arc two or three weeks Long and Many of them especially the More exotic excursions j Cost Over $800, not including plane fare. For their Money the volunteers get a place to sleep probably a ten meals which they May have to Cook themselves and a Chance to see the world from the scientist s perspective. All their expenses though Are i lax deductible and they include a contribution to the general expenses of the scientific work. These people arc buying adventure and their kind of fun is not for folks who would rather sit in a Cabana witha Pina Colada. People interested in signing up for a search for humanoid fossils in the libyan Sahara Are warned that daytime temperatures level off at 100. George Karl 50, a regional manager for British airways in Chicago says he and his wife Eleanor consider themselves to be conservationists so they picked a Bird banding trip to Panama last year. Poge the stars and stripes monday