KUNR: Fish and wildlife officials help restore population of iconic trout in eastern Nevada river

For years, fish and wildlife officials have been working to help an iconic Western fish whose habitat is shrinking. That includes efforts to return the fish to a river in the Mountain West where the species had disappeared.

It’s a cloudy day east of Reno, and Chad Mellison, wearing waders and holding a flyfishing rod, steps into the Truckee River. He unfurls his line and casts upstream into the fast-flowing waters.

“If you're a fish and live in a river, your nose is pointing upstream because that's where your food's coming down,” said Mellison, an avid flyfisher and longtime biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.