Friday field trip very fishy for first-graders

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As amateur fish-stockers go, Damyan True, is one of those who believes in getting close to his work.

Really close.

Foot-drenching, oops-I’m-wet close.

Not that True, a smiling first-grader with an unruly mop of curly hair, minded … or even noticed.

“Nope,” he responded when asked if he might, perhaps, maybe have stepped a little deeper into Drummond Pond than he’d intended on Friday morning.

Nope.

Not even close.

True joined about 40 fellow-first-graders from the McKusick Elementary School in Parkman for the event, which was held at a former gravel pit in the town of Abbot.

Wet feet and cold hands were common on a chilly spring day … and so were smiles, giggles and a near constant exclamation: “Wow!”

Tim Obrey, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s regional fisheries biologist for the Greenville Region, said the project was the culmination of years of planning.

“It’s a gravel pit that belonged to Mac Drummond here in Abbot,” Obrey explained. “Mac has graciously allowed us to stock this for people for the communities of Guilford and Abbot.”

The DIF&W first contacted Drummond about using the pond as a family fishing area about 10 years ago, Obrey said, and the contractor was enthusiastic about the project.

“He has worked on it off and on over [the past 10 years], to empty it out, to make it bigger,” Obrey said. “This is the first year that it’s actually been ready to go.”

The former gravel pit was already holding some water, thanks to the high water table in the area, which rests between Route 6 and 15 and the Piscataquis River.

With a lot of dredging and groundwork, Drummond turned the pit into a pond that is 12 feet deep in some areas.

And on Friday, it finally got the essential ingredient: Fish.

Personnel from the state fish hatchery in Enfield arrived with a truck full of brook trout and the first-graders took turns carrying buckets to the water and releasing the fish, two trout at a time.

On Friday, 250 fish were released. During the week after Memorial Day, another 250 trout will be delivered.

For many, Friday’s experience was eye-opening.

“Whoa! I’ve got crazy fishes,” exclaimed an animated Terri Perigo … and that was before she’d even let her fish out of the bucket.

After that, they quickly vanished, Perigo reported.

“They just jumped into the deepest part,” she said. “They were walking on their flippers.”

Other first-graders admitted that there was little science involved in their stocking methods.

“Dumping them in [is the secret],” 6-year-old Alex Harmon explained.

But at least one first-grader was able to rely on a bit of experience.

Adam Bagley, a 6-year-old (“but I’m gonna be 7 next month) said that he may have stocked fish at one point in his young life.

“But it was a long time ago,” he said, after carefully laying his bucket on its side and letting the trout slide gracefully into Drummond Pond.

Bagley wasn’t just telling tales, either: His dad, who was also on hand, is DIF&W biologist Jeff Bagley.

Adam Bagley said he enjoyed stocking the fish, and was eager to describe the trout he got to carry to the water.

“They were pretty small, but not too small,” the tiny veteran fish-stocker said.

And he thinks he might get a chance to see those fish again … soon.

“I think we might come over here tomorrow and fish it,” Adam Bagley said with a grin.

Friday wasn’t a perfect day for fish-stocking, though the rain and 40-degree temperatures surely bothered the first-graders more than it did the trout.

“Even though it’s a great day for a duck, it’s a great day for trout, too, I guess,” Obrey said. “So [the first-graders] are having a blast. They don’t mind it.”

In fact, it seemed the adults were more conscious of the cold weather than most of the pupils.

“I hope they’re serving all of you guys hot cocoa at lunch,” Jeff Bagley said as the stocking wound down.

Henry Hartley, a DIF&W staffer who works at the Enfield hatchery, evoked one of the largest responses of the day when he hauled a net loaded with trout from his truck and waved it in the air.

“Who wants to lug this pail-full?” he asked the queued-up first-graders.

The response was unanimous.

“Wow!”

But for this group, two fish (and enough water to sustain them) was handful enough. Some sought help from adults while carrying their pails to the water, while others soldiered on, even though their buckets were nearly dragging in the gravel.

The DIF&W has opened other non-traditional ponds in the Greenville region, including one in downtown Dover-Foxcroft and another at a former gravel pit in Greenville.

Obrey said the department’s goals for the Abbot project are simple.

“The intent is to promote family fishing in the area,” he said. “Certainly we want to emphasize kids and have a place for the kids to come fish that’s right close to town, but we also want to make sure that other people are welcome here, too.

“This area is rich in the traditions of hunting and fishing and there are a lot of people that just can’t get into the backcountry any more,” he said. “this is a great place for them to come.”

Obrey said future goals for Drummond Pond include putting in some picnic tables for families to use, and perhaps eventually making the facility handicap-accessible.

In the meantime, he just hopes families in the Guilford and Abbot area enjoy the efforts of the department and the generosity of Mac Drummond.

“We’re hoping people come down and take advantage of it,” Obrey said. “Bring the kids, bring the grandparents, and have a good time.”

Getting there: Drummond Pond is located on Route 6 and 15 just north of Guilford. From the south, look for the sign on the right.

Coming up on ‘Going Outdoors’

ABC-7 camera guru Dave Simpson accompanied me to Abbot on Friday for the fish-stocking project, and on Monday we’ll share some of that footage with you on the regular “Going Outdoors” segment that he and I put together for his TV station.

You can tune in during the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on ABC-7 and at 10 p.m. on FOX-22.

Eager eagle observers check in

Earlier this week I told you about a reader who had seen a swimming bald eagle in Lamoine, and wondered if I’d ever heard anything like it.

I hadn’t … but hazarded a guess that a few readers had.

I was right.

One thing you learn quickly in the outdoor-writing biz is that if you want to perturb a reader in a hurry, all you have to do is misidentify a bird (especially when a photo is presented as evidence).

Another thing you learn is that the fastest way to get helpful reader response is to ask a bird-related question.

Bird enthusiasts know their stuff. That’s all there is to it.

And in the few days since I wrote about the eagle, I’ve received plenty of input.

Next week, I look forward to sharing some of those observations with you.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.