High Schoolers aiding the outdoors!
Article and photos by Steve Hudson
It was a rainy Tuesday on Amicalola Creek in Georgia’s Dawson County, and it was trout stocking time. But the sky was gray and the rain was steady and cold. On a day like this, who in their right mind would want to be standing in the rain instead of hiding out inside where it was warm and dry and cozy?
Who indeed? How about the members of the North Paulding High School Fly Fishing and Coldwater Conservation Club. They’ve got the fishing passion, for sure, and you can bet that a little bit of weather won’t slow them down at all.
The North Paulding High School Fly Fishing and Coldwater Conservation Club.
Under the guidance of English teacher Jason Pritchett and math teacher John Millard, the club’s members enjoy a variety of activities focused on coldwater conservation, on trout, and on flyfishing.
For some time now, one of the group’s favorite projects has been helping stock trout into Georgia’s Delayed Harvest trout waters – and that’s exactly what was on the docket for that cold, gray Tuesday morning. There were trout to be stocked, and these students were there to get the job done.
I was there, too, and while we waited for the trout truck to arrive I commented on the weather to student Madison Yang, president of the club.
“I like the rain!” she said, going on to talk about fishing and about how she came to be involved with the club. She first heard about it one day during morning announcements. She joined the club soon after, discovered fly fishing along the way, and hasn’t looked back.
Club President Madison Yang releasing a bucket of trout.
Besides learning about fly fishing, club members enjoy fly tying, fishing trips, and a variety of service projects which benefit coldwater conservation.
“We have a meeting and a trip every month,” Madison said.
Events such as trout stocking (and the fishing which usually follows once the work is done) are especially popular.
The stocking process is straightforward. Using 5-gallon buckets, the students and other volunteers carry trout from the truck to the creek. Then they release the fish, which quickly spread out and settle in. It’s enough to make any trout angler’s heart beat a little faster.
While we waited for the hatchery truck, a car pulled into the parking area. A fisherman got out, surveyed the scene, and asked what’s going on. Someone told him that we were about to stock trout into the creek.
“How long till we can start fishing?” the angler asked.
“Not long,” came the answer. “It should be great. But the stocking’s great too. Want to help?”
The newcomer didn’t hesitate.
“Sure,” he said. “Glad to lend a hand. Can’t let these young folks do all the work, can we!”
Community —
Meanwhile, the rain continued. The kids shrugged it off. But me? Well, heck. It was cold. But maybe I could convince myself that it wasn’t really that chilly. Right? Besides, like my daddy used to say, rain doesn’t bother fish because fish are already wet. There’s a logic there which I can’t refute, so I sucked it up and told myself it was just liquid sunshine.
Mind over matter, Hudson. Mind over matter.
Yeah, right.
This self-delusion worked for about 12 seconds until, without even a whisper of warning, what felt like a half gallon of that ice-cold sunshine escaped from some hidden cranny of my rain jacket and, with smart-bomb precision, found its way down the back of my neck.
Lordy, that was cold!
I started to formulate a suitable verbal response. But then – what’s that?
The truck? Yes! The truck had arrived, and all else was forgotten. The trout were here, and there was work to be done.
The truck, which came from the hatchery at Lake Burton, carried about a thousand rainbow trout. The students followed it as it made its way to the water, and in just minutes everything was ready to go. Department of Natural Resources fisheries personnel Ben Findley and Brandon Hardeman opened the truck’s holding tanks and began loading trout into 5-gallon buckets. Enthusiastic students then carried the buckets to the water and released the fish. Some went upstream; others headed downstream. Fishing’s was gonna be good here for days and weeks to come.
Club sponsor Jason Pritchett looked on as the students transported the fish.
DNR personnel loading the buckets with trout.
“We are creating a community,” he said – a community of students and parents from the school, of professionals from the state’s Department of Natural Resources, of mentors from fly fishing clubs.
Area fly shops are supporting the club’s activities too. For example, Unicoi Outfitters, (which manages some private trophy trout water near Helen) hosts regular outings for the club’s members, giving these young people the opportunity to put their flyfishing skills to the test and maybe catch the trout of a lifetime in the process.
“We’ve been honored to support the North Paulding club,” said Jimmy Harris of Unicoi Outfitters.
By this time, the first part of trout stocking had wrapped up. Now the truck led a caravan of volunteers to a second stocking point in the area known as Steel Bridge, where the process was repeated.
About ten minutes into that second part of the effort, two visiting anglers (Heather Hayes and her stepdad Kelly Tibbs) walked up to see what was going on.
We chatted, and I learned that Kelly is a science teacher at Brookwood Elementary School in Forsyth County – and that she participates in “Trout in the Classroom,” a program which allows classes to raise trout at school.
I also learned that she had never actually stocked trout like the North Paulding students were doing.
“Would you like to give it a try?” I asked. “I’ll bet there’s an extra bucket you can use.”
Sure enough, a few minutes later, I saw Kelly toting a bucketful of wiggling, splashing trout from the truck down to the creek. She released them, adding her part too to this effort to benefit trout fishing in northern Georgia.
Soon, the last of the trout were stocked. Ben and Brandon packed up the trout truck and headed back to the hatchery. I walked up the hill to the car for some hot coffee. And the students? I saw some of them rigging up rods. Let the fishing begin!
Later, on the way home, I stopped by the Highway 53 access where we started that morning. As I pulled in, another angler was just leaving the river.
“How was it?” I asked.
“It was good,” he said. “Real good. Did they just stock?”
They did – we did – I told him.
“Sounds like fun,” he said, and I affirmed that it was, and he added, “I’ll have to see if I can help with that stocking myself one of these days.”
Community? You bet it is. And that’s a really, really good thing.
Steve Hudson is a freelance outdoor writer, book author and award-winning member of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. Steve makes his home in Canton. You can contact him at aa4bw@comcast.net.