Moosehead Region Fishing Report: July 24, 2007
Last Wednesday the Greenville Fisheries Staff and two members of the Warden Service teamed up to conduct a day of work together. However, this was not a day of field biology on some remote trout pond or an enforcement issue directed at bringing down a large poaching ring. It was a day of education. Our classroom, the shores of Indian Pond in Indian Pond Twp and our students were a group of twenty, 10 to 16 year old boys and girls taking part in a youth outing organized by the Forks Fish and Game Club. Many of these kids were from various regions of Maine and others traveled much further distances such as Texas, Oregon, and one individual was from Denmark (the country). Most of the kids have ties to the Forks area, which brought them here this summer.
This was the fifth year that the Forks Fish and Game Club put on such an outing for youngsters in the area. The outing held last week began with the group canoeing up Indian Pond from Harris Dam to a campsite near the inlet of Indian Stream. They were going to camp there for two nights before heading back down to the dam. The youngsters were broken into 3 groups, each had their own responsibilities for the event. The group took part in many outdoor activities such as fishing, canoeing, animal identification, map and compass, GPS, and they even were introduced to radio telemetry.
The IF&W staff, which met with the group on Wednesday, provided them with information on what we do as fisheries managers and law enforcement officers. Fisheries staff brought along several pieces of sampling gear and explained how it works and what applications we use them for. We had collected a couple of fish earlier in the morning and the kids were able to conduct some fish identification, anatomy identification, and stomach analysis of these fish. The group as a whole, both youngsters and chaperones had several good questions directed at biologists and wardens. We even learned a lot about them, as several of them shared short stories about their outdoor experience.
We would like to thank the youngsters once again for providing a delicious lunch. My hats off to Eric Holbrook and the Forks Fish and Game Club and the time and effort they put forth in providing such a great opportunity for these young people. For a look at our group, please visit our ‘Photos from the field’, above.
