The fish are flying
“I grew up fishing this river,” said Joe Tkack as he bent down to help his daughter release a 16” rainbow trout into the Quinnipiac River. “It’s great to be able to share what I did in the past and enjoy the outdoors with her.” For Joe’s daughter Josselyn, who is eight years old, along with the dozens of other children who attended QRWA’s annual fish stocking, the fun was in the bucket. Kids, with their adults in tow, lined up beside the Harding Trout Farm truck, anxiously awaiting their turn to be handed a bucket, and see what it holds inside: a brook trout, rainbow trout, a new hybrid tiger trout, and sometimes, to the kids’ delight, two trout in one bucket. The trout ranged from 12 – 20”, with the bigger ones generating the most excitement.
In total, more than 50 people of all ages helped release the 226 trout in five locations beside the Quinnipiac River Gorge in Meriden. At each location, small groups gathered by the river’s edge to carefully tip the fish buckets into the river, causing many to speculate whether they might catch that same trout during fishing season, which officially opened on Saturday, April 19.
The Quinnipiac River Fund has been a longtime supporter of the QRWA, funding it efforts to recruit volunteers in the community to be advocates and stewards of the Quinnipiac River.
