|
Friday, July 08, 2005
Students get hooked on trout
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||
 |
||||||||
"Just one more cast, please, please," he said. He turned downstream, stripped some more line from his reel, then fired one last cast into a shallow riffle in the Kennebec River. The white fly fluttered gently to the surface. "Slurp." His fly disappeared in a splash. He yanked his rod skyward, slack line flew through the air in coils and a trout slapped the surface. It wasn't a big one, but it didn't matter. "All right! Yes! I love this! This is so great!" Heinrich shouted as he played the fish, dancing around the river, clad in waders and dwarfed by an over-flowing fishing vest and crooked hat. He was wild-eyed, obsessed, passionate -- almost beside himself with excitement. And that, said Greg Ponte, of West Gardiner, is exactly what Trout Unlimited had in mind when it began its summer kids camp last year. The Trout Unlimited Kid's Camp, held at Evergreen Campground in Solon, is about fishing -- but also, learning to love the places where fish live. Trout Unlimited is a national organization, comprised largely of fishermen, whose mission is to defend the places where coldwater fish -- like salmon and trout -- live. By gathering corporate sponsors like L.L.Bean and Patagonia, and enlisting volunteers, Trout Unlimited holds camps for kid's in different states across the country. "The hope is that we'll spark an interest and excitement about conservation by teaching these kids fly fishing," said Sue Townsend, who coordinated the week-long camp. Fly fishing, she said, is the "hook." Learning to care for the environment comes easy after that. Austin was one of 12 campers -- many from central Maine, who attended the camp. To qualify, students wrote essays about why they felt they should be selected, and submitted recommendations from their high school science teachers. Both the essay and the recommendation were reviewed and scored. The 12 students with the highest scores attended the camp. If the students agreed to share their learning with others after the camp, and to get involved with their local chapters, then Trout Unlimited even paid for their tuition. It's a "win-win" situation for everyone involved, said Greg Ponte, who helped start the kids camp in Maine. The kids come to camp, learn about the environment and fly fishing, then leave excited and engaged -- and ready to participate. The students are high school age, ranging from 14- to 17- years old, but at camp, they're immersed in a graduate-level course on river and trout ecology. They leave the shores of the Kennebec with a better understanding of the fish and the river than most adults, said Ponte. According to Townsend, the students' itinerary revolves around a study of habitat. They're taken to Austin Stream, the Williams Dam impoundment and to the Kennebec River, studying first-hand the differences in the three environments. They measure temperature, turbidity, water levels and flow and look for aquatic insects underneath rocks. "It's a really hands-on program," said Townsend. They also dissect a hatchery brook trout, learn about fish anatomy and life cycle and hear about careers in conservation. And of course, there's plenty of time for fishing. Evergreen Campground, on the shore of the Kennebec River, offers a perfect setting for the camp. Kids stay in log cabins that dot the shore of the river. During camp week, wet waders dangle from porch railings, fly rods lean against cabin walls and sandy wading boots sit with laces unraveled outside doorways. Through the pine trees, kids are seen fishing morning and night. After hearty meals, they learn to tie flies that imitate the aquatic life they identified during their stream sessions. Then they go out and catch fish on them. The counselors seem to enjoy it as much, or more. Many of them are school teachers and all of them volunteer their time -- free of charge. Some take a week of vacation from work every year just to attend and help with the kids. Their hardwork didn't go unnoticed. Valencia Schubert's son, Mack, of Belgrade, attended the camp. He was a fishermen before he came to the camp, but was apprehensive at first because he didn't know anyone there. "The things he learned from them exceeded anything any of us expected, and their generosity was beyond words," she said. "They told him to never stop learning," she said, in tears on the phone the following week. "They gave him their phone numbers, and offered to go out fishing with him anytime. It's just so wonderful that there are such positive opportunities out there for kids." It's a worthy cause, and worth every bit of effort and the money, said Ponte. "These are the kids that will become our leaders in the future," he said. The hope is that some will go on to careers in conservation, or environmental protection. But even those that don't, he said, will likely still go on to make a difference. "A kid might become a mechanic, a doctor or who knows what, but sometime in the future they see something that's not quite right -- say, a subdivision where too many trees got cut, and then they'll get involved. That's why we do this," he said. And it's not just about trout. "It can be saving whales, or anything they want," said Townsend. "We just want to foster that conservationist ethic." Dave Sherwood 621-5648 dsherwood@centralmaine.com |
||||||||
enlarge