Hunter and Cole Reed of Southampton dumped buckets filled with trout at Hampton Ponds State Park on April 22 during a trout stocking at the pond with fish delivered by MassWildlife.
Reminder Publishing photo by Cliff Clark
WESTFIELD — Even before three trucks carrying thousands of pounds of brown, rainbow, brook, and tiger trout pulled into the boat ramp at Hampton Ponds State Park, there were between 300 and 400 children and their parents ready to help stock the Hampton Pond.
“We came to catch some fish,” said Ludlow’s Crystal Riopelle, who brought Mariano Otero and Azaiah Boutot to get a close look at the trout, help stock the pond and then do some fishing.
“This is organized chaos,” said Brian Keleher, an aquatic biologist with MassWildlife, nearly laughing while looking over the throng of children and adults waiting patiently to help release the trout using brightly colored orange five-gallon buckets.
And while the focus of the morning was to stock the pond, others were looking to do some fishing.
Before the last fish had been tossed in, there were five boats within a stone’s throw of the ramp, with anglers throwing spinnerbaits into the water hoping to hook one.
And the banks of the pond were lined with adults and children casting for the trout.
It only took about 10 minutes, once the fish had acclimated to the water after their journey from fisheries in Belchertown and Palmer, that anglers started pulling them out of the pond.
Most of the trout were 12 inches long, but for the first time, MassWildlife brought breeding stock, which were much larger — nearly 2 feet long and 6 pounds, said Joe Rogers, a district supervisor with MassWildlife who scooped the big trout from a large tank on the back of a truck.
He said that after about five years, the eggs produced by the breeding stock begin to drop and they are sent off to be released into the wild.
For Blandford’s Crystal LaFrance, who brought her two sons, Aedan and Mason, to the pond to help with the stocking effort, it was their first time.
“This is our first time,” she said.
Her boys are homeschooled and while children attending public schools were out last week, this was an educational field trip for them, she said.
Each year MassWildlife raises trout that are both fun to catch and delicious to eat. The fish are raised at hatcheries in Sandwich, Palmer, Belchertown, Sunderland and Montague.
“The trout stocking program is a key part of MassWildlife’s mission to enhance recreational fishing and connect people to nature,” said Todd Richards, MassWildlife assistant director of fisheries. “We stock high-quality trout in hundreds of beautiful waterbodies across Massachusetts—so whether you live in Greater Boston, downtown Worcester, or a small town in the Berkshires, there are ample opportunities to get outside and enjoy fishing.”
The agency said this year’s fish are bigger and better than ever. While the quantity of stocked trout, measured in total pounds, has remained about the same for the last decade, MassWildlife has been steadily producing larger trout by adjusting hatchery growing techniques, according to a press release from MassWildlife.
“Just 10 years ago, less than 60% of stocked trout were over 12 inches — now, more than 80% measure over a foot,” according to the release.
Anglers are encouraged to visit MassWildlife’s website at mass.gov/trout to find daily stocking updates and locations.
