About 60 fourth-graders from Hedges and Peterson schools worked feverishly to haul buckets brimming with rainbow trout from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks vehicles to the Dry Bridge Pond last week as part of the Hooked on Fishing program where the students stocked local ponds.
The fish from three hatcheries – Eureka, Jocko River and Creston – ranged from 8 inches to 12 pounds. Each year the three-acre Dry Bridge Pond is stocked in time for spring break fishing, providing a family friendly place for kids to wet a line, learn about fishing, fish biology and conservation.
Two other ponds in Kalispell are stocked annually. The Buffalohead Park Pond off Grandview Drive, a two-acre pond just south of Flathead Valley Community College, is scheduled to receive fish in mid-May, according to Regional Fisheries Manager Jim Vashro.
The Shady Lane Pond, accessible through the Old Steel Bridge Fishing Access site, holds fish through the winter but is expected to be stocked in three to four weeks, according to Vashro. The Shady Lane area also provides a fishing pier and 2.5 miles of trail on 120 acres of land.
Each pond is situated near neighborhoods providing easy access for all ages and abilities to catch some fish while learning about our local ecosystems and fish conservation.
How to get there: To Dry Bridge Park – from downtown Kalispell, go south on U.S. Highway 93. Turn east on 11th Street East. The park is at the corner of 11th Street East and Woodland Avenue.