Roaring River Field Trip

The Roaring River Field Trip took place June 1-3 with KABT Members Randy Dix, Harry & Charlotte McDonald, Shari McDougal & family, Tiffany Richard & family, Josie Stiles, & Bill Welsh attending. Friday night began with thunderstorms but the rest of the weekend was beautiful weather! Saturday morning some members began fly fishing after taking advice from Jimmy John Shark and others hiked the Devil’s Kitchen area.

Randy had the pleasure of teaching many of us how to fly fish. I was assigned to practice casting in my backyard. 🙂 Once you cast I learned there is a fine art of snagging the fish, which I have yet to do. Tiffany’s 7 year old daughter had no problem learning how to cast the rod.

Saturday afternoon we toured the Hatchery and learned that Rainbow Trout have a stage in their life cycle called a swim-up fry and need to be fed every hour for 6 weeks! I am glad I don’t have that person’s job! We learned that approximately 290,000 trout are released each year and the hatchery sustains these trout by feeding them 600 pounds of food each day.

After the Hatchery Tour we had the privilege of going to an area of the river and seining for fish, crayfish, and whatever other organisms we could collect. We collected several different species of fish, invertebrates, and an endangered crayfish species. The Williams Crayfish is light in color and rapidly declining in the area. After each of us saw the crayfish our tour guide Tim released it back into the river. Once we left this part of the river the rest of the evening consisted of more fishing, a campfire, and S’mores!

Sunday morning some members went to the Nature Center to participate in the Habitat Hike before leaving. It was nice enjoying the outdoors, other teachers’ company, and seeing the kids have fun while learning about nature. If you missed the Spring Trip this year mark your calendars for next year’s Spring Trip to Ash Fall Nebraska. Don’t forget you can bring your family!