Hatchery Clean-Up Day

[Stan Wright]

Many thanks to the Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Assoc,
Trout Unlimited, and the many anglers that enjoy the
lake for helping out with our hatchery clean-up day.

Everyone gathered at the hatchery behind Wahiawa Middle
School to help move dirt, clean fish tanks cut grass, and
many other little chores that needed to get done.

Thanks to every ones help, the work went quickly.
This hole once held one of the spawning tanks...
When the hole is filled, we'll pore a concrete slab and
install above ground fish ponds.


The grass grows quickly in Wahiawa and needs constant attention.


Donated rocks were used to fill the hole...
just had to get them there.


This is the huge hole that needs to be filled,
everyone grab a shovel.


Inside the building there are fish tanks with largemouth bass in different stages of development.



Lots of tanks filled with fish.



This pond holds hundreds and hundreds of baby
largemout bass, ready to be released into the lake.


This is the spawning pond. The bottom is covered
with sand and gravel... can you see those big largemouth bass?


Meanwhile, the hole is is filling right up. That tiller
busted up the ground making it easier to shovel.
The hatchery is lucky to have friends who donate
their time and heavy equipment.




Tom Bellet was nice enough to donate gloves for all the workers.


That hole is getting smaller and smaller.


Even the young anglers came out to help with the cleanup.


Still a little more to go, but we're getting there.


Lots of the guys showed up with their weed eaters...


This fence has got to go...


First you trap all the big largemouth bass over on one side...


Then you scoop them out and put them in the
holding tank.
Wow, this big girl must weigh 6 pounds.


Now we clean out the spawning tank...


These outdoor tanks hold bluegills and minnows,
future forage fish for the lake.


The work is coming along nicely.


Time to break for lunch...
Crash and his family donated their time and talent to
fix a Bar-B-Q lunch for all the volunteers. (the beans were Soooooo Good)


Crash and his wife are active in the Bar-B-Q Cooking
Contests. They just won the Up In Smoke contest last week.
(Taste their pulled pork sandwich and you'll know why... it's a winner)


Just before the group picture we held a lucky number
drawing for the 3 fishing rods and two bags of fishing
tackle that Mel donated. Again, a Big Mahalo to
everyone who turned out to help with the Hatchery Cleanup Day.

[shanai]

Here's a another thank you shout out to all the Trout Unlimited and HFFA members that came out to the hatchery today to help clean up the grounds and do a "little light" ground work filling in the pond and cleaning the grounds. Did not mean to mislead anyone about the work involved but many hands made the work quicker. (':oops:') We were also able to remove and then install a new breeding tank. The effort from all that came will greatly help the LMB hatchery and ultimately perpetuate and sustain bass fishing in the Lake for everyone.

As Stan mentioned, thanks to Crash and his family for providing lunch to everyone, the pulled pork sandwiches were delicious and to Mel for offering the custom fishing rods and fishing packs to lucky volunteers. Thank you Stan, - "you da man" for all that you do to sustain fishing in Hawaii and for taking the pictures.

Special thanks to all the recreational fishermen not affiliated with any group or club that were interested enough to take the time to come and help out with the cleaning. Made some new friends and hope to see you folks again on the Lake . . . and/or maybe you might want to check out TU or HFFA and fish with us. (':D')

Trout Unlimited website: http://www.tuhi.org/
HFFA website: https://sites.google.com/site/hffa808/


Steve

[Stan Wright]

Wish I had every ones names so we could thank them... The guy who brought the roter-tiller machine thingie. All the guys who brought their weed-eaters. The guy from the plant nursery... There are just so many people who were nice enough to come out and help.

Every time you catch one of those fat little largemouth bass, just remember that you played a part in getting them stocked into the lake.
Thank you.

[roadwarriorsvt]

I can say that even though shoveling that dirt was a "dirty" job, it had to get done. Everyone was so friendly and had great attitudes. It speaks well of Trout Unlimited for them to come out and help our lake out even though there are no trout in our lake. Remember that HFFA does this about every 3 months or so. They do so much for the bass fishing on Oahu that I can't think of a single good reason for not being a part of this organization.