Well, howdy there! Let me tell ya ’bout this fish hatchery thing, the, uh, what’s it called? Oxbow Fish Hatchery, yeah, that’s it. Sounds fancy, but it’s just a place where they make little fishes, you know?
I heard tell they got them steelheads there. Big ol’ fish, they say. They catch the big ones, the mamas and papas, and get ’em to make more little ones. Then they send them babies off to another place, some springs hatchery way over in Idaho. Heck, I ain’t never been to Idaho, but I reckon it’s gotta be nice for them fishes.
- They got these tanks, see?
- Full of teeny tiny fish.
- Coho and Chinook, or somethin’ like that.
- Cute little fellers, swimmin’ around.
Makes ya wanna catch one, but they ain’t for catchin’ yet. You gotta wait ’til they grow bigger, then you can go fishin’. I heard some folks go up to the Sandy River from Salem way. They fish from the bank, you know, not in a boat or nothin’. They say start at the hatchery, but I ain’t sure why. Maybe the fishes like it there? All rivers is just water, right? But I ain’t no expert, I just like eatin’ fish, haha.
Now, these hatchery folks, they ain’t just about makin’ fishes for eatin’. They do good things for the young’uns too. They have this thing called “Hooked on Fishing” for city kids. Get ’em outside, learn ’em how to fish. That’s mighty nice of ’em. Kids these days, they need more of that outdoorsy stuff, less of that darn phone staring.
The Oxbow Hatchery, it’s run by the Idaho Fish and Game folks. Got an address and all, some kinda “duty station” they call it. 55120 Hatchery Drive, Oxbow. Sounds official, huh? But it’s just a place with lots of water and fishes, far as I can tell. And they got a time zone, Pacific time. Same as us, I reckon.
Fish hatcheries ain’t just for big places like Idaho though. They got ’em in Tennessee too. Heard tell they had a fishin’ rodeo for kids there. Over five hundred kids! That’s a whole lotta young’uns fishin’! And they even have fishin’ derbies, just for kids, free of charge! That’s what I call good clean fun. Get them kids hooked on fishin’ early, that’s what I say!
Now, I ain’t never been to a fish hatchery myself, but I seen enough fish in my day to know a thing or two. They start small, they grow big, and they taste mighty good fried up with some taters. And that’s all there is to it, ain’t it? Hatcheries help keep the rivers full of fish, so we can keep on fishin’. And that’s a good thing, ’cause I sure do love a good fish fry.
So next time you hear ’bout the Oxbow Fish Hatchery, or any hatchery for that matter, you remember it ain’t just some fancy place. It’s where fishes come from, and fishes is good eatin’. And that’s the truth, plain and simple.
Tags: [Oxbow Fish Hatchery, Steelhead, Fish Hatchery, Fishing, Idaho, Kids Fishing, Salmon, River Fishing]
