Kids help MassWildlife fill Hampton Ponds with fish

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – MassWildlife held a trout stocking event at Hampton Ponds in Westfield Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of people lined up so they could be part of a large program to promote recreational fishing in western Massachusetts. Trucks pulled into Hampton Ponds with trout from hatcheries in and around western Massachusetts. Participants of all ages were able to stock the pond with hundreds of read to catch fish.

Evan Ploof from Westfield came to the event for the first time and told 22News why fishing events like this one are vital to the community, “A lot of people are very like-minded when fishing. they’re just trying to have a nice day on the water. Sometimes it’s not even about the fish, its about just hanging out and casting your line.”

MassWildlife stocked over 1,500 trout in Hampton Ponds Tuesday morning and this is only just one of the events they’re holding throughout the season. MassWildlife holds trout stocking events through the spring and fall each year.

Brian Keleher, a MassWildlife biologist, explained how these events work and the reason for inviting the public, “We advertise them ahead of time, encourage people to come down. They kind of just help us stock trout as a part of our trout stocking program and then we encourage folks to take advantage of the fish we put out and maybe go fishing afterwards. People can come and give us a hand with what we do anyways.”

With an estimate of half a million trout stocked by the end of spring, trout stocking allows many residents to develop a love for their local ponds and rivers. MassWildlife will also be hosting another stocking event this Thursday at the Chicopee Reservoir.

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Jack Wu joined the 22News Storm Team in July 2023. Follow Jack on X @the_jackwu and view his bio to see more of his work.

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