Brown trout graduate HS-AS

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Ron Mc
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Brown trout graduate HS-AS

Post by Ron Mc »

ok, teasing with the title.
Trout in the Classroom in Texas is in our 18th year. We have 25 schools from Austin, San Antonio, Boerne, Katy, Houston, New Braunfels, and Canyon Lake. They raise trout from eggs in refrigerated aquariums for about half the school year, and release them in the river. The goal of this program is not to raise trout, but to raise conservationists.

Our classes include elementary schools, and high school aquatic science classes. Last Saturday, our HS aquatic science teachers, some students, and some family members from Houston, Katy, Boerne and San Antonio met for lunch at the BBQ stand in Sattler, and together added about 800 brown trout fry to the river. Of course we did this with a permit, and Jimbo took my list with the actual count by school to report the numbers to TPWD in compliance with our permit.

Surprising weather, an unseasonably chilly day for the second weekend in May, the river was ripping, and we had a great time. A few photos to share.
Queuing up for BBQ - they really do have the best chop sandwich in Texas
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The entourage arriving at the river
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We began by replacing half of the water in the coolers with river water, and giving the fish time to acclimate
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The classroom results were great, the fry ranged in size from 1" to over 3:
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some of the counted coolers were poured straight in
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some of the fish were netted and counted on the fly for our permit compliance
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others netted to release just for fun
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Still have 3 field trips of elementary school classes coming over the next week.

TIC in Texas is a joint effort between GRTU and Texas Fly Fishers of Houston (FFF).
My buddy Matt handles all the footwork for Houston, Deer Park and Katy.
The Texas program was started 18 years ago by my friend Karen - I helped her set up the first tank, and after 6 years and health limitations, she volunteered me to take over...
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Paul M
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Re: Brown trout graduate HS-AS

Post by Paul M »

Like!
Paul Manuel

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Ron Mc
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Re: Brown trout graduate HS-AS

Post by Ron Mc »

Thanks Paul.

Since last weekend, the dam release has more than doubled, and the river more than a foot higher, but we had beautiful day yesterday with a window between the monsoon rains, and two elementary school field trips.
Jimbo arrived styling, with new cams and 300 hp
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The first group was two classes of 4th graders from a nearby Christian Academy - and a legacy - the teacher, Ms McCarty is daughter of one of the founders of GRTU
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many parents joined the expedition
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I mentioned our brown trout experiment this year was taxing on teachers, and this school arrived with One trout, which the principal had turned into a parable similar to the lost sheep
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In spite of the ripping flows, we had a nice quiet seam against the submerged bulkhead, which also attracted many of the resident adult rainbows and browns. All of the students today got to see adult fish in the river
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The students prayed over their one fish
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and allowed a teacher attending from one of our HS AS classes to release it
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As in years past, and following a morning tour of the AE Wood State fish hatchery, an Austin school brought the whole campus in 3 buses.
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With all the kids still, I explained our TPWD permit, the constrained coldwater ecosystem, and why it’s never a good idea to release aquarium fish, snails or plants into ponds, lakes and rivers.
They brought 75 brown juveniles, and teams of 3 released fish into the river, then walked down the bank where Jimbo pointed out the adult trout in the river.
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some kayakers were out enjoying the big flows
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We still have one more elementary school field trip next Monday. In a way, they're the most important of all - they're right on the Horseshoe Bend in the tailwater.
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Mike N
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Re: Brown trout graduate HS-AS

Post by Mike N »

That’s a great project. Good to see trout stocking and conservation being taught in the class room.

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Ron Mc
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Re: Brown trout graduate HS-AS

Post by Ron Mc »

thanks Mike - I have a lot of help, and it takes it to field 25 schools spread over one-fourth of Texas.
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