It was April, 1970, opening day for fishing, the place McKay creek outside North Plains, Oregon. My great uncle Cecil had brought me to the fishing hole on the ancestral homestead. I was eight years old. As we stood on the bank he motioned to where he wanted me to cast. I lobbed a worm into the deep section. Instantly there was a white flash in the water and the rod tip bent down sharply. I reeled in a beauty of a 12-inch cutthroat trout. We continued to cast into the hole until we caught three or four smaller ones.
On the drive home my uncle burst into laughter saying that in the 1920’s you could catch a bathtub full of trout in a couple of hours. When I pressed him on the “Bathtub full of trout” he said he actually meant about 30. Still an impressive catch.
The years passed and when I graduated from college at age 24 I spent some time fishing. When the ancestral fishing hole came to mind I decided to pay it a visit. Rod in hand I crossed the fields until I came to the spot where at the tender age of eight I cast a worm into McKay creek and reeled in a sizeable cutthroat trout.
The water was much lower than I remembered. The bottom was covered with silt and the sand and gravel required for spawning trout was covered by it. White suds on the crests of the water indicated the presence of chemicals in the water. I cast into the hole over and over again but got no strikes. After all these years the fishing hole was dead.
Man had logged the forests, built roads and houses. In the process we had filled McKay creek with silt. Farming had leaked fertilizers and insecticides into the water poisoning the aquatic life. The teeming trout fishery that once thrived there could not withstand the conditions that “progress” had created. There were no more trout in McKay creek.
In southern Maine, rivers like the Merriland River are in danger of going the way of McKay creek. In Wells we have clean, clear rivers and streams supporting top-rated trout fisheries and they should be protected.
Rivers like the Merriland are home to brook trout, which are direct descendants of brook trout that lived here since the last ice age ended 10,000 years ago. Do not these ancient, noble inhabitants of the rivers of southern Maine deserve our respect? Can we commit to not poisoning the habitat in which they live?
While it is true that that houses need to be built for people to live in, roads need to be built and maintained and farms need to be farmed. When these kinds of work are done adjacent to our rivers and streams it endangers them. Cannot we create ways for progress to move forward without endangering our precious waterways? Wouldn’t it would be sad if a grandfather took his grandson to his favorite fishing hole and there were no fish to catch?
Sportsman and concerned citizens can learn more about the fisheries of southern Maine by going to www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing. It is important to monitor proposals for construction work adjacent to our rivers and streams by being in touch with the Wells Planning Board. The Planning Board meets every other Monday at the Wells Town Hall. Pre-meeting agendas can be obtained at www.wellstown.org Additional information on conservation efforts can be found on the Wells Conservation Commission website at: www.wellsconservation.org
—William Stride is a conservationist who lives in Wells.
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