Teh state gets joyous kidz 2 carry itz fish

By Cara Bayles

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Last week, Gov. Deval Patrick donned rugged outdoor gear to help schoolchildren and state wildlife officials dump 700 hatchery-raised fish into Jamaica Pond.

The fish were culled from tanks on trucks, and buckets of brook, brown, rainbow and tiger trout were carted to the shore by enthusiastic grade-schoolers from John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Mary Curley Middle School and the Dorchester Youth Academy. The salmon were brought down in their own nets.

The fish traveled from Sandwich, Belchertown and Palmer, Mass. to be dumped into Jamaica Pond, in a statewide effort by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) to stock 500 lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams with 579,000 trout.

Jim Lagacy, of the DFW, said the state has stocked waterways with fish annually for over 30 years, but the ritual became a public event recently. "It's mostly for recreational benefit," he said. The fish aren't native to Jamaica Pond, a natural formation believed to be tens of thousands of years old. "Very few fish—certainly not salmon or trout—are native to New England, since the glaciers receded," said Lagacy. "There's Atlantic salmon, but you wouldn't find them in a pond like this."

One fisherman—who requested anonymity so his union wouldn't know he casts lines while on disability—has fished at Jamaica Pond for 47 years, and the coveted catch is the 10-pound broodstock salmon. "I've hooked a couple, but I never pulled one in," said the fisherman. "A lot of the guys are here today to catch a salmon. They want bragging rights." He fishes year-round, but notices little difference in the number of bites as seasons change. "The real difference is, this weekend, this place will be mobbed," he said.

But the governor didn't sweat the weekend. He pointed to the men onshore with baited poles and shouted, "Hey guys! Give the fish a chance!"