First fish stocking of the season at Legion Park pond

Cabela’s employees did their first fish stock of the year Thursday.

A truck driven by Brian Hahle, owner of the Pleasant Valley Fish Farm in McCook, Neb., was pulled up next to the pond at Legion Park where Hahle would make his delivery.

The truck contained a tank full of approximately 425 trout.

The trout range in size and weight from two-thirds of a pound to five pounds – giving fishermen the chance to catch a tiny fish or a whopper.

The trout were transferred from the tank into the pond net by net, from the hands of Hahle to the hands of Chris Tulloch, General Manager of Cabela’s and Dave Magnuson, who works in inventory at Cabela’s.

The two, wearing camouflage Cabela’s waders in the waist-deep water, dipped the net into the murky pond to release the fish each net full at a time.

This tradition is not new to the City of Sidney and is something looked forward to each year.

The fish are bought fromHahle’s farm by a joint combination of funds from both Cabela’s and the City of Sidney.

“We share this event with the City of Sidney and they always help,” said Connie Carrillo, Cabela’s Retail Marketing Manager.

“Since they built the pond here we have been doing this and partnering with the city.

“We stock the pond three times a year, and we aregearing up for spring and getting everybody excited for Kids Fishing Day June 1.”

“We’ll stock it again two other times, once before Kids Fishing Day and then once in the fall,” she said.

Though this fish stock consisted of only trout, the next two times fish will be added this year will bring a variety for those who wish to fish.

“This time it will be trout but when it comes to the second time we’ll do some catfish, some bluegill and some perch,” said the marketing manager.

Carrillo said that this effort is not only about fishing, but also about making the City of Sidney better and taking care of the parks in the city.

“We want to encourage everybody to take care of our city park and city pond,” she said. “Pick up trash and pick up after yourself. The city is working hard to make it beautiful.”

Along with being a service to the community’s atmosphere and beautification, the marketing manager said that the fish project also gives kids something to do in the summer and is a way to surround the community with the beauty that is the outdoors.

“This is our park and our pond, and not only does it give our kids something to do, the outdoors is in our nature,” she said.“It should be in your nature to come out and fish. We just want to support the park and take care of it like it is our own – because it is.”

“This is also a great way to gear up for spring and we encourage everybody to come out and come fishing,” she said.

All Nebraska fishing regulations still apply.