1st Annual Onondaga Fishing Derby
Onondaga Nation Communications
June 23, 2008

The temptation was too much for those who witnessed healthy rainbow trout being stocked into Onondaga Creek. A fishing contest ensued and a good time was head by all as we wet some lines and had some laughs. The uncertain May weather held back the rain as young and old decided to join in.

SUNY-ESF Student Neil Patterson Jr. organized the event, which included some basic fish biology, how to clean fish, and even how to cook fish. Wild fiddelheads accompanied the main course.

There were over fifty participant registered, and many other “big” kids who joined in. Many Nyawehs to Dawn Dittman and her colleagues at United State Geological Survey in Cortland, NY who provided a hatchery stocking of Rainbow Trout into Onondaga Creek. Also, nyaweh to the volunteers who helped stock the fish and keep the kids from hooking each other.  

As SUNY-ESF Student Neil Patterson Jr. stocks some rainbow trout, an eager contestant’s bobber nearby is already in the water waiting for immediate action!