Conservation Club Helps Stock Fish 2026

by Isabella Kudlac, Health Assistant Class of 2027

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This year, on April 27th, the LCCTC Conservation Club had the opportunity to once again take part in an educational Trout Stocking Trip at Cascade Park in New Castle, PA.

At first, it was a field trip, but it turned into an unforgettable experience. It showed students how to make a difference in our environment. When we arrived at the stream, we went fishing as a class while we waited to be greeted by the PA Fish and Boat Commission.

The most exciting part of the trip was releasing the fish ourselves! From a water truck, a PA Fish and Boat Commissioner filled a five-gallon bucket with fish and handed it off for us, the student volunteers, to carry to the stream.  To feel them wiggling and jumping around in the bucket — like they knew a bigger world was just a few yards away — was really exciting!

We stocked a several-hundred-yard section of the Big Run with hundreds of rainbow trout and brown trout.

When asked to describe the experience, other participants said that it was a fun, hands-on, and valuable learning experience that put them “in touch” with nature and the environment.

Mr. Nych commented, “The LCCTC Conservation Club has participated in the Big Run stocking four times, I believe, and I always feel that the students enjoy being involved in and seeing that part of the process. Our members are mainly hunters and fishers, and don’t always see that aspect of it. We also have some that just want to enjoy that experience even though they don’t participate in fishing for the trout.”

Mr. Restino also added, “We were just happy to be there.”