photo by Hannah Reel

St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge summer interns Raheem Frank, 16, Chris Tucker, 16, and Justin Hicks, 17, work on a construction project at the refuge this summer. The workers did several projects, including constructing a fishing pier at a children’s fishing pond that is scheduled to be open in the summer of 2011.

Refuge helping young fishermen

Michael Kerekes

Published Sunday, August 16, 2009

SIBLEY — Taking your children fishing on a hot afternoon is a common activity for many fathers in the South, especially here in Natchez.

Between the Mississippi River and a wide array of lakes within an hour’s drive or less, a fishing trip for the family can prove to not only be enjoyable, but convenient.

Often times, however, the children can feel the frustration of concluding a day of fishing by coming up empty-handed. The patience that is required when fishing will go unrewarded, making the trip seem unfulfilling.

At the St. Catherine’s Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Manager Bob Strader is looking to create a small fishing pond for kids that will combine convenience with a large host of easy-to-catch fish.

The pond, which will be located behind the refuge’s new administrative building, will have a pier built across it, giving kids easy access to cast their reels. Only children, ages 16 and under, will be allowed to fish at the lake, although parents will be allowed to watch their kids.

“We wanted bass and blue gill,” Strader said, “But our fishers said if we’re going to be having fishing rodeos out here for kids and stuff, it’d be better to just stock it with catfish, something that they’re going to catch. Maybe we can have a combination of three species.”

In this instance, the patience may not be in the fishing itself, but in the waiting for pond to be ready for use. While the pier’s construction is almost complete — Strader said they should get around to putting railings on the pier during the winter — the lake itself is not expected to be ready for use until the summer of 2011.

“This pond had some problems holding enough water, so we drained it last summer and fixed what we believe was a hole in the pond,” Strader said.

Strader identified the supposed hole as something that was a side effect of a burial project they used the lake for.

“We had buried some trees in the pond two or three years ago, and when we did, we must’ve broken through the clay seal,” Strader said. “When we broke through the clay seal, the water wouldn’t get much deeper than the point where we dug the hole and buried the trees, so we pulled the trees out.”

The refuge drained the lake by creating a hole in the levy surrounding the lake and letting the water spill out. Since the pier’s construction is at a point where they could begin to let the lake fill again, Strader said they plan to patch up the levy soon and let water begin to accumulate.

The pier is not the only thing at the refuge under construction this summer.

Construction on the administrative building in front of the pond is a new structure began in early May. The refuge also plans to add two miles to its existing recreation trail going through the area.

Larry Crawford, an employee of Restaurant Builders, Inc. out of Marietta, Ga., has helped oversee the construction of the new office, and is pleased with the progress that has been made in only a few months.

“I think it’s gone real well, and it’s been a fairly quick job for the amount of work that’s been done,” Crawford said. “It came out pretty much how we wanted it to.”

With several new additions to the refuge, Strader said he hopes more attention will be brought to the area, and that the refuge will be able to better facilitate the needs of the public. He also might be hoping for a heavy batch of rain to speed up the lake-filling process.

“If we get a big storm though here, it’ll maybe fill it over night,” Strader said.