On April 18th 1974 I caught my very first Rainbow Trout. It was because of dedicated outdoors sports-minded men and women at Hopewell Fish & Game Association who raised and stocked these fish (since 1967), AND my Dad for taking me fishing.... that I am the man I am today.
I am happy to serve as President for the last 7 years of the same Association and a steward to all present and future anglers and outdoorsy folk.
The Hopewell Fish and Game Association Youth Program's story started 31 years ago. Club members Don Baker and John Hunt urged the governing body of Hopewell Fish and Game Association to let them start a Youth Education Program that would give youth in the community an opportunity to learn about shooting sports on the club grounds outside of the existing Hunter Education Program. The program continued for the next 24 years run by Don and John with the help of the club's membership.
In 2017, Ryan Maters and myself (Michael Males), Association Directors, pitched to the governing body to expend the program in order to have a greater reach. In 2018 the board approved the proposal and the program took a huge leap. They expanded it's offerings, annual number of dates, and youth participant capacity, taking it from a one-day event to a multi-date and season long, full fledged program with a capacity of over 680 youth from the community...FREE TO THE COMMUNITY. Programs include: Hunter Education, Youth Archery, Youth Sporting Clays, Youth Trout Fishing, Youth 22 Rifle Education, Youth Aquatic Life Study, Youth Fossil Education, Youth Foraging Classes, Youth Fly Fishing & Tying, and MORE! The Youth Program Series of events runs annually from March until October.
The programs are run by Hopewell Fish and Game volunteers and educators with the support of local business sponsors so that all programs are absolutely FREE to participants.
2024 celebrates our 31 year anniversary of the Hopewell Fish and Game Association Youth Program and we are in need of funding in order to sustain the existing program and facilities in addition to even greater expansion of the program. Since 2018 we have given nearly 2500 students and their parents in our surrounding communities introductions and education to the things we here at Hopewell F&G hold so dear to our hearts.
Key focus is ALWAYS on conservation, stewardship of our natural resources, and safety in ALL of our programs.
1967 to 2024 Raceway & Trout Nursery
2024 is also the 57th anniversary as a cooperative nursery in conjunction with the PF&B Commission. The raceway was built by members here at the club grounds in 1967.
Since the construction of the original nusery, we have raised and stocked nearly 350,000 trout and into the streams for public access around York County.
Up until 2019, Hopewell Fish and Game was awarded a certificate for 50 some years in a row for having raised the largest average trout in the state.
In 2020 our raceway began to fail due to the passing of time and natural wear and tear. Our annual fish kills went from 800 to 1000 fish per year, to now in 2024, losing nearly 6000 fish over the term of 9 months. Time has taken it's toll on our nursery which has affected our water quality, combined with higher water temps, and PH levels.
It has been determined by the PF&B biologists, along with our experts at Aquatic Restoration Resources that in order for us to continue as a Cooperative Nusery with the PF&B, we need a new aquatic facility.
The Education Pond and Nusery Combined...
There are obvious benefits to having a new nursery for raise healthier fish who live long enough to be stocked in the local stream for recreation fishing in our community. Additional benefits to combining the new nusery project with improving our education pond are also many. The obvious is to be able to do all of our clinics on-site and with more frequency, reaching more students annually. It also takes the liability away from our generous landowners who have allowed us to host our clinics on their property through special permits with the PF&B.
The above photo is from the 2023 Trout Fishing Clinic which had to be held a few miles away from our club property due to the poor condition of our pond. As you can see it is very close to a public road where parking for the parents is not only a challenge, but also dangerous.
Rehabilitation to our existing pond by Aquatic Restoration Resources will not only give us a pond that will hold fish year after year for our Youth Education clinics, but also allow us to host more events for the community here on our own property.
