Early Thursday afternoon, the aroma of fish hung heavy in the air. It was hot when at promptly 12:30 p.m. a truck from Hanna City, carrying 1550 pounds of catfish, pulled into Windmont park,
Since 2020, Herman Brothers Fisheries have been delivering fish that will stock the pond for the annual Kewanee Park District and Oldeen’s Fishing Rodeo. The event was started years ago by the Oldeens, who supplied the fish for the event, and the tradition is carried on today by Bobby Oldeen in honor of his father and grandfather.
There is a process to offload the fish into the water, explained Nate Herman. The water temperature in the tanks used to transport the fish is 60 degrees. The pond water is much warmer at around 80 degrees. In order to ensure the fish aren’t shocked, half of the water is released from the truck’s tanks and replaced with pond water. Buckets are used to scoop water out of the pond and into the tanks. The entire process takes about a half-hour.
Shown, Nate Herman with Herman Brothers Fisheries showed onlookers the size of the catfish, left, before releasing water from the tanks to prepare the fish for the pond. [Photo by Susan DeVilder]
Once the water was replaced and the fish were acclimated, the real fun began. Using eager volunteers, Herman netted the fish and placed them in baskets. Volunteers carefully carried the baskets of fish down the boat ramp before giving them a sendoff into the pond. In all, 12 compartments of fish were emptied.
Andrew Dwyer, executive director of the Kewanee Park District, said the fish are all roughly about three pounds. Once the pond is stocked, there won’t be any fishing allowed at Windmont until the rodeo event this Saturday, June 3. After that, only children 16 and under will be able to fish the pond through the rest of this month.
Registration for the rodeo starts bright and early at 7 am. Fishing begins at 8 am. Walmart has graciously donated two bikes as prizes, said Dwyer. In addition, a litany of other area businesses has donated door prizes for the event. There will also be prizes awarded for the largest fish caught, as well as a prize for the smallest. A four fish minimum is in place for the rodeo, and Joe DeSmit will once again step in to coordinate volunteers and prizes.
