Rec Dept’s fishing program for adults with developmental disabilities Friday

FARMINGTON – The Farmington Recreation Department will be holding its 9th annual fishing program for adults with developmental disabilities on Friday, June 24 at Rollo Pond.

Instead of the annual fishing program for children, a one day fishing instruction session for children 4-7 will be held on Thursday morning. The popular children’s fishing program, which featured as many as 36 children fishing from marked spaces along the banks of Rollo Pond in Abbott Park on the University of Maine at Farmington campus,  can no longer  be held there, said Parks & Recreation assistant director, Seth Noonkester. The reason is that shrubs were planted around the pond this spring which limit fishing access to a smaller area so the program can no longer be held at the pond.

To help replace the program and still provide a fishing experience with the pond stocked with trout, Parks & Rec. director, Matt Foster will lead the Get Hooked class session on fishing basics with children on Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Foster, a 30-year fishing veteran will teach casting for accuracy,  fishing tips, how to set a hook, catch and release practices and how to clean and prepare the catch. There’s a fee of $15 for Farmington residents and $25 for out-of-residents.

There is still room in the class, which is limited to 10 anglers. Preregistration is required by calling 778-3464.

The fishing program for adults with developmental disabilities, which typically draws about a dozen participants each year, will be held in  two sessions. The first session will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. and a second session from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. There is a bag limit of two rainbow trout.

Participants need to be accompanied by either a family member or supervisor from a local support agency. Rods and bait, such as worms, night crawlers or lures are also the responsibility of the participants. However, the Life Enrichment Advancing People program (LEAP) has generously planned on providing a limited number of fishing poles and bait to those who need some.

Preregistration is also required for the adult program by calling the Rec Dept. at 778-3464.