It’s Fun Day, Well, Except For The Trout

As a young man, Archie St. George often fished for trout in Rimrock Lake.

But the Yakima native, now a resident of the Summitview Manor retirement home, isn’t able to visit his favorite fishing spot anymore.

So the fish came to him.

Recently, about 25 residents of the Yakima retirement home settled into chairs stationed around a fiberglass basin containing 60 rainbow trout. In a grassy area behind the manor, a dozen residents shared five fishing rods and took turns tempting the fish with baited hooks.

The Naches Fish Hatchery of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife supplied the trout; it has participated in similar projects for about three years.

Linda Fischer, activity assistant at the retirement community, created and organized the event.

“A lot of the residents like to go fishing, but they can’t get out,” Fischer said. “So we thought we would bring the fish to them.”

St. George caught the group’s first fish only 10 seconds after he had dipped a hook in the water, and he reeled in a second wriggling trout less than five minutes later.

“It was very nice and a lot of fun,” he said. “It brings back a lot of memories, too.”

Hobert and Lillian St. Aubin, who have been married 57 years, sat side by side with their poles, but they didn’t land any fish.

Instead, their fishing lines became tangled.

Several trout nibbled at Lillian St. Aubin’s hook but escaped with mouthfuls of bait.

But the best part, she said, was watching some of the employees take matters into their own hands.

The fish stopped biting after about 30 minutes, so Fischer and therapist Tami Beason attempted to catch the speedy fish with their bare hands.

The two women, bent over the tub with their arms shoved deep in the water, reached and grabbed at the fish. And while Beason splashed water on herself and Fischer screamed when she felt the slimy bodies, chuckles from residents were heard all around.

The trout were cleaned and cooked, then shared by residents.