Hook, line and...sucker?

The calls of sandhill cranes echoed off the nearby hillsides above Alice Creek Ranch. On the ponds below, the calm surface of the water was broken only by handmade flies, the occasional spinner and a rather large muskrat.

With the end of the school year on the horizon, Lincoln School science teacher Nancy Schwalm and a handful of students took advantage of a surprisingly mild evening Wednesday June 1 to fish the ponds at the historic ranch property and enjoy a tailgate barbecue of hotdogs and hamburgers.

Schwalm said her wildlife class was talking about going fishing, but knew the streams would probably be blown outand that they may not be able to get into backcountry lakes yet.

"I started thinking about people who had ponds that had fish. I don't know how this place even came up," Schwalm said. She thought they might be able to fish the ponds and was able to contact the new owners of the ranch as well as the surrounding property, both of which changed hands near the end of 2020.

"I called both of them. They were both totally on board," Schwalm said.

She invited not only her wildlife class, but everyone between 7th and 12th grade. In the end, she had just four secondary students make the trip, as well as four elementary kids - including her own - and several parents and volunteers.

Despite a forecast for rain, the weather proved to be pleasant throughout the evening, and Schwalm said the kids all seemed to have a good time trying their hand with both spinning and fly rods.

Although the students didn't have a great deal of luck reeling in fish, Schwalm had a first-ever experience when she hooked into a longnose sucker with a fly.

After a couple photos, Senior Scott Butterfield helped free the fish and released it back into the pond.