PLEASANT MOUNT, Pa. — First graders from Wayne Highlands School District in Honesdale got off the hook from a normal day in the classroom.
They spent their day at the Pleasant Mount State Fish Hatchery.
"It's everything they get to see in the wild, so for a lot of the kids, the first fish they might catch would be a sunfish, and we have sunfish they can look at, catfish are popular, and trout, of course," said Pleasant Mount State Hatchery Foreman, Walt Yetter.
Students learned all about the life stages of different kinds of fish from members of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Only a couple hours into the tour, some kids were hooked on the idea of working at the hatchery
"Why do you want to work here? Because it is so cool here, and I wanna teach kids how to do that kind of stuff," said Emmett, a first-grade student at Wayne Highlands.
More than 100 students also got a lesson on how to cast a fishing rod, practicing how to reel in a big one.
But there was one part of the trip that really got the kids talking.
Part of the tour allowed students to get up close and personal with a Tiger Muskie.
"When I was petting them, it was really slimy. They felt like the soap slipping out of your hands," explained Iggy.
"It was slimy and gross, but I am used to that because I picked one up that was stuck on the rocks," explained Ryan Murray.
Teachers tell Newswatch 16 that the trip to the state hatchery has become a yearly tradition, giving students an adventure outside the classroom.
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