1985 Lafayette Trout Hatchery, RI (11/9/1985)

Saturday, November 9, 1985

As we checked our RI guide, Kyle wanted to do something different and we decided to visit the Lafayette Trout Hatchery in Wickford, RI. It was a beautiful day and we easily found the place. No one else was around. We wandered around the fenced caged pools, and board-fenced areas along a channeled stream to see thousands of trout from four inches to about a foot or so long.

Four-inch trout

Foot-long trout

More trout

We walked along the stream, which had aerators with noisy pumps along the way. Most of the stream was caged over. There was also a huge pond covered with lines of brightly colored rope strung at 1-2 foot intervals to keep out predatory birds.

Covered pond

The fish were really crowded, and we saw some jumping up into a “waterfall” from a pipe. We also peeked into a building that had tanks of teeny tiny fish of down to an inch in length. Along the way were a couple dead or dying fish, but there were plenty of live ones! As we approached each pool, the fish began to thrash about with some nearly jumping out of the water. We figured they thought we were going to feed them, and this theory was confirmed when a man came out of the building with buckets of fish food. We watched as they thrashed when he approached to feed them.

We then drove to Charlestown to find an Indian burial ground. Instead we found a housing development, so we headed home.