Dale Hollow’s Wilderness Day Camp turned a September Saturday into a lively sampler of outdoor skills. At the 17th annual gathering, children ages 7 to 14 tried fishing, learned about bats, practiced water safety and met the trout raised at the local hatchery.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that the camp ran from morning through mid-afternoon at Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery in Celina, Tennessee. Staff, volunteers and partner organizations built the day around activities children could try with their own hands.
Desmaray Brown of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led water and boating safety lessons, including a life-jacket relay. Children raced to put on their jackets, reach a marker and hand off to a teammate. A local bat enthusiast named Jason introduced the group to bat habitats and showed them how to make a bat house and choose a place for it.
The campers also handled wildlife-identification materials, learned fishing and fly-fishing basics, and practiced archery and target-sport safety with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Friends of Dale Hollow Lake provided lunch, and the Friends of Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery helped make the day possible alongside hatchery staff and other community partners.
Fishing brought a memorable surprise: while the children tried their new skills in the stream, hatchery staff added 386 rainbow trout to the water. Tanner Harvey of Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery made the release, and the young anglers caught and released fish of their own.
Melissa Briggs, who works at the hatchery, led the closing tour. The children learned how trout grow from tiny sack fry to fish ready for release, then received feed to help nourish the hatchery fish.
Paul Boyce, a local fly-fishing enthusiast and one of the camp’s founders, told the Service that the program began in 2009 as a tribute to Celina United Methodist Church minister Russell Cain, who founded the Hatchery Friends group in 2007. Today, the camp connects a new generation of young neighbors with fishing, wildlife and the people who care for Dale Hollow’s public waters.
Source: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “Wilderness Day Camp Delivered Nonstop Excitement,” Sept. 30, 2026.
Leave a Reply