Fresh fish was on the Saturday dinner table for plenty of Kennett area anglers thanks to the 2023 Trout Rodeo on April 29.

The Brandywine Red Clay Alliance hosted its 26th annual rite of spring at Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square, luring its fans with the promise of 700 newly added fish dumped in the water just days before.

For Jim Jordan, the executive director of the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance,  the preparatory challenges for this popular community attraction exceeded signing people up and contracting for the fish. Looming over the Alliance’s previous two outdoor weekend events and the coming rodeo were weather forecasts that were gloomy, rainy and chilly.

The outlook for the Red Clay Cleanup on March 25 was rain showers all day. The same forecast was issued for the Brandywine Hills Point to Point on April 1. And yet, amazingly, almost magically, when the three events came along, the skies cleared and the showers disappeared for the extent of the activities. It rained before, and it rained after. But almost in deference to Brandywine Red Clay’s schedule, it held off for the golden hours of the Trout Rodeo.

As he watched lifelong fishermen and families with children arrive on Saturday, Jordan stood in a park pavilion, glowing with the satisfaction that the weather had again been good to him and folks were enjoying the out-of-doors. That was the main purpose, he said.

Those who had arrived to fish reported afterward the number and the size of the trout they had hooked. At the end, the very successful ones received trophies for their skills and—perhaps—a bit of luck.

“We used to give them cash prizes for catching the most or the biggest, but that often attracted the people who came for the money. Now that we took the money out of it, I’m seeing a lot more parents with children,” Jordan said.

In total, he estimated that about 300 people had pre-registered, and another 60 showed up on Saturday. They paid $15 for adults and $5 for children. Anglers over 16 years old had obtained a state fishing license. The attendance was an upturn from the two years lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and the weak return last year.

Many of the participants are returnees whose attendance at this event span generations. The offspring of the late and beloved Avon Grove High School athletic director Al Weeks have been coming to the trout rodeo for years.  These kids routinely report big harvests. This year the patriarch’s great grandson, Austin Weeks, had already hooked two trout in the early hours.

Every year, just two days before for rodeo, the alliance stocks the ponds. This year they came from Cedar Springs Trout Hatchery in Mall Hall, a town in the northern-central area of the state. A representative of the company brought the trout shortly after 8 a.m. on Thursday, and volunteers from the alliance helped Jordan empty them into the water.

The trout ranged in size up to about 18 inches, with some of them bearing a golden color. Regulars who visit the park throughout the year often come to fish for the remaining trout in later weeks and months and report that – given time – the fish grow quite large. One park regular reported seeing one that had reached almost two feet long.

The two ponds at Anson B. Nixon Park are habitat not only for fish but large numbers of Canada geese, ducks, snapping turtles, a great blue and a green heron, and occasional king fishers and eels. The geese are currently spending time nesting with eggs around the water’s edge.

The headquarters for the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance is the Myrick Center on Route 842 in Pocopson. It is the jointure of the previous Brandywine and Red Clay valleys associations. They sponsor a large variety of activities throughout the year, including a large camp program for youth.