Friends of Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery

04/25/2024

Kids fishing day will be moving to September 2024. Don't know date yet but changing to fall date will be a blast. Let's Go Fishing.

06/27/2023

I checked in with the hatchery last week and they are still doing construction work so no activities are being planned at this time. The hatchery is open daily foy your enjoyment, just be aware that many of the ponds are getting face lifts.

06/03/2022

The kids fishing day has been postponed due to construction at the hatchery. A fall date is possible if construction is completed

04/21/2022

Spring 2022
Wow, winter flew by for me while the hatchery was busy doing their annual maintenance and getting ready for the warm weather hatchery activities.

One thing I must mention is the hatchery manager Carlos Echevarria retired the end of the year 2021 and assistant manager Haile Macurdy has taken the job and will continue to run the hatchery for the foreseeable future. We will all miss Carlos and wish him well in retirement.

While the hatchery does their work every day, we at the Friends Group are making plans for the summer too. We will be participating in Earth Day activities in Columbus, have a volunteer work weekend, new member drive, and help out the hatchery as needed. As we do every summer, we will have a kids fishing day in June. We always need Friends and Volunteers year around, please fill out our contact form if you are interested in joining us.

11/12/2021

While visiting the hatchery last week I notice the trees are turning and the maples, cypress, and other hardwoods are showing out. With the temps dipping into the 30s at night it's a great time to get out and enjoy the cool weather during the day.

Most of the 2021 hatchery fish have been released in rivers and lakes across the southeast. This year the hatchery raised Sturgeon, Small Mouth Bass, Redhorse Suckers, and Gopher Tortoises to name a few. In addition, biologists at he hatchery are actively involved in endangered fresh water mussel restoration, fisheries science and reproduction. While the hatchery maintains activities year round, the release of the many species raised at the hatchery is very satisfying as they are free to grow in their natural habitat.

With winter around the corner, we won't be too concerned as the climate we are in is considered moderate. Those 30s at night are pretty much the norm until next spring when the hatchery begins a new annual cycle to raise and replenish another generation.

11/12/2021

While visiting the hatchery last week I notice the trees are turning and the maples, cypress, and other hardwoods are showing out. With the temps dipping into the 30s at night it's a great time to get out and enjoy the cool weather during the day.

Most of the 2021 hatchery fish have been released in rivers and lakes across the southeast. This year the hatchery raised Sturgeon, Small Mouth Bass, Redhorse Suckers, and Gopher Tortoises to name a few. In addition, biologists at he hatchery are actively involved in endangered fresh water mussel restoration, fisheries science and reproduction. While the hatchery maintains activities year round, the release of the many species raised at the hatchery is very satisfying as they are free to grow in their natural habitat.

With winter around the corner, we won't be too concerned as the climate we are in is considered moderate. Those 30s at night are pretty much the norm until next spring when the hatchery begins a new annual cycle to raise and replenish another generation.

08/29/2021

August 2021 Blog from website FriendsWSNFH.org
Most years August is the hottest month and 2021 is no exception. With all the water at the hatchery it seems like a great place to cool off and perhaps it is if you are a fish. During these hot days and nights the fish that were hatched in the spring are growing and soon will be on their way to lakes and streams in the southeast region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This year the hatchery is raising Striped Bass, Lake sturgeon, Small Mouth Bass, and Sicklefin Redhorse. Close to one million Striped Bass were raised in the ponds until they were small fingerlings and have been released to grow and become those big old whoopers many fisherman seek. The other species will continue to grow and will be released this fall into waters native to those species. So next time you are feeling hot, think about all those fish staying cool at the hatchery.

Friends about us Helping The Hatchery The Friends of Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization setup to assist the...

08/03/2021

New benches located midway along walking trail. Thanks to the Friends who built and installed!

07/13/2021

Kids love the hatchery! We had a great group of homeschoolers from Columbus last week. They enjoyed their tour and feeding the fish was a big hit.

07/09/2021

July 2021 and its hot at the hatchery. As I was exploring this past weekend with the family we noticed a siege of Green Herons learning how to navigate the cypress trees above the alligator pond. The fledglings were so cute to watch and we noticed the parents keeping an eye on them from a distance. While Green Herons are not rare it is unusual to observe them close up. While the green herons make the hatchery their home several other species visit the hatchery annually. Summer brings in the purple martins which nest in the many gourd like boxes hung around the hatchery grounds. The martins are great flyers and spend much of their time darting over the hatchery ponds munching on mosquitos. In addition to the many bird species, we observed turtles swimming in the ponds, a water snake sunning on a bank, and crayfish hiding in the creek. The hatchery is a great place to visit on these hot summer days with shaded areas for a picnic, walking trail, and a cool creek for the kids to explore. Hope to see you soon and if enjoy the hatchery like we do, please consider volunteering and join our friends group family.

07/06/2021

We saw these birds at the hatchery Sunday. They were standing in one of the cypress trees and very close to the boardwalk.
Do you know what species they are?
Hint - They have just left the nest so they are very young and they mostly eat fish and frogs. Photos made on 7/4/2021 with phone.