i got my dream job

Chris Finch

Chris Finch

Well-known member
yesterday was my first day with the CT DEEP Fisheries. i got into work at 6:45, grabbed a pair of waders and jumped into one of the state trucks and went to a trout hatchery an hour away. we we got there it was pretty much sensory overload there were trout everywhere. but our goal was to elastomer tag 2000 browns destinied for the farmington for opening day after a few weeks of research. they were supposed to be 8" long but since it has been so warm there were some chunky 14's in there.

so i had to go into the tanks with a big net and corral 500-600 trout at a time (out of the 8000 that were in there). from there we put then into a sedative (i believe it was MS triple 2) then cut off their addipose fin. then the biologist took a needle hooked up to a small compressor and inserted behind the eye where he left a line of flourescent green elastomer material. i was even able to tag the about a hundred of the fish.

even though it was really windy, we never got any sun, my left foot leaked, and i couldn't feel my hands all day it was awesome. i wish it was going to last more than 6 months
 
Congratulations. Glad everything came together for you. Now you need to tell us what your schedule will be like during duck season.
Al
 
the job ends in september, while it stinks that it ends, lets just say my boats will be well used this year
 
FYI you can collect unemployment through the winter....been doing that with the state wildlife dept. since 2008. 6 months on, 3 (or so) months off....
 
Well thats pretty darn cool!
Are y'all doing any PIT tagging? I helped PIT tag a couple hundred bass fingerlings a couple of years back.
Stick with the seasonal stuff and sooner or later it could turn into full time.
 
Sounds "cool" Chris. Hatcheries are pretty neat places. Did you see any breeders in there? Curious if you know how old the breeders are and do they expect any of these stocked fish to grow into breeding stock in the lakes/rivers they'll be stocking, or is it mainly a put/take stocking program? Enjoy!
 
Chris, I have also gone the seasonal route and Bill is right. For a young person trying to make it in this field that can be really inconvenient, especially when juggling any college debt/living costs/future hopes etc. Add in that pursuing the seasonal route is often your only way in b/c when it comes time to hire a full-time employee it can be very hard to beat the known quantities that have sacrificed in a seasonal position for 3-6 years. Don't want to fan any flames but I'll just say people should try walking in someone else's shoes or at least think it through before criticizing.

On that note, congrats Chris on starting a demanding, often thankless but absolutely worthwhile and fulfilling career. Keep at it! If I could offer one piece of advice it is be willing to be mobile, sometimes going away to an opportunity that is not local is the only way to advance and get home. Work harder, smarter, and longer than the other folks. After a season or two they will know you and what you are capable of!
Best,
Ben
 
Nice! I to have a dream job going with surveying Lake Michigan but that ends here in a few weeks and does not pick up again until October. Hopefully they have some other things for me to do during the summer. April 4th also starts a teal banding program that I hope I can be involved in as a volunteer, due to my involvment with the WI DNR conservation congress I am not allowed to be an employee of the DNR so I can only volunteer but it will be a nice project to be involved in.

Sure feels good once school starts looking like its actually going to pay off.
 
I did see some larger trout destined for a tma but didnt get to see any brood stock. After the job ends i will either switch back to the nursery i have been working for the last 6 years or see if i can get in with a lab somewhere for some more lab experience. I have paid off school as i went so i dont have student loans. So that is one less thing hanging over my head

Plus i will be a professionel carver by september, haha
 
Ah the life of a fish squeezer. Enjoy it.

I still have a photograph of my first paycheck with VTFG from over 33 years ago. Those first jobs are special.

Nothing wrong with seasonal work if thats your gig, but there is always graduate school for those who want to fly a desk. Pass the band-aids please got another paper cut over here......
 
Every day is a new exPerience so i may do some pit tagging but everything looks like it will be interesting and fun
 
I have been working seasonally since 2008. The state (per unions) makes it so that I can only work for 6 months, then have to be laid off for 90 days. So for over 3 years, I have been coming back to the same job, and my boss happily takes me back. If they hire me for more than 6 months, they would have to give me benefits, which the state wont do. Instead, its their choice to have it this way, so you are correct, I have NO problem collecting unemployment from the state. If a permanent job were to open, I would happily apply, with a ton of others, and hope for the best. But for now, I am working best I can, and that includes 2 seasonal jobs all summer, plus doing some saltwater charters on my own time when I can to help pay for the house my wife and I bought last october. Last winter I left my wife of 3 months home alone while I went out of state to work all winter so as to not have to collect. All that being said, when i have no work, I am happy to collect, that's what its there for.

Might want to get informed before you run your mouth.
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Bill, you might want to re-read your original post before you run your mouth...

FYI you can collect unemployment through the winter....been doing that with the state wildlife dept. since 2008. 6 months on, 3 (or so) months off....
Click to expand...

Sure as heck sounded like you are encouraging a newly graduated member of the workforce to take a lazy-assed attitude towards work ethic.




Chris, congrats on the new gig, enjoy it, work your butt off and it could be a stepping stone to something more than a temporary assignment, be it promotion or a referal. You never know who you are going to meet and the connections they might have.

Best
Chuck
 
Chuck,
I think Bill makes it clear he was presenting an option, not a strategy. I'm biased because I know the guy but you'll have to believe that Bill is looking to work, not sit on his butt. It's a last resort, not a first. Like he said, he left his brand new wife all winter for work last year so he wouldn't collect and he does a whole bunch off odd job/PT stuff to make ends meet. It's an option he was pointing out, that's all. It's easy to flame people on the web, I get it, but let's not hijack a thread with BS and instead as Bill originally suggested, keep it on PM.
Ben
 
Chuck,
I think Bill makes it clear he was presenting an option, not a strategy. I'm biased because I know the guy but you'll have to believe that Bill is looking to work, not sit on his butt. It's a last resort, not a first. Like he said, he left his brand new wife all winter for work last year so he wouldn't collect and he does a whole bunch off odd job/PT stuff to make ends meet. It's an option he was pointing out, that's all. It's easy to flame people on the web, I get it, but let's not hijack a thread with BS and instead as Bill originally suggested, keep it on PM.
Ben
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Ben

I appreciate that you know Bill, and I also read and understand Bill's second post as a defense of his ethics, but I thought Mark's reply to Bill was a spot on reaction to Bill's first post. Telling a young, impressionalble guys just getting out of college more or less, don't worry about taking a short term position, you can get unemployment and hopefully get picked up next year is not IMHO the work ethic we need to pass on to the next generation, and that is the attitude I (and Mark and some others too) got from Bill's first post.

Just one man's opinion, after all, last I checked, this was still a discussion forum.
Chuck
 
Chuck,
Indeed this is a discussion forum and I think it is always great to hear opinions on a topic.

This thread, however, is about a young guy getting his dream job, so it would be courteous (another social nicety we should be trying to instill in younger generations) to move an argument about the ethical considerations of filing for unemployment to PM or you could create a separate thread on the topic.

Sorry for the continued derailment Chris and congrats again.
BG
 
Good to see you could find so work close to home. Try to learn as many aspects of the job, it will pay off in future jobs. Give me ring if you are interest in fisheries work in the Northwest.
 
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