PHOTO BY DONNA CAMPBELL A man spends the morning helping a boy catch catfish at the recent Reach 1 Save 1 fishing event at the Brookhaven Fishing Pond.

You Asked: What is the Brookhaven Fishing Pond?

We Answered: Last Saturday, Reach 1 Save 1 hosted a special day for area youth at the Brookhaven Fishing Pond, and the kids were catching cats left and right on hot dog wienies and patience.

But we’re surprised a lot of Lincoln Countians don’t know about this free resource available for use to members of the public who meet certain criteria.

The Brookhaven Fishing Pond sits on about an acre with a gated entrance just east of the Brookhaven Building at 1154 Industrial Park Road NE. Many know the area as the practice fields.

The pond is stocked mostly with channel catfish and managed by the Brookhaven Recreation Department in partnership with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Recreation Director Matt Shell said the pond is free to use daily from sunrise to sunset for anyone age 14 or younger or for those who meet the following criteria:

• Anyone dependent on a wheel chair, braces, full prosthesis, or crutches for walking

• Paraplegics (paralysis in the lower half of the body)

• Hemiplegics (one-sided paralysis or weakness of the face, arm or leg)

• Blindness

Adults who don’t meet the requirements are welcome to be there as long as they’re accompanied by someone using the pond. Shell warned the pond is monitored regularly by MDWFP law enforcement officers and violators are subject to tickets and fines. 

The pond has been open for at least 20 years, he said, recalling his own daughter fishing there as a child.

It was built by the City of Brookhaven, Federal Aid Sport Fish Restoration, Lincoln County Board of Supervisors, Lincoln County Soil and Water District and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation.

It was designed by MDWFP and they set the rules for its use, he said.

The recreation department hosts two fishing events there each year, usually in March and September. For those, they will stock the pond with about 500 catfish in the spring and about 400 in the fall.

He said most of the fish are in the 1- to 2-pound range when they’re dropped in.

There is not a bathroom facility on site.

The pond is also available for various youth organizations to use. For more information, call the recreation department at 601-833-3791.