SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, Pa. — On a hot spring day, Elliott Esposito reeled in a huge largemouth bass.
Something he and other Residents in Susquehanna County will now have more time to do at Stump Pond after the body of water was set to be drained by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission this fall.
"It's part of my daily life and I'm sure that anybody that comes here it means something different to them but to me I see it everyday and I see the wild life everyday," said neighbor Kathy Taylor.
Sitting along Route 492, the pond's more than century-old millstone dam failed a public safety check by the Department of Environmental Protection several years ago, according to the Fish & Boat Commission.
This and other factors led to a timeline being set to drain the pond, allowing a natural creek to run through.
Newswatch 16 reached out to the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission to learn about plans to drain the pond and learned that
After public outcry the agency has decided to postpone draining the pond and looking at other options.
"Since it's been out there, I've seen more people fishing here," said Taylor. "Every day I go by to go home, there are more cars here."
"This is the first time my daughter was on water on a boat, so we like Stump Pond a lot. We fish here a lot," said Tim Esposito of New Milford Township.
He and his family have spent decades canoeing and fishing at the pond, and they hope it stays as a resource the entire community can continue to enjoy.
"It's not a bad pond; some people kind of think it's just an old stinky swamp or something, but it's just awesome, and I encourage more people to use it," said Esposito.