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[#0000FF]There was an article by Tom Wharton in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune...on the urban fisheries program in the Salt Lake area. [url "http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3071447-155/recreation-salt-lake-urban-fishing-big"] LINK TO ARTICLE[/url]
It listed the waters available and pointed out that it's not just for kids. There are a lot of geezers taking advantage of the free access and minimal driving distance to get to go fishing when they might not be able to drive or afford longer trips.
I ain't there yet but it's good to know I got a backup plan when my tubin' days are done.
Actually, I have made good use of Willow Park Pond, near my home, to test the actions on new lures. Also get to practice waving a fairy wand to keep in shape...even though I don't carry one with me on many tubing trips.
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I fish several of them in the Ogden area, plus Bountiful Pond on occasion. They're great places to take grandkids or just spend an hour casting. You need hardly any tackle, and need not keep any fish you do catch. (The limit on all community ponds is two fish, total, of any species.)
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[#0000FF]I have always believed in them...wholeheartedly. I was first exposed to the idea in the Phoenix (AZ) area when I lived down there. There were several lakes that were well stocked and maintained. They were attended by folks of all ages. The only problem with some of them is that they became hangouts for the "undesirable" element...who chased off the kids and oldsters.
I too have sampled several of our Utah urban ponds. For the most part they are great. My only gripe all along is that there is a hardcore group that views them as their own private fish market. These folks show up with large families and string their rods out all along the best stretches of the bank. Then they "group fish"...with one or two adults catching the two fish for each of the other family members. What's worse is that they often take their catch home and then return for another round of harvesting.
About 4 or 5 years ago my wife and I worked as a team for the youth fishing program on Bountiful Pond. We had a group of 4 kids that started out as non-anglers and progressed into accomplished tanglers...capable of doing their own rigging, baiting, casting and fish handling. Fun Stuff.
The problem was that DWR planted a small quantity of catfish on Mondays and our weekly kids' group thing was on Thursday. There were a couple of local families that showed up right after the hatchery trucks...and twice a day thereafter...and by the time the kids got their turn there were few gullible cats left for them to catch. I know this because I visited the pond on Tuesday afternoons a couple of weeks and witnessed the wholesale harvest...with two of the people in the group carrying out big landing nets full of catfish.
That was in the days of the 4 fish limits. Not sure if the reduction to 2 fish has made a difference. With some folks it wouldn't matter if there was a zero limit. They would still rape the resource somehow.
Negatives aside, these little lakes really do provide a great place for an evening "brain broom" for stressed out anglers to work off the day's accumulation of stress and anger. Also great places to introduce kids to the basics of angling before dragging them off to some more exotic venues. And, of course, they are also great places for us old fudds to fish...just because.
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I like the urban fisheries idea, but I wish they would include the urban rivers and creeks as well. The DWR used to stock trout in many creeks and rivers but no longer. Urban rivers like the Provo River or Ogden River also provide much more fishing access, but right now the fish are few.
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I used to get a round of diaper rash from the online angling community for fishing the urban ponds. It was always stuff like "do you also go to kids Easter egg hunts and take all their eggs too?" and many other snide comments like that.
In truth its one of the best ways to do exactly what you mentioned tube dude...sweep all the B.S. from the world out of the brain for a little bit when time and/or money is limited. After a while you meet the locals and become friends with people that start to feel like their your community, where in other places outside the city this doesn't usually occur.
The community ponds are one of the greatest things the DWR does IMO and I hope to see it continue by the time I have kids and their kids have kids.
My only complaint is the amount of pelicans and commerant (can't figure out to spell the names of them right now) that out fish you in the ponds. I would like to see more hazing of the fish eating birds by the DWR. I guess the stocking of catfish and larger fish can help a little bit but overall the birds just need to go.
The thing I love most about the ponds is when the brood stock gets dumped in.
P.S.- If you were witnessing poaching Tube Dude, why didn't you call them in to the hotline?
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"P.S.- If you were witnessing poaching Tube Dude, why didn't you call them in to the hotline?"
[#0000FF]I did better than that. I met the DWR supervisor for Bountiful Pond onsite...and we watched what was going on. Nobody was in violation while we were there...obviously. And as he put it, he couldn't issue a citation without witnessing a violation. He admitted they knew there were problems but without the manpower to monitor all waters on a daily basis the happy harvesters were pretty much free to do their thing most days.
Now I take care of the problems in a more direct manner. I was testing some chatterbait designs on Willow Park Pond a couple of years ago. Some large brood fish were smacking those lures but not getting the hooks. They would chase them right to the bank. A couple of non-English speaking teen age boys came running over, jumped right in front of me and started trying to snag the fish. When I yelled at them they just glared at me. So I put my foot on one of them and shoved them into the water. They ran off screaming non-English obscenities at me...returning with their dad...who was about half my size. Since I was able to converse in the non-English language I told the guy what was going on and why I did what I did. I also invited him to do something about it. He declined.
I usually don't carry a cell phone. But I have one in my vehicle. I know several BFTers who have called in violations at Willow Park and there have been a couple of apprehensions and citations. However, by the time someone is able to show up the guys in violation are usually gone. DWR is stretched especially thin this time of year with all of the hunting seasons open. Wouldn't want to be them.
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My grandkids and I love the ponds. Fishing and boating.
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The idea of community ponds isn't an entirely recent concept in Utah. When I was a kid growing up in Payson, approximately in 1960, they changed the rules at Spring Lake so that only kids 14 or younger could fish it. Many days I rode my bike from Payson to Spring Lake, the three miles, for an enjoyable day of fishing.
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[#0000FF]Welcome aboard.
Great first post.
The picture says it all.
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to my face. It is a good thing when kids can get to a place to fish without needing an adult to drive them.
