My 6 year old daughter has decided she really likes fishing. The only trouble is that I'm totally clueless. About the only way I've ever caught anything is with some power bait and a sinker. We went up to Silver lake in tibble fork and caught some rainbow trout and she had a blast. We want to go again, hopefully someplace a little closer to Sandy. Any suggestions? Is there anywhere a total newbie like me could catch a few fish in big or little Cottonwood or Millcreek? I don't think I'd want to fish in the Jordan river, since I'd like to eat whatever we catch.
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Me being a fairly new guy to fishing myself, I'd say there is two easy ways to learn:
1-Find someone on here from your area and tag along with them a few times, and listen closely to what they have to say.
2-Get out there! Nothing beats experience. Plain and simple. You might get a few skunk days here and there, but it happens to the best of fisher people. If you go to lakes that are producing fish, regardless fo size, you will always light up your daughters day. Pay attention to the reports of lakes in your area on this website and you aught to do fine.
And it never hurts to ask a question or ten to people. Some will give knowledge away and some wont, but you never know unless you ask!
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River fishing is usually not a good idea for kids. I'd go to the community ponds, particularly the one in Murray by the golf course. If you don't get anything there, I'll tell you of a secret place in the city where I bring my scouts to pass off their merit badges. See how you do there first.
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The Tasmanian Devil is a great little lure for anyone just started. Nothing special about fishing it, throw it out there and reel it it. And is good for bank tanglers as it casts fairly far. It catches fish like mad. If the fish see it they won't be able to resist at least checking it out. It's also highly visible for low light and murky waters.
Walmart carries a small section of them ($3-5 each), At least the one in AF does. Cabela's or any other outdoors or fish outlets should as well.
Just make sure you learn the improved clinch knot so you keep your tackle and your fish.
http://www.animatedknots.com/improvedcli...dknots.com
Powerbait is also great and relaxing, but not as fun and as effective as the devil in my opinion.
Google Earth is a great tool for searching out waters. As long as you have "Parks and Recreation" area's highlighted most lakes even the small ones will be outlined in green.
Salt Lake has some community ponds you can find more information here:
http://wildlife.utah.gov/cf/
And Big Cottonwood has a bunch of lakes up to including it's own Silver Lake.
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If you want to stick close to home there a few community ponds, haven't been there in a while but there Sunset Pond in Draper, and Daybreak in S. Jordan also one in Herriman. Check the dwr site they got a whole secion on community ponds.
If you dont mind a short drive there always Jordanelle & Rockport. Jordanelles Rock cliff side is suppose to hot for rainbows.
Fishing from the shore a Carolina rig minus the bead works well for trout or bass use either a treble hook for power bait or a single hook for worms. Green or Charchuse glitter power bait always seems to catch ranibows. A worm with green garlic marshmellow works well too Ive caught a few smalies at rockport this way I'd google carolina rig give ya better idea of what it looks like.
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Wow, tons of great info thanks everyone. I'll be sure to check out one of those community ponds this week!
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Sunset pond in Draper (700 east 11705 south) is a great place to take the kids. I take my daughters there and always catch some nice channel cats. Worm and a sinker with some chicken liver scent worked great the last few times. They have some nice benches to sit on and if the fishing gets slow there are lots of bullgrogs for the kids to chase around. We usually fish the south side just of the bridge only cast about 10-15 feet away from the shorline.
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A trick that works really well for me when I take my grandkids fishng is to use a piece of nightcrawler and a miniature marshmallow. Rig it like this. Get some 1/2 oz. slip sinkers (the kind that look like a football & have a hole through the middle), run your line through the hole & tie on a snap swivel (the little safety pin looking thing) so the sinker can slide freely on the line but stop at the snap swivel. then make up a section of leader about 12 to 14 inches long with a loop on each end. Put a size 6 snelled hook on one end of the leader and hook the other end into the snap swivel. Bait the hook with just a piece of nightcrawler and a mini marshmallow. Toss it out kinda gently so as to not throw the bait off the hook and let the sinker settle to the bottom. Take up the slack in your line just until you can feel the sinker then allow about 6" of slack. The marshmallow will keep your worm & itself up off the bottom & out of any weeds in plain sight of the fish. the line will slide easily through the sinker when a fish takes your bait and you will notice the slack going out of your line before the fish feels the weight of the sinker and spits the bait out. The rest is up to you. Good luck & have fun.
If you want to PM me with a phone # where I can contact you, I'll give you a call one of these days & we can go to a local pond or maybe take my boat to a lake & I'll give you all the knowledge about fishing that I can. Shouldn't take but 20 maybe 25 minutes to do that & then we can try & catch some fish.
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I took my daughter out again, and this time brought little sis along as well. We went to Willow pond like marathon man suggested. It was pretty crowded and it didn't look like anyone was catching anthing and I didn't see any fish so I was starting to think it was gonna be a bust. Finally my youngest caught a nicle little rainbow. My older daughter was pretty bummed about being out fished by little sis, but still had a good time.
fatkidfishin, I was thinking I'll probably check out sunset pond next as it's a bit closer.
geezer, I think I'll take you up on your offer, I'd love to tag along with someone who knows what they're doing! PM on the way!
Attached is a pic of my four year old with her first fish!
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Now, that's what it's all about. Love it!
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Part of the fun of fishing is just trying new places and new techniques. Its also a lot of fun to socialize with other folks on the shore; discuss what's working, what's not and what they like. There is a lot to learn just by being sociable.
Up Big Cottonwood Canyon you can hit Silver Lake, at Brighton. Its very easy access and quite pretty. During the summer evenings and weekends it gets heavy pressure, but this time of year its not nearly as bad, but evenings and early AMs can be chilly.
Fishing with the kids is awesome!
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The picture is great. Every time my daughter catches a fish it reminds me of how fun fishing truly is.[sly]
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Call me at 641-8364 and I'll bring you to a place where your guaranteed to catch fish in 15 minutes. Dan Dan the real estate/marathon man. (Its in the city).
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