Anybody fish the pond recently? I haven't been for about a month, but gave it a few visits the first part of April and didn't get a single bite, didn't observe any sort of surface activity either...kind of wondering if there are even fish in there.
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Went last night for an hour or so. The water wasn't as clear as it normally is, but I could still see the bottom. Didn't have any bites and never saw any fish, even in the deep section wher I normally catch tiny perch. A few other people were fishing but I don't know if they had any luck.
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That's what I was worried about. I spent at least 14 hours on that pond last month without a bite. My wife said "I don't think there are any fish in here." and I figure they stock the thing so logic told me there must be which is what I told her...but after all the time we spent there in April without any bites and without seeing any fish I'm not so sure.
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The perch are so small that it is becoming almost impossible to hook them. The stockers are probably all caught out.
Windriver
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Not trying to stir things up here, but, it would be really good if Fish and Game could figure out, or, afford to do something with this pond.
We need more water closer to our populated areas of Eastern Idaho where we can still "catch" a few fish and not have to burn up all the gas. $4.00 Gallon keeps me fishing a lot where I used to love too fish. Plus, if we want kids and families involved in fishing, we had better provide a decent opportunity more frequently.
Anybody got any ideas or heard of any news about Roberts Pond.
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I agree. Back in the late 80's early 90's they use to plant some big fish in there. Don't know why they quit. I looked at the F & G stocking reports and they stocked it in Feb. with only about 300 6" + rainbows. They probably got caught out during ice fishing. Another place that has gone down hill is the gem lake kids pond. Used to have some big rainbows and browns now about all my kids ever catch are chubs with the occasional 6" planter rainbow.
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They used to put the old brood (sp?) stock trout in there. I've seen 9,10+ lb bows come out of there but again that was way back in the late 80's. Could be an amazing fishery if managed properly.
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Just a quick comment on the Gem Lake Kids Pond. Sorry for taking the focus off of Roberts Pond for a minute.
The Gem Lake Kid's Pond is a bust as far as I am concerned at this point in time. My kids and/or grandkids have never done well there. Not really much access for kids. Some of the shore line is not accessible at all. "Not" a great kids experience and that was supposed to be the purpose of the pond. There is much work to be done before we have really good kids access fishing around I.F. and surrounding areas.
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I think there are a couple problems with "kid ponds" around here.
#1. With budget cuts the F &G can not raise enough fish to meet the needs of our growing population. We keep adding community ponds which we need, but we need to increase the number of fish raised if we are going to do that. After the Rigby pond started getting stocked in the summer what fishery got less fish?
#2. People keeping a six fish limit. There is a group of retired guys that come in to the Rexburg Nature pond every evening after it is stocked and fish it out until there is nothing left. I see kids come in on their bikes from the neighborhoods and I feel bad for them because it gets fished out so fast.
I tend to take my kids fishing at the family fishing waters further away, but as others have said the price of gas will start to limit how far we can go.
Windriver
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On the family waters in a town they need a 2 fish limit and have some of the water for kids(under 18 or so) only. The only way an adult can fish in the kids area is if they have a kid with them and limit them to 1 or 2 fish.
Roberts needs something to eat the perch so they get some size. My 5 year old caught a 5" perch through the ice but most were 3-4"
A catfish population would be nice.
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I remember going to the kid's pond just below the south dam (IF Power owned I think) as a kid and pulling my limit in right around an hour, same with my sister. Power bait, a little weight, a little wait and bam, fish on. This was around 1996/97 though, and I guess I just assumed it would be the same now. Was excited for it to open on the 16th of June, but you've got me a bit concerned now.
On Roberts, I can't remember ever doing really well there, but I do remember catching a fish or two each time we went up. I never remember catching perch, just small rainbows. This was around the same time period. Kind of a bummer. I know fishing isn't about catching, though it's part of the lure...but for kids the catching can be the whole thing. One fish will make them happy, but an hour without as much as a bite isn't an incentive to keep trying for them. Hoping Birch Creek works out well for us, it's hard to find a body of water around here, especially right now but all year round, that isn't scary as hell to let your kids get close to.
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I've taken my nephews to the kids pond below the Gem Lake dam, caught a few rainbows and a chub. They had fun, although they would run around playing with the other kids and only come back when I told them they had a fish.
Had one of the guys there say his daughter pulled out a 20" last year, maybe 15 feet out from the shore where there is a hole. It's true that there is a lot of water you can't fish because of the bird nesting protection area, I don't know how that effects the amount of fish that come in range of the fishable end.
Last year at Roberts I caught 2 catfish, released one and kept one, some trout, and some perch, biggest maybe 6-7" mostly from an aluminum boat. Light clouds moved in, and the wind stopped completely and you could see everything under the water. Pretty fun to watch perch chase a worm or a little grub lure as you reel it in and see what works to get them to bite.
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