Deer Creek/Jordanelle/Strawberry

[Therapist]

Panda,  good for you in wanting to teach your kids how to fish.  Remember, a 4 and 7 yr. old have a very short attention span, so you need to be aware when they begin to lose interest.  As to your trolling, lead core can be very successful, with a few tweeks.  First the leader:  Take  the end of your lead core and strip out the last 8 inches of the lead.  The dacron sheath should slide down without any difficulty.  Take some 10lb Flurocarbon line and slide it up into the end of the Dacron till you hit the end of the lead.  Tie an overhand knot at the lead/line junction and another one at the end of the dacron.  You now have a leader that will go through the eyes of your rod without hanging up.  Make the leader about 3-4 ft and tie a size 00 ball bearing swivel on the end.  The swivel will slide through the guides also and you can now tie on any length of leader you want.   Use 6,8, or 10lb flurocarbon for your leader ( flurocarbon sinks where as Mono floats.  The fluro will help keep small lures down.)  You don't need expensive flurocarbon,  I use Berkley Vanish, decent knot strength and a lot less money.  I would purchase filler spools of 6,8, & 10 lb Vanish and a Plano line box to keep them in.  That way you can change the diameter of the leader and the lenght as needed.  I would not use a swivel at the end of the leader for things like Flatfish, Rapalas,  Flicker Shads, etc.  For things like Dodger/Squid combos, Pop Gear, Triple Teasers, etc,  a good ball bearing swivel w/crosslock snap works great.  Again, Berkley makes a good swivel, recommend size 00.   Choice of lures is up to you, if looking for Kokes/Rainbows, go with the dodger/squid combo.  You can tip the squid with a half a nightcrawler to entice more strikes.  I would not recommend the BIG popgear w/ the huge blades.  They really pull hard, have a hard time staying down, and I don't think they work as well as the smaller willow leaf blade gear.  Put about a 12-18 inch leader behind the gear, a # 1 or 2 bait holder hook, thread on a nightcrawler, and fish.  A little wrinkle to this is to use a Mustad, "Slow Death " hook on the leader.  The "Slow Death" hook has a kink in it that causes the crawler to "roll" as it is pulled through the water, adding action to the rig along with the flash of the blades.

Another recommendation to get the kids excited about fishing is take em to Utah Lake and catch White bass.  Or fish off the shore somewhere for carp.  At their age,  they don;t care what they catch, just so they catch something.  I gaurantee, that you will hook them for life if they catch something when they go out.  A 5,10, 15lb carp will hookem for life !!!  You go to Deer Creek, Strawberry for yourself, take them to Utah Lake to get em hooked !!!!  Or Willard, or any of the small ponds the DWR has around the area.  Good luck and have fun !!!