Hooked on Fishing

OGDEN -- There was only so much shoreline to go around for the packed first day of the Ogden City Youth Fishing Club at Glassman's Pond.

Youth and instructors lined every opening at the water's edge with poles in hand and some of them even caught some fish.

Kyra Phillips, 6, of Ogden caught her first fish ever, a four-inch rainbow trout.

"Her fishing pole was in there like, 10 seconds, and she caught one," Kyra's mother, Trina Phillips, said.

On a later cast Kyra pulled out a blank hook instead of a fish.

"You can't catch a fish without a worm on there," said Eric Stephenson, an employee with Community Fisheries.

Stephenson and a group of volunteer instructors were on hand to teach kids basic fishing skills in hopes that they will get hooked and continue fishing later in life. The classes have become very popular and fill up quickly each year. There are 35 kids enrolled this year and seven instructors certified by the Division of Wildlife Resources.

The kids were separated in groups by ability and years they have been in the club. "When they come here, they don't know anything," Stephenson said about the beginning group.

The beginner class is for those 8 and younger in the club for their first or second year. The intermediate class is for those 9 and older with two years in the club. The advanced classes are for those who have completed the intermediate class.

Despite their lack of fishing experience, the kids had an advantage: The pond was recently stocked with about 750 pounds of catfish and rainbow trout, increasing the odds of getting that first bite.

The pond is used by the club, but is also heavily fished by adults.

"Usually the adults take out the fish as fast as we put them in," Stephenson said.

Volunteer instructor Marie Stricker, of Ogden, was teaching an advanced group of kids how to fly fish and tie flies. Stricker had her group away from the pond to teach them the art of casting with a fly rod.

"It's nice to get them outside and away from the TV," Stricker said.

This is Stricker's fourth year as a volunteer for the club. Stricker, like many instructors, says her payoff is watching a child catch a fish.

The kids enthusiasm for fishing didn't stop, even when a small spring snow storm swept through the area.

"I was surprised the kids hung in there when it started to snow a little bit," Ogden City Recreation Manager Annette Cottle said.

Cottle believes that if you get a kid interested in fishing at a young age it's more likely that they'll do it for a lifetime.

Although many of the fish caught were small planter size, to first- time anglers like Kyra Phillips any fish on her hook is a success.

"In their mind, they think they are big," Cottle said.