Cotonwood Heights mom Karri Sargent can tell you about the importance of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' urban fishing ponds.
On a recent afternoon at Willow Pond in Murray, she joined her 9- and 7-year-old sons and about two dozen other anglers to fish for planted rainbow trout. The well-used, four-acre pond is tucked next to I-215 in a city park filled with ball diamonds, playgrounds and picnic areas.
She loves the easy access and said places like Willow Pond give her a chance to teach her sons about water safety and angling without having to fish next to a fast-flowing river or hiking to a lake.
"We come about once a week," she said. "It's not very good but we usually come during the day. On Sunday, everybody is here, especially people who don't want to go up into the canyon. I bring the kids here because it's easy. We need more of them."
The DWR has worked in recent years to develop these community fishing areas, which stretch from Logan to St. George. Some are often stocked with planted rainbow trout but others use easy-to-catch warmwater species such as bluegill, bass, crappie and perch. The agency's urban fishing program also offers an educational component with fishing clubs for kids from six to 13 who have never or seldom fished.
A free 40-page guide to urban fisheries by the DWR, called Utah Community Fishing, is available at any DWR office and many license vendors or agents. In addition to providing directions, rules, handicap access availability, daily bag and possession limits, city, size of the pond, hours and types of fish available, it offers fishing tips and profiles on many of Utah's game fish. The booklet is also available at the DWR's Web site, wildlife.utah.gov.
Here is a county-by-county list of Utah's 37 urban fishing ponds:
Box Elder County » Mayor's Pond and Pioneer Park Pond, Brigham City.
Cache County » Skyler's Pond, Logan.
Weber County » Meadow Creek Pond, Roy; Fort Buenaventura and Glassman's Pond, Ogden.
Davis County » Holmes Creek Reservoir, Layton; Farmington Pond, Farmington; Clinton Park Pond, Clinton; Jensen Nature Park, Syracuse; Bountiful Lake, Bountiful; Kaysville Ponds at Utah Botanical Center, Kaysville; Mabey Pond, Clearfield.
Salt Lake County » Willow Pond, Murray; Sunset Pond, Draper; Midas Pond, South Jordan; Riverton City Park, Riverton; The Cove at Herriman Springs Pond, Herriman; Kidney Pond, South Jordan.
Utah County » Highland Glen Park, Highland; Vivian Park Pond, Provo Canyon; Spring Lake, Spring Lake; Canyon View Park, Spanish Fork; Spanish Oaks Reservoir, Spanish Fork; Salem Pond, Salem.
Carbon County » Gigliotti Pond, Helper; Carbon County Pond, Price.
Emery County » Huntington Game Farm, Huntington.
Iron County » Parowan Pond, Parowan; Woods Pond near Cedar City.
Grand County » Green River Golf Course, Green River.
Juab County » Burraston Pond, Mona
Washington County » Upper Tawa Pond and Lower Tawa Pond, St. George; Stratton Pond, Hurricane; Razor Ridge Pond, Washington; Skyline Pond, St. George.
