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Show Farmington pond busts, Free Fishing Day wins r J : , t ' """" I By JACK FORISKA Staff Writer FARMINGTON Ever intent on what he's doing, three-year-old Colby Johnson of Kaysville, baits his hook, eyes his target and gives the rod a mighty thrust. A delectable delec-table worm sails through the air and hopefully toward a hungry fish. Unfortunately, the fish at Farmington Farm-ington pond were not biting and Colby went home empty handed. No fish on the barbeque tonight But ask any kid on the pond and he will probably tell you he still had fun on Free Fishing Day. Kids and adults alike enjoyed a good day of fishing on Saturday at the annual event that is the only day of the year you can fish without a license. Beautiful blue skies abounded and the smell of salmon eggs and suntan lotion filled the air. The Utah Divison of Wildlife resources sponsors the affair each year in order to give folks a chance to try out the sport without having to buy a license. Thousands flock to Utah waters in order to take advantage advan-tage of the freebie. Old timers and Tom Sawyer look-alikes, both lined the banks of every stream and lake in the state in order to give it a try. Rusty and Denise Hunt found their way to Farmington pond with their two kids and decided to drown some worms. Rusty, who was sporting spor-ting a brand new Snoopy rod, says this is the only time of the year he and his family fish. It's an annual affair. At this point Rusty gave his rod a gentle flick of the wrist and the reel flew into the pond while the hook and bait stayed on the bank. "Must be a very physical sport, everyone seems to be eating a lot," he said, as he reached for the chips and the cooler. Janet Johnson, Colby's grandmother, grand-mother, said she didn't even know it was free fishing day. "I just decided decid-ed to bring my grandchildren for the afternoon. Colby fishes here all the time with his Dad and he's caught a few fish here." When asked if there were always this many people at tlie pond, Colby, Col-by, intently watching his pole, said. "Yep." Steve Phillips of the UDW said there is no way for his department to estimate the amount of people who flocked to Utah's rivers and lakes on Saturday, but the event draws huge crowds every year. Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake stocked more than 2,000 trout for the event and 1,100 kids showed up to try and take their limit (2) home. "This is really a great day all over the state," said Phillips The UDW hopes the event will get people who have never tried fishing before to get "hooked" on the sport At Farmington pond the banks were filled to capacity with area anglers but the waters seemed to be fished out. Lonnie Sanders and Stacy McQuarrie said they had been there all day and hadn't caught a thing. "The kids had fun though," said Sanders. Experienced angler, Colby Johnson of Kaysville, gives his cousin, Paige Marston, a lesson on the fine art of casting. First, you have to get your hook and bait just right. This is very important. Second, the pole must be positioned just so, and you need to make sure you don't hook grandma. Third with a calculated flick of , the wrist, you let her fly. See it's easy. Farmington pond was wall to wall fisherman during the Utah Division of Wildlife's Free Fishing Day. The event was sponsored in order to get people "hooked" on fishing. State wildlife officials proclaimed pro-claimed the day an overwhelming over-whelming success. (Clipper photos by Jack Foriska) 1 V " J .- nl- ....1 r I " 4 ' ti ' ' I- 1 rf ',' 1 1 .il-.kiui |
