# 9.25lb Rainbow - Kids' Fishing Day



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

The annual Evanston Kids' Fishing Day was held today at the Evanston Ice Ponds. 363 youngsters registered. Great weather and great fishing was had by all. A large majority of the participants caught fish. All the kids received either a fishing rod and reel, or a tackle box with fishing tackle; all free.

The event is sponsored by the Upper Bear River Trout Unlimited, Cowboy Bass, the Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, and the Wyoming Game & Fish, among many others. Fish were gilled and gutted, or filleted. Fresh-caught fish were fried on the spot. Hot dogs, chips and soda pops were also available.

The fish were big this year, mostly 14" to 16" brood-stock cutts. Many 8" to 12" fish were also caught. The highlight of the day was a 9.25 lb Rainbow!!! A beautiful Ice Pond hold-over caught by a young lady with a little help from her brother. Geeze, where was this guy this past winter when we were all ice-fishing???









Holy Cow!!









These kids are hooked for life!









Good crowd, nice weather.









First time fishing for these young ladies.









Pretty typical for most of the fisherman.









All smiles. Life is good.









The guys from the Bass Federation weighed fish and then gilled and gutted them - all day!!









#4 Black Panther Martins or #1 Mepps spinners worked the best.









My grandsons caught a dozen fish, got bored, and jumped in the lake. The oldest little Goober said "Fishing is just too complicated, huh Grandpa?" smart kid









I even went fishing and caught a nice shoe; a mens 7.5.









The shoe had a nice crawdad in it.


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## sittingbull (Feb 1, 2008)

Holy crap!


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Way to go young lady!!! Way to go Goob!!!! Nice catch. Try another cast in the same place maybe you'll catch the other shoe!!!


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## Briar Patch (Feb 1, 2010)

Lotsa kids, lotsa fish, lotsa smiles - Looks like it was an awesome Kids' Fishin' Day! Pretty cool event!


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

That's awesome. That big 'bow is a good looking fish. Must have been in there a while. Regained all it's fins & features.


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

It sounds like a great time thanks for posting the photos. 8)


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## JERRY (Sep 30, 2007)

Looks like good times were had by all. Very nice post Goob. It's always good to see the kids have a good time. 8)


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## kochanut (Jan 10, 2010)

awesome shoe catch! how does one get involved with volunteering for these events?


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Very nice. Not just the biggie but seeing all those kids catching fish. Very cool.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Very nice. What a rainbow!

So these are the ponds, just off Front St and the Hwy 89 bridge?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

LOAH said:


> Very nice. What a rainbow!
> 
> So these are the ponds, just off Front St and the Hwy 89 bridge?


Yes.

Before the days of refrigeration the Evanston ice ponds provided ice for the general public and especially for the Union Pacific Railroad. Large blocks of ice were cut by horse-drawn saws. The ice was stored in huge barns along the railroad tracks. The straw used to insulate the blocks of ice stored in the barns was grown locally, the oats used to feed the horses. Water diverted from the Bear River continually flows through the ponds.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

kochanut said:


> awesome shoe catch! how does one get involved with volunteering for these events?


Looking back, I should have had the shoe weighed. 

To get involved find an association, club or service organization that supports such events. Try the Lion's Club, Kiwanis, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts, to name a few; or just start your own. The Evanston event was started by a bunch of guys that recognized a downward trend in fishing license sales and seen a need to get kids out of the house, out of trouble, and interested in the outdoors.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> LOAH said:
> 
> 
> > Very nice. What a rainbow!
> ...


That's neat. I don't understand though: These ponds would only freeze in the cold months right? Why the need for ice in winter?


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

LOAH said:


> That's neat. I don't understand though: These ponds would only freeze in the cold months right? Why the need for ice in winter?


The ice house or barn was usually well enough insulated that they could store the ice through the summer and into the fall. The first refrigerators were really just ice boxes that stored a block of ice to keep your food cool. The ice man would come around once a week or so and deliver a new block of ice to you if you were on their list.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Wow. Crazy to think of all that ice lasting so long!

Nice history lesson, thanks guys.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Yeah, what Critter said. 

Funny, I never give it much thought but my parents and grandparents never used the word "refrigerator". They said "ice box".

Very large quantities of ice were stored in the barns in Evanston. The ice was marketed from Omaha to San Francisco. The ice companies would "harvest" the ice several times each winter. Easy to do in Evanston.


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## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Now what a bunch of smiles on them kids and I'm sure their parents also. Great catch by the you lady...that will be a long lasting memory and I'm sure she's hooked (pun intended) on fish'n and will be asking her brother to take her over and over again. Also congrats to you Good on the most likely oddest catch of the day you big kid you!! :lol: Thanks for sharing the outing and also thanks for the history lesson...my grandparents also referred to the fridge as an Ice Box.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I can remember the outfitters putting our fish "on ice" at the remote fly-in fishing outposts in northern Saskatchewan in the 1970s. The Cree Indians cut ice on the lakes in the winters and stored it in sheds at the fishing and hunting camps. Sawdust from small logging operations was used for insulation. Some of the cabins had ice boxes, some you just used an "ice chest".


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Nice shoe Goob. what a great event for those young'uns.. a piggie bow for sure.


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## Jed (Feb 25, 2009)

Nice day for all you "Evinstin" folks.  :lol: 8)


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## JCR (Sep 17, 2007)

Wow that's a nice fish. Glad the kids got out and had fun and it's great so many wonderful people helped give them that opportunity. Thanks posting


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

The thing starts at 7:30 am, which I think is a little early. But the kids were standing in line to register at 7:15 am!


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## brfisherman17 (Jan 21, 2011)

If that doesn't keep them hooked on fishing, I don't know what will!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> LOAH said:
> 
> 
> > Very nice. What a rainbow!
> ...


Here's a pic of the Evanston ice barns back in the day. They are big buildings. Picture courtesy of the Uinta County Museum:


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