FOR KIDS : A Quiet Place to Fish May Hook Children

If your children think fish come from an ice-filled showcase at the grocery store, it may be time to take them fishing.

Just three miles south of the Ventura Freeway in Agoura is Troutdale, a quiet place to angle for rainbow trout.

There are two olive-green pools on 3 1/2 acres, just off Kanan Road at Troutdale Road. The pools--stocked with rainbow trout every 10 days--have fountains spurting from their centers. A Japanese-style bridge and tall wood sculptures--totem poles, seals, birds, dragons and Indians--are nestled among the oak and sycamore trees.

For parents who want to see if their children like to fish before investing in poles, bait and other gear, Troutdale is a good place to start. For $2 a person--poles and bait are included--you can sit on the logs surrounding the pools and fish as long as you like. Youngsters will enjoy the excitement of feeling that gentle tug on the line, but will need help pulling the fish from the water, removing the hook and placing the fish in a tub of water.

The cost can rise steeply if the fish are biting, as visitors are charged for each fish caught. Smaller trout--7 to 11 1/2 inches--cost up to $4.75 each, and the larger fish, found in the bigger pool, cost more, depending on size.

Troutdale is a popular spot for children’s birthday parties. It has many shady spots with picnic tables, and the one amenity that youngsters are most likely to need: restrooms. Parents should be aware, however, that the cost can easily exceed $10 a person if each child catches one or two fish. And there are strict rules against doing things that children have a propensity to do, such as throwing leaves, pebbles or small sticks into the water.

The weekends are the busiest time at Troutdale, but the weekdays are quiet, typically frequented by mothers with young children, and others who come by themselves just to fish. The warmer days of spring and summer are a good time for angling at Troutdale because the fish are friskier and don’t mind venturing near the top of the ponds to explore.

Barbara Clago, who bought Troutdale 20 years ago, says that in the early 1900s, Troutdale was just a dirt pond stocked with fish. There was no Kanan Road then, and visitors would come out via Mulholland Drive to catch and barbecue dinner. Sometime before the Clagos bought the property, the second pool was built, and both pools dug to their current 16-foot depth.

After a day at Troutdale, children will know that fish don’t just come from the grocery store. Whether they will take that lesson a step further and actually be willing to eat the trout they caught is another question.

Troutdale, 2468 Troutdale Drive, Agoura, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and Monday holidays. Fees are $2 per person, plus a charge for fish caught. Information: (818) 889-9993.