Amateurs Take Bait at Troutdale Ponds

The last thing Tanya Gray expected to haul out of the water that Sunday was a 17-inch rainbow trout. After all, her gear consisted of a bamboo stick with fishing line knotted onto the end and canned corn for bait.

“I’ve never been fishing in my whole life,” the Valencia woman gasped as she swung the fish onto the bank.

Another fish story? Not at Troutdale, a rustic little fishing spot nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains in Agoura. Here you pay $3 to fish two man-made ponds stocked regularly with rainbow trout.

OK, it’s not a rushing mountain stream or a glistening lake. But your chances of catching the big one are better here and it won’t take a whole day of waiting for a nibble.

“They are in there,” says Cheryl Clago, whose family has owned Troutdale for 25 years. “Thousands of them.”

The Clagos stock the ponds with fish 6 inches to 14 inches. The smaller ones go in one pond, the bigger ones in the other. But it’s not uncommon for anglers to pull out fish bigger than 20 inches. The record is a 32-inch monster pulled out in 1983.

It’s mostly families that come to Troutdale, located on six to seven acres just off Kanan Road. Kids anxious for a quick catch generally get their wish, and they don’t have to deal with complicated fishing gear. Included with the $3 admission fee is a bamboo pole, line, hook and corn bait. Of course, you can use your own gear too.

But the cost doesn’t end with the admission fee. Here’s where it can get a little pricey: You pay for each fish caught, depending on the size. The littlest trout, 7 to 8 inches, cost 95 cents. The price goes up to $8.95 for anything 15 inches or bigger. (Add 50 cents per fish for cleaning, if you’re squeamish about fish guts.)

*

So Gray’s 17-inch beauty cost $8.95. Along with the other four fish her group of two couples and two children caught, the tally came to $34.

It’s worth it, according to the families clustered around the ponds on a recent Sunday.

“It’s a wonderful little spot,” said Michael Blade of Agoura, who was on his second visit. “You can relate to your child and family, and you don’t have to worry about a darn thing.” His first outing had yielded two trout, 13 and 14 inches.

With him was Romaine Mazer who said, “This is good for total amateurs. You’re probably going to catch a fish.”

That’s what 3-year-old Blake Sainz of West Hills was bent on doing. His dad, Ramond, hooked one, then handed the bamboo pole to Blake who pulled in the fish. His mother caught it all on videotape. After an hour, the family had snagged three good-size trout.

Nine-year-old Christopher Panagotacos of San Francisco wasn’t so lucky. He and his father got ready to leave after an hour without hooking anything. “I hate fishing,” blurted out Christopher, who had never fished before. “It’s boring, boring, boring.”

Even if the fish aren’t biting, it’s a pleasant, picturesque spot. Large oak trees form a canopy over the two side-by-side ponds. Water spurts from fountains in the center of the ponds. Fishermen sit on big logs and dangle a line.

Nearby are picnic tables, a little footbridge, and big wood sculptures in the shapes of a swan, seal, frog, bear, Indian chief, as well as totem poles tucked among the trees. For those who like their fish really fresh, there are barbecue pits.

When the Clago family took over the site 25 years ago, the ponds were just two dirt holes in the ground, Clago said. Dug to a depth of 19 feet in the middle, they are now covered with concrete that descends gradually. Ten years ago, she said, fire swept through and leveled the tackle shop, which was rebuilt.

*

Troutdale is open seven days a week, and, depending on the weather, it draws about 200 people a week. Clago has seen all kinds--everyone from businessmen gathering pond-side for casual meetings to working parents conducting business by cellular phone while their children fish.

She has seen some amazing catches--like the 17-inch trout snagged by an 11-month-old toddler dangling a line from his stroller.

The Clagos get their fish from a hatchery, periodically adding them at the rate they are fished out.

“We don’t feed them,” she said. “They know how to get the bait off the hook without getting caught. They are very smart.”

DETAILS

* WHAT: Troutdale.

* WHERE: 2468 Troutdale Drive, Agoura; off Kanan Road, three miles south of the Ventura Freeway.

* WHEN: Open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, and Monday holidays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Hours will be longer in the summer.)

* HOW MUCH: $3 per person, plus a fee for fish caught.

* CALL: (818) 889-9993.