OT: Lake/pond near King of Prussia for kids to fish?

[mark2741]

I have two young ones I'd like to introduce to fishing and was hoping someone can point out a pond or lake (preferrably not more than 30 minutes from King of Prussia?) that has an abundance of bluegills/sunfish and doesn't require a boat to catch plenty of them : )

Any suggestions? My kids are 6 and 4 years of age, so flyfishing is out of the question - we'll just use poppers or worms.

 

[JasonS]

Mark,

There is a pond behind the Upper Merion Township Building, located on the corner of Henderson and Valley Forge Rd (rt. 23). Although I've never fished it, I know they stock it with trout for kids. I'm sure there are blue gills/sunnies in there as well. Also, there is a little park there so if the kids get bored with fishing they can play on the swings, slides and so forth. Hope this helps.

 

[mute]

Youre allowed to fish that pond? I checked it out before and never seen anyone fishing on a nice and also seen the 2 big electrical wires running across the water to the fountain so i didnt think it would be a good idea to be throwing lines in there.

 

[mark2741]

Yeah I didn't think you could fish that pond except for when they have the township-sanctioned events. In prior years they ran an annual "fishing derby" for kids that I made the mistake of bringing my then 2 year-old to -

I show up and the pond's edge is lined with a bunch of degenerate-looking grown men who clearly were more interested in catching dinner than introducing fishing to kids. And the saddest part was that a lot of these guys were fishing two rods at one time.

There was no room, and lots of foul-mouth talk going on, totally inappropriate for kids. This was about 4 years ago so perhaps it was just that one "derby", but I would never go back to it again.

That said, I saw an email from the township last month talking about a fishing clinic for kids that required pre-registration (it was booked solid by the time I found out about it) that sounded perfect. But we couldn't go.

My guess is the township ditched the 'fishing derby' because it seemed to attract mostly folks from other townships.

I'm looking for a real lake, something where I don't have to fight my way into a spot : )

 

[mute]

Theres a nice size pond at East Plymouth Park in plymouth meeting.

 

[Mike]

Since the limits of your proposed outing are based on time and not on distance, then I believe Marsh Creek Lake and Chambers Lake (Hibernia County Park), both in Chester Co., might meet your needs.

 

[mark2741]

Perfect Mike! Chambers Lake looks to be right on target as it even has a kids pond:

(from their website):
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Hibernia Fishing Pond
Hibernia Kids Pond

At the opening of the season, Hibernia also has a 3/4-acre pond with Bluegills, Largemouth Bass and stocked Trout. The pond is limited to children and disabled individuals for the first few weeks of trout season, and opens for the general public after Memorial Day.
//
Thanks again!

 

[moosehunter]

Fennimore Woods in Wayne (just behind eastern college) has a pond for kids only. I use to fish it as a kid and is a great place to learn. We used to fish the ponds at Eastern, but i don;t think they want anyone fishing there. The manayunk canal is also a good place to learn.