Gold Creek Trout Farm

We went to the Gold Creek Trout Farm for the first time and had a good time there. According to their web site we can use our own gears on certain day (s) and today was one of those days. My son used his kids size fishing rod and caught 3 trout. There are some rules that you need to follow to protect trout. You will be taking your fish with you (means No «Catch & Release») and the size of hook should be smaller than size 6. (My son’s hook was a small one so it was fine.) It should not be an issue when you use their equipment. You might want to bring a container that keeps your fish cool and fresh.
The great thing about this trout farm is that you don’t need a fishing license, no parking fee or State Park pass etc. Just walk in during their open hours. It’s a great introduction to kids and family friendly place but this is not a daycare or hands-​on one-​on-​one type of fishing pond. I would recommend to read their web site first before your visit and if possible go there with someone who has done/​knows fishing or who has been the Gold Creek Trout Farm before if it’s your first visit.
Tips for the first-​timer:
— Your kids might want to keep fishing but take/​fish only what you need. Think about how many fish you want to eat (or keep them frozen).
— Don’t pull the fish out of water! Grab a net and help your kid.
— It helps if you know how to knock out a fish with a wood club (they have a wood club)
Overall it was a very fun experience for my family and we had Panko-​crusted deep fried trout for dinner and that was just delicious :)

Got a great trout here today! Brought the family and had a good time but it was short lived due to us catching a very large trout. I’m not much of a fisherman being from AZ so it was quite the experience. A good time!

The idea behind this is very simple: they provide the basics (from bait to rod to bucket) and let you catch the fish. Whatever you catch, you will take home with you and it will be priced depending on the size. There’s no catch and release.
Our older son loves coming here because it is fishing made easy and we always bake our catch of the day for dinner afterwards, so it’s a win-​win.

We went to the Farm Saturday and had a fantastic time! The staff were both friendly and helpful. The Trout sizes were VERY surprising, my 3 year old caught a 14 inch and a 22 inch fish. We had to invite people over to eat all that fish. (Which were delicious by the way)

Great place for an easy catch. Went here for my nieces 3^rd birthday and everyone had a great time trying to reel in some Trout. They provide everything you would need to catch the fish, a pole, a bucket, a net, bait, a cudgel for knocking the fish on the head, they’ll even clean and bag the fish for you. After everyone caught what they wanted, we went to the covered picnic tables to eat cake and open presents and such.
Everybody had a good time and memories were made.

«How does the farmer man plant trout, Daddy?» That was the comment my 4 year old made just before I took him to Gold Creek trout farm. I have been coming here for about 15 years now, introducing a lot of kids to fishing as a result. Great place for family fun.

I agree with Barbara A. that the owner is super cranky. The owner had a lot of rules and I felt like she was scolding my 3 kids. «Where’s your net?» «What are you supposed to do when you catch a fish?» «What happens if you release your fish?» «Put the bait on the bottom of the pond!» «Put your bait on the top of the pond!» «No running!» «Where’s your bucket?» «One bucket per family!» «Why isn’t your net ready?» The line of questioning/​scolding seemed endless and wasn’t said in a nice way. And we were the only ones there at the time we went fishing.
If you’re going to be in the business of providing fun moments at what seems to be a hefty price ($ 6 for a very small trout and I saw prices in excess of $ 30 based on the trout’s size), you should try to be a bit more friendly.
The pond is very shallow (a little bit more than a foot deep), by the way, so you can see all of the fish swimming around. It’s not a natural way to catch a fish. My 2 younger kids (6 and 5 yrs old) thought it was fun. My older son (11 yrs old) got tired of all of the scolding and decided to call it quits. He doesn’t want to return. I concur.

I took my 7 year old to be and my 17 month. It was amazing to see how simple it was. My old son was super excited about going fishing (Yes, this was his first time). He has very little patience so I was eager to see how he was going to handle it. The staff was cordial in getting us ready. We got a small cup with bait and instructions (get a fishing rod, a bucket, don’t lift the fish out of the water-​use the net to get them out when caught, and bring bucket when ready). She pointed out the difference in price for each pond. We started to fish… after about 15 minutes and my son trying different sides of the pond he finally caught his first fish. Go the fish out, unhooked the fish, added more bait and back it went. With in 5 minutes a second fish was caught, then 5 more minutes and the third fish came about. I had to let my son know that 4 was going to be our limit ($ 6 dollars a fish can be costly (small pond) when your kid wants to keep fishing and want to catch them all). My younger son would help with getting the fish out of the water with the net. Finally we took the bucket to the gentlemen at the small hut. He took care of gutting the fish and provided a bag. Took them home and had dinner.
Overall it was an awesome experience as it was time well spent with the kids. The place has a very simplistic setup. If you are looking for a top of the line place to fish with all the amenities, this is not the place. However, if you are looking to spend an awesome time with your kids while they fish, then take them here.

We had a blast at the trout farm today. My daughter, who is 6 had sooo much fun catching her own fish that we had 18 trout by the time we left. Very fun and we are planning on having her Bday party there in April. Great fun for the kids!

Not a very natural way to catch a fish, but it was a great introduction to fishing for my 3 year old son.
This place is basically a shallow cement pond, filled with trout. Just walk on up to the shack, get some bait (I think it was dough?!), grab a pole & a net… then get fishin’!
You have a choice of fishing for smaller trout or larger trout. When we were there, there was a birthday party going on, and they had surrounded the smaller fish area. Not that we wanted a small one anyway.
So my son & I stood at the larger fish area with our pole. Not long after, we got a bite… yikes! This city girl had no idea what she was doing! Anyway, a staff member came over to help, but it was too late — the fish jumped off the hook.
But within 30 minutes, we caught 4 more fish. I’d had enough, esp. since I had to de-​hook the fish. And there’s no release here — a posted sign says «$ 20 fine for catch-​and-​release» so you have to take what you catch.
A staff member guts the fish & gives you basic info on how to cook a trout (Brush with butter, spice how you want, wrap each in tin foil; cook at 325 for 15 min per fish). Our 4 trout cost ~ $ 25. About the same as in a grocery store, I think… but worth the experience. My son LOVED the whole experience.
Here’s a tip: we brought a cooler so we didn’t have to worry about getting fish guts in the car.
The fish turned out better than we expected, but we would’ve been fine with just 2 maybe 3 fish.
Gold Creek Trout Farm is only open in the warmer months. Check the website (very basic site) or call for more info.