{"id":795348,"date":"2019-04-30T19:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T01:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/frozen-fun-george-peebles-summit-county-4-h-help-introduce-local-youth-to-ice-fishing\/"},"modified":"2019-04-30T19:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T01:04:00","slug":"frozen-fun-george-peebles-summit-county-4-h-help-introduce-local-youth-to-ice-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/frozen-fun-george-peebles-summit-county-4-h-help-introduce-local-youth-to-ice-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Frozen fun: George Peebles, Summit County 4-H help introduce local youth to ice fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"
A group of local young fishermen hold up their catches inside an ice fishing hut during a 4-H ice fishing trip on Lake Dillon earlier this winter.<\/strong>
George Peebles \/ Special to The Daily<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During his final time out this winter leading Summit County\u2019s 4-H Ice Fishing Trips, George Peebles experienced a moment that spoke perfectly to the experience of ice fishing with kids.<\/p>\n

In a county where winter sporting options such as snowboarding and freeskiing are abundant for local and transient children alike, ice fishing doesn\u2019t necessarily rise to the top of the list of sports for most kids to try. But that doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t a demand for the sport from the youth of the local community. That\u2019s what Peebles has discovered during the past two winters, leading 35 kids annually on ice fishing trips.<\/p>\n

Each time out on the hut, Peebles said the kids get the chance to let their guards down and catch up with each other, chatting about such things as what games they\u2019ve recently played and what 4-H programs they are enjoying. During the last trip of the season out at a secret spot near the Dillon Marina, before the fishing could even get started, one of the five local kids spoke up.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I would love to catch an Arctic char,\u2019\u201d one of the kids said to Peebles, speaking of the rare fish found only in select spots here in the lower 48 states.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018OK, bud. Today could be your day,\u2019\u201d Peebles said. \u201cWe\u2019re fishing. And the second I dropped it down the hole and handed him the rod and he started jigging, he pulled a char in and was just ecstatic. I turned around, and another kid said, \u2018Well, I want a brown trout.\u2019 I said, \u2018Again, guys, we\u2019re fishing. So you never know what could happen. But I do have a feeling this hole right here and at this depth can catch a brown trout. So keep jigging your rod.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Peebles said no sooner than three minutes later, the child pulled out a monster brown trout. It\u2019s moments like these that affirm to Peebles, the owner of Silver Flask Fishing in Dillon, the importance of a youth ice fishing program like the one he leads for 4-H, which is put on by the county in conjunction with Colorado State University.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to see the activeness of these children and how excited they are to fish with me and take the knowledge I\u2019ve given them,\u201d Peebles said. \u201cThe species of fish, how to fish, techniques, why we fish and conserve the fish the way we do \u2014 it\u2019s all just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a few Saturdays this winter, Peebles led 4-H\u2019s three-hour ice fishing excursions on Lake Dillon, providing 4-H members with gear and instruction before fishing for Arctic char, brown trout, rainbow trout and kokanee salmon.<\/p>\n

Whatever group is with him in his hut, Peebles reminds the children that though they may not catch a fish on cue, that patient energy and focusing on the task at hand is what sets ice fishing apart from so many other sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to see that excitement is amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Peebles began the program a couple of years back when he reached out to the county\u2019s 4-H. Looking for a leader for fishing, 4-H brought him aboard and he began with fly fishing. Come the first winter, three 4-H groups went out on locations like the Frisco and Dillon marinas and the Snake River Inlet, with Peebles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew there was a meter out there reading red, \u2018Hey, we want to fish,\u2019 from the community and the children,\u201d Peebles said. \u201cAnd I just went ahead and made that happen. And the second they went onto the ice, they were in awe. They couldn\u2019t believe the hut was heated, how everything was set up. I allowed them to drill holes with my aid, and they just really loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading the 4-H groups, Peebles said his focus is always on teaching the young kids the proper technique and conservation elements of fishing. Often, these kids are too young to attempt winter backcountry sports as, say, snowmobiling. With that, ice fishing can provide quite the adventure for these youngsters. Heck, Peebles said during one trip a young fisherman was just 11 months old. Strapped to their mother inside the hut, Peebles asked the mother if he could share the ice fishing line with the little one. After the mother obliged, Peebles said the baby, who couldn\u2019t yet talk, instinctively pulled up the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is just something magical about ice fishing, and fishing in general,\u201d Peebles said. \u201cBut there is something that becomes \u2014 it\u2019s a new experience for these kids. For the most part, all of these kids who have lived up here in the county, they\u2019ve seen the frozen lake before, and they may have seen a hut or two of people out there fishing. That said, this is something new to them, something that was right in front of their eyes the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of local young fishermen hold up their catches inside an ice fishing hut during a 4-H ice fishing trip on Lake Dillon earlier this winter.George Peebles \/ Special to The Daily During his final time out this winter leading Summit County\u2019s 4-H Ice Fishing Trips, George Peebles experienced a moment that spoke perfectly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-795348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 03:37:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}