It Gets Passed Down
In this part of the tour, it has progressed to at least 2004 or so (based on the youngest kid's presence). By this time the SAB is open for pedestrians and bikers. The paths along the river have been paved or at least improved. The Park Board has added bridges, signs and all sorts of other stuff to get people walking along the river.
While it is nice that the Park Police have really gentrified the area, it is sad that our old "secret" spot is no longer ours. In fact I almost hated catching a carp because the people on the SAB might see me and come back and fish there themselves.
The good thing though is that it is an easy place to bring young kids for a bit of fishing. There are other places in town that we still fished for carp at, but getting a 4 and a 6 year old down to those places could be a challenge. The SAB is perfect for young anglers. Not only is it easy to get to but when you do catch a fish, all the people watching clap and holler for you. If you are a budding ham it can't get any better.
The other nice thing about this spot is that the carp tend to be a bit smaller. Which is good if you brought a younger angler who gets mad if you hook your finger in his belt loop while he is fighting a carp. If you don't hold on to his older brother, he is not going to be happy if you hold onto him. Why would you stick your finger through their belt loop? Well there were few times that a bigger carp had a decent chance of pulling my son into the river. And even though their mother sent us off to go fishing because the boys were working on her last nerve, she probably would have been upset if I returned without the entire complement of kids.
So take a look at the pics. You can see bigger versions by clicking them.