"Daddy, when are you going to catch some fish? Everybody's caught some except you," giggled my daughter Sarah. My wife Elaine's and my oldest child has always enjoyed sending light-hearted barbs our way, but now that she is 26, she is just as proficient at doing so, if not more so, than when she was a youngster.

This gibe took place as Sarah, her husband David Reynolds, and Elaine and I were on a family fishing trip to a Franklin County farm pond. We had been planning a group outing for several months and had hoped to go on an extended fishing trip somewhere. But when the gasoline crisis hit last summer, we modified our plans and went to the close-to-home Franklin mini-impoundment.

Gas crisis or not, farm ponds are an excellent destination for you and yours. Very few landowners, assuming you ask well in advance, are going to turn down a polite request from folks who want to take their kids fishing -- whether they are 26 like Sarah or tykes under 6.

And I would guess that the owners of most Old Dominion ponds stock these waters with largemouth bass, bluegills and channel catfish, which is the case with the Franklin one. Some proprietors will want all the bass released and all the bluegills caught, and some, as was the case of the owner of the Franklin pond, wanted largemouths under a certain length kept so that the larger bass would have less competition for food. Just do what the landowner requests, and likely, your family will be invited to return.

It does take a little effort to locate farm ponds. One of my favorite ways is to drive down country roads and stop at farms where ponds are visible. Another way is to drop by local farm bureaus and ask if officials can give you names of pond owners who might let a family fish. And there's always the option of knowing a friend of a friend who might give you some tips or grant permission.

Of course, besides farm ponds, numerous other family destinations exist around the Commonwealth. We'll look at some of the better family-fishing public waters in different parts of the state.

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA PANFISH AND BONUS CATS
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) biologist John Copeland maintains that 162-acre Gatewood Reservoir in Pulaski County is a dandy reservoir for folks looking to catch "nice quality bluegills and redear sunfish." The prime time to go is right now he says -- that is, between mid-May and mid-June -- as the fish are spawning. Copeland recommends that anglers use bottom-rigged night crawlers for jumbo bluegills and redears.

Claytor Lake State Park is very popular with families who visit the 4,475-acre impoundment in Pulaski County, and that's not the only reason people should go there.

"The best destination (in this region) for easily catchable bluegills is Claytor Lake," said Copeland. "Bluegills are abundant in this mountain reservoir and their sizes are decent. A day on Claytor Lake can produce a limit of 6- to 8-inch bluegills.