The pond on the hotel's grounds was sculptured like a landscaper's dream. Beautifully tapered banks, an assortment of shrubs, and an array of colorful flowers almost made me not want to fish it. But I was staying at the hotel, there weren't any "no fishing" signs posted, my wife was still sleeping, and I was in Florida...the state where many giant bass reside.
As I fired my white spinnerbait out to a patch of weeds, I half expected Mickey Mouse to tap me on the shoulder and say "'uh...uh...you shouldn't be fishing here!" But that thought quickly disappeared when a four-pound bass slammed my lure. In the next 15 minutes two slightly smaller bass were also hooked and released. Another triumph for highly overlooked waters!
Through the years I've caught bass in many weird places. Growing up on the west side of Chicago I fished in Garfield Park and later in Columbus Park, both city lagoons. One summer during my high school years, my fishing partner, Tom Spanos, and I caught eight big bass out of the golf course water hazard pond in Columbus Park. Generally, our fishing time would be limited, as we would only cast after one foursome of golfers had just teed off and the following group had not yet arrived. Catching the four to six and one-half pound bass was special, but it was even more fun after some "highly knowledgeable" golfer would yell something such as "you kids are wasting your time" or "there's nothin' in there but bullheads."
That was the icing on the cake, but the "cherry" was when you'd see the same golfer and a buddy or two back at the pond a day later, waiting their turn to cast between foursomes.
My "exotic" fishing trips became Saturday morning forays into the west and northwest suburban areas. Several favorite waters were places I couldn't fish now because I wouldn't want my name in the newspaper connected with the word "trespassing." But, if we got to our hot spots early and wore clothes that blended in with the surroundings, we'd have very little chance of getting caught. Besides, we were only kids on bicycles, and what could you steal out of a cemetery?
Climbing those high fences was tough, and the long ride home was often tiring after our pre-dawn start, but the mixed stringer of bass and bluegills that usually hung from my handlebars made it well worthwhile. I'll never forget the reactions we'd get from many anglers driving out of the city to go fishing, while we were pedaling back into the city with a catch 99 percent of them wouldn't equal.
Another favorite and totally legal tactic of mine is going into "pay lakes," especially those with put-and-take trout fisheries, and fishing for largemouth bass. I'd love to hear the person in charge say something like, "yeah there's a few bass in here, but nobody really fishes for them."
A small heavily vegetated area often would be home to the bass, with matted surface slop or thick emergent weeds being the key areas.
During the lower-light conditions the bass would be roaming, but once the sun got high enough to penetrate the water, the fish would duck into the cover--right where I could get them.
Weedless plastic worms or single, fixed-hook flatter spoons that could be "skittered" across the matted surface would take these fish. The trick was to retrieve the lure from cover towards open water. Extra-long casts or working corners or turns in the pond to get better casting angles were the key. Sometimes getting into the water and using a longer rod also helped.
Now that I'm older, a more responsible citizen, and have been in the fishing business for nearly 18 years and can't afford to get into any type of fishing trouble, the neglected waters I now fish have to be chosen with more thought in mind.
Now there is a pond near a factory that has been reduced to about half its original size after a bulldozer filled much of it in. Aesthetically, it looks like a dump, and my biggest bass have come off a semi- submerged bedspring. I just wonder why the refrigerator doesn't produce anything over two pounds. Probably not close enough to deeper water. Maybe if its door was open it would be better.
And there's the park district pond about 50 yards behind the small shopping mall. When there is a west or southwest wind I can fish the east or southeast shore and just about always catch one to five bass. And I have caught them up to four pounds. Too bad the metal milk crate has been removed; it always produced a bass. But the Jewel shopping cart is still there, even if I have to make a long cast to reach it.
Believe me, there are plenty more exotic places to fish.
Copyright (c) 1996 Spence Petros. All rights reserved.
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