Got off work Friday and went straight to a lake near the office to meet a friend. Private water. The road into is flanked by huge concrete dividers. On these dividers are the words “No Trespassing” spray painted in bright red letters. Big red letters means no bullshit, stay out. Don’t ask, just stay out. I’ve stared at this lake for 5 years. I’ve seen very few people fishing it. I’ve driven past it daily on the way to work and back since 2007 and wondered how people get access to it. No one I knew had access to it. I had thought of scouting it out but I’ve heard stories of people getting chased off of it by cops. I tend to avoid cops, it’s a habit learned from many years of skateboarding. So earlier this spring when a friend of mine who is a cop said hey let’s go fish this lake I know, I was game. Once I found out it was this lake, I was all ears and damn near foaming at the mouth to get on it. We’ve fished it a few times previously but never had much luck as it was cold and the lake for the most part is a massive bowl so it takes a bit to turn it on.
Friday night we fished it pretty hard and caught some fish. Saturday I fished from my kayak on some public access water near my place and did great. Sunday we went back to the lake we’d fished Friday and caught more fish. We decided to go check out a little lake on the same property and after finally figuring out where we could launch the boat, we caught even more fish. Fish, fish, fish. That’s all I can think of right now. I am amazed at the quality of the fish that swim in these lakes. Indiana largemouth bass that are healthy and about as unpressured as it gets. There is a photo of one bass Andrew caught that had a messed up eye. It didn’t look damaged, it just looked odd. It didn’t seem to bother the fish though, he was chunky and bent the 9wgt Andrew was using. This is the type of fishing I look forward to from late October until the spring weather starts warming the lakes and ponds.
The sound of your line in the air; the rod loading and unloading. The popper slapping the water; the pop pop pop noise as it’s pulled across the water. The toilet flushing sound you hear as the big bass inhale the fly. That to me is fishing at it’s finest.
