Fishin' Holes

2013

Rule #4:  Always carry a pocket knife--except to school or on a plane.

[I am reposting this for context.  Beyond the fisherman's normal paranoia about others finding their favorite "holes" and "haunts," the folks who own some of these waters don't deserve to be harassed with requests to fish.  I also have the same fear about divulging the names of my fishing friends.]

It occurs to me that although I refer to the places I fish throughout these posts, I haven't described them adequately.  I'm working on a map of the River to show my progress, but I have other sites I enjoy and fish pretty regularly--especially when I fish with Girl I, Girl II, and The Doc.  Of course, I can't divulge locations, for there are still few so well-kept secrets as fishing spots.  If my readers were to figure out, from my description, where these places are, I'd have to kill you.  Both of you.

The next times I visit these places, I'll take some pictures.  For now, this should suffice:

1.    Keep Out Lakes 1 & 2:  In the spring, driving on the interstates around here is extremely dangerous for me, not because everybody other than me is a horrible driver, although that's true--but because my head whips from side to side as I see one interstate pond after another.  When they built the highways, especially the overpasses, the road crews took dirt and stone from beside the road, giving the landowner a new pond.  Some of these have been manicured and maintained in beautiful shape.  If you drove by the Keep Out Lakes, you wouldn't be all that impressed.


2.    Fisher Ponds:  This site isn't really a single pond, it's three connected ponds that used to be small gravel pits.  My great-uncle, owned this property for years. Though he and my great-aunt have passed, the present owners are good friends (isn't Muncie great?!!) and they let me fish their pond often. When The Doc and I were in graduate and medical school, respectively, we fished here all of the time.  We caught many 1-2 pound bass, and an occasional 3 pound.  The amazing thing about "Fisher Ponds" was the size of the bluegills.  I measured fish that were over 13 inches long!  There are still some of those in the ponds--Girl II caught one last year and called it "Franken-Gill"!  When you're lucky enough to hook one of these, they fight harder than any 2-3 pound bass!  One of the most effective lures for these monster bluegills was a #1 Silver Mepps with an Uncle Josh Fly Strip or the leg off of one of the frog lures.


3.    Muncie-Tucky: This is another series of small, abandoned gravel pits.  When The Doc had to greatly decrease the number of patients he saw, he was sure to keep two types of people: those who owned fishing spots, and those who owned bars.  Who would blame him?  One of the best patients he kept was the owner of "Muncie-Tucky."  The Doc and I have caught some truly memorable fish from these connected ponds.  Once, Jeff caught a fish that we couldn't immediately identify.  It was an at least 2 pound, maybe 3 pound crappie!!! Neither of us had ever seen one that large. I hooked a catfish here so big that it pulled our  boat around (of course, it stuck its ugly head up above the water and then broke the line!!!).   Doc and I caught many good-sized bass on crawfish-patterned jig-and-pig combos..


4.  The Rez:  Prairie Creek is a relatively new reservoir that is owned by the Water Company.  When we moved to Indiana from Montana, the back yard of our first home butted up against Water Company land and the Rez was about  1/2 mile from home.  I confess I have caught few fish in the Rez, and 99% of those I have caught have been stunted crappies and mudcats with the occasional bluegill thrown in--and almost all of those were caught somewhere close to the bait shop on the east side of the impoundment.


5.  I've also fished the Mississsinewa, but I don't know it all that well.  I learned to throw very light-weight Rooster Tails on that river, across River Road from an Artesian Well, catching Goggle-Eyes, sunfish, and the occasional river smallmouth that always thinks it's twice the size it really is.


6.  Horse Pasture Pond:  Not technically in the pasture, this pond belongs to good friends who own horses.  The pond is more an ornament than anything else, though it has some little bluegill and bass in it.  I'm sure it probably has mudcats as well.


7.  The Doc's In!:  The Doc always has a new intern with a pond, or a colleague who has either purchased a home with a pond or has recently built a pond on his or her land.  These places constantly change, though.

8.  [2014]  Speaking of "The Doc," last year he finally had a small pond dug on land passed down to him by his grandfather.  He has stocked it with Channel Catfish (they have to be stocked every year to feed the other fish), Bluegill, and Largemouth Bass.  It should be "fishable" in 2015.


>I'll say here so that I don't forget:  I will write a post about Camp Windigo and some of the times the Doc and I had out there as well as other places I probably won't fish again:  

• Summit Lake
• Brookville 
• The Boy Scout pond across river from Camp Munsee
• Phillips Pool
• Lutheran Hills
• Eagle River Fish Camp
• Montana's Madison and Blackfoot Rivers

>Also, I have lost--or in some cases, misplaced--many fishing friends.  

• My Uncle Dave, who though he passed away some time ago, remains the most important man in my life, was a constant companion.  He loved squirrel hunting and took it very seriously.  Fishing, for him, was just fun--the way it should be.

• One of my best friends, Tim-Dog, was (even though he wouldn't necessarily agree!) a better fisherman than a golfer!  TD moved to the Big City, and we have recently reconnected.  Hopefully, that means we can do some fishing again.

• Grandpa B-- who taught me a lot about enjoying fishing, and who could be relied on to throw at least one silly-looking lure ten feet up in a bank-side tree!

• Mr. G--who knew so much about fishing, but was always content to watch the Doc and I catch fish.  "All Right!!!"

• Mr. B--who only fished while wearing a tie!

• Vedas Davis--"King of the Wild Frontier."

• Kirk, who I love like a brother but will never get in a boat with again . . . ever. 

• Barry, who didn't really like fishing that much, but who graced me with two of his father's fishing poles when that good man passed.  I treasure them.

• Some of the Doc's and my friends and Beta buddies.

• Buck and his degenerate friends. (Sounds like a rock band, right?)