Remember When

[Bones]

I walk each morning to try and keep my blood pressure under control. I walked past a retention pond I have walked past hundreds of times. I looked at the retention pond and it brought back memories of fishing small ponds when I was a boy. This was about 60 to 65 years ago. There was nothing in this area but orange groves. I had come across an 8 ft wooden pram. My uncle built a trailer that I could put the pram on and pull it anywhere. Talk about having it made. I fished all the ponds in my area. It seemed like all the orange groves had a pond in it. I would pull that boat to a pond and catch bream, bass, specks and catfish. I forget what kind of reel I had could have been an old Shakespear. I also used a cane pole with a popping bug on the end. The ponds and lakes were crystal clear. I am still thinking about the good times as I am typing this. The big problem of the day was to figure out which pond to fish after I got out of school. Those were the days my friend.
Bones

 

[Redbow]

Yes sir I did the same as a kid growing up in eastern NC. My friends and I fished a creek that ran thru the countryside we caught catfish and bream mostly. Also a lot of farmers had what they called water holes for irrigation purposes that the government promoted by paying some of the expense of digging them. Bream, bass and catfish in those waterholes as well.. The down side to the water holes or ponds was quite a few kids got drowned back in the day after the water holes were built and filled with water.

We fished a small river actually named "Little River" where an old grist mill once stood. It burned down years before my time but the concrete foundations were still there and made for good fishing spots. The dam was also still in place when I was a boy but a few years ago the dam was torn down so the river could become free flowing once again. We caught lots of Redbreast Bream around that area of Lowell's Mill. Every spring hundreds of Eel's most very small ones were along the base of the dam, many people thought they were snakes and stayed clear of that area.

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

Some of my fondest memories are wade fishing the spring fed Little Wekiva river with a bag of red shad Culprit worms under my hat and a stringer hanging from my cutoffs belt loop. Wouldn't do it today... saw a few but no telling how many gators saw me that I didn't see. Beautiful place.

 

[specialk]

Yes, grew up in VA, middle of a tobacco field...farmers had irrigation ponds for crops and cows as well....folks back then would let you fish anytime...i spent summers working tobacco and fishing those ponds....those were the days....

 

[Lindseys Grandpa]

Growing up I fished a pond my Granddaddy built behind his house that I now live on, I fished several small lakes and streams in the area. We ran set hooks on New River at least twice a month growing up . It was my Fathers favorite place to fish . He's buried about 2 miles from there in Corinth . After the funeral I went down there and that's where I said my personal goodby .

 

[Minner]

My family has been fishing this creek for 4-5 generations starting when my great-grandfather moved up here in the early 1920's. I myself grew up fishing "farm ponds" in upstate SC although I've fished this crick a bunch over the years too.

 

[BassRaider]

A friend of my parents had a 4 ac pond in Portal and I had permission to get those pesky bass out of it. My parents thought the only reason for me to drive 200 mi was to go fish and not spend time with them.
I used the old mans jon boat and would paddle around the pond. Had a coffee can with eyebolt cemented in on a rope for an anchor. Used a 5gal pail to put the fish in and when full would paddle to the bank and put them into wire fish basket. Used mainly a silver or gold mini Rapala and caught small bass, black crappie, and 1 1/2 to 2 lb bream. Almost every cast would produce a fish. I miss those times!