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Houston Chronicle Joe Doggett Column: Sometimes the Old Fishin' Holes Lay Under Big-City Lights

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Joe Doggett, Houston Chronicle

Mar. 29--The thin-minnow plug plopped alongside the shallow weeds, then started a stuttered retrieve through the clear water. The surface bulged and the line tightened as a heavy bass clamped down. Bob Rose stood on the bank and parried the lunges and dives, then reached down and landed the fish. The thick sow weighed an impressive 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Following a quick photograph, he watched the fish swim free. That encounter last week was a spring bass-fishing classic. It could have occurred on one of the high-profile Pineywoods reservoirs -- but it did not. Rose, of Missouri City, caught the boast-worthy bass in one of the urban lakes in the Houston area. I do not want to pinpoint his pond, but the bass was not a fluke. "I caught 11 bass and four crappie in a two-hour session between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.," he said in a recent e-mail. "Most of the bass were in the 1- to 2 1/2 -pound class. My best bass from this lake is 7-1." Those are solid returns from highly touted reservoirs, let alone small lakes within reach of Beltway 8. Rose is a veteran pond rustler, and his results should not be construed as average -- but his success illustrates that fishable numbers of quality bass are closer than many anglers realize. Look for clear water At least two dozen public ponds are scattered around Houston and most host thriving populations of largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish, crappie and channel catfish. Numerous private ponds in residential communities and office parks are available to anglers with access. Some are potentially superior, and the best offer reasonably clear water with perimeters of brush and aquatic vegetation. "Sometimes I go on my rounds of three or four lakes in one day," Rose said."Sometimes I slay them, sometimes not. But I find if I methodically work the lakes I usually catch them pretty good. And remember these are heavily fished lakes and ponds on the weekends. I prefer the weekday afternoons." March and April are excellent months to target bass in the warming water of small lakes scattered across Southeast Texas, and Houston's urban ponds are no exception. Fish are holding shallow and feeding aggressively, especially during the late-afternoon hours. Muggy, mild, overcast days are prime. So are shallow-running lures. "I caught the 6-pound, 7-ounce bass on a 5-inch floater/diver Rapala minnow," Rose said. "This is one of my all-time go-to confidence baits." His sentiments echo several generations of pond rustlers. Floating/diving thin-minnow plugs are a traditional "killer bait" for shallow bass lurking along shallow, grassy shorelines during spring. Other excellent choices are soft-plastic jerk baits, small safety-pin spinnerbaits and conventional topwater plugs on warmer days.

Regardless of where you live in Houston, at least one urban pond with bass-fishing potential is "right over there." As an inducement, a trophy-class bass might be waiting -- especially in the larger, deeper lakes with ample forage. On that note, the annual rainbow trout stocking program in select Houston-area ponds (see attached list) provides an excellent seasonal forage base for jumbo bass. It's enough to say the monster bass of Southern California feed heavily on hatchery rainbows. The rainbow connection I'm not suggesting that 25-pounders are waiting, but I'm willing to bet that 8- and 10-pound bass are lurking in Houston-area ponds. Several anglers this year reported seeing big bass chasing rainbows at various stocking sites. Those predators have had at least two months to get patterned on the put-and-take trout program -- reason enough for the opportunistic bank walker to knot on a large baitfish-imitation plug and spend a few spring afternoons prospecting urban ponds. Joe Doggett covers the outdoors for the Chronicle. joe.doggett@chron.com. -- American Legion Park -- Missouri City on Lexington off FM 1092. -- Bane Park -- Highway 290 to West Little York Road to intersection of West Little York and North Gessner. -- Blue Ridge Park -- Beltway 8 to South Post Oak Boulevard, then right on Court Road. -- Burke-Crenshaw -- Highway 225 to Red Bluff Road, then Burke Road to intersection with Crenshaw. -- Carl Barton Jr. Park -- Conroe off Loop 336 east of Interstate 45. -- Centennial Park -- 2200 South Friendswood Drive. -- Eisenhower Park -- Beltway 8 to Lake Houston Parkway east past Deussen Drive. -- Eldridge Park -- Highway 6 south, left on 90A, left on Eldridge Road. -- John P. McGovern1 -- Hermann Park/Zoo. -- Kitty Hollow -- Missouri City south on Highway 6. -- Mary Jo Peckham Park -- Katy at 5597 Gardenia Lane. -- Resoft Park -- Alvin on Highway 35 at County Road 281. -- Tom Bass III -- Highway 288 to Fellows Road at Beltway 8, turn east to Cullen Road intersection and go south. 1 --For children under 12 and adults 65 and over.

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Source: Houston Chronicle

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