FISHING IN THE LAND OF CORN

Okay, I'll admit it, I do a lot of fishing in small private venues that are sometimes way off the beaten path and don't get a lot of pressure. Sometimes the fishing is great, and sometimes it is very poor. Not every pond or lake in the Land of Corn has giants. Some do, some don't. You have to work at it, just like anything else in life, in order for it to pay off. Ups and downs and highs and lows. In the Land of Corn there are very big deerflies and ticks and chiggers. They bite and hurt, There are snakes and wasps, cattle gone astray and high weeds and poison ivy and poison oak. It can be very hot and the sun can burn. But I can put up with all that because...

...for one thing, the Land of Corn has ponds that have big bass. We have taken them over 8 pounds. This one is 22 inches and took a plastic worm in a heavily algaed pond. I dig big fish!

In another local pond, the bass get long but they just might not have the forage to pack on the pounds. This lean 19-incher could have gone 5 pounds, but likely only nudged four.

When fishing in Corn Country, parking lot situations can become diverse and challenging. Overhead scouting is essential to home in on good water.

All purpose vehicles and friendly locals may be needed to get your gear to the backwoods. But the results can be rewarding with a variety of species coming to the bank. In another pond, in another place, things could be different...

The water could be dark and tannic...

Or loaded with algae and weeds, or...

nice and open and clear.

One of the great things about Corn Country Fishin' is that some of the panfish have weigh problems, and that can be a good thing...

Check out this 12 inch red ear sunfish I got in the mid-day heat. A beauty!

And here's a great 10.25 inch spawning male bluegill...great fish!
I love Corn Country Fishin'...small ponds, big bluegills, fields that smell funny and tons of dragonflys that the bass feed on. Through in some deer, chickens, peacocks and dogs and cats. I thank God often that I was allowed to grow up in Corn Country, rural farmland, and discovered what real fun was before I got too old to enjoy it. Today, it is a huge part of my life. God always knows what we need, rather than what we think we need.

10.5 inch Fatso Bluegill! What a fish!

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek,
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life.

Psalm 27: 3