Small water is a great place to make a big impression on a young angler.

Story and photography by Matt Williams

It’s funny how some things just never change.

I cut my fishing teeth way back in the 1960s, pond hopping mostly in rural Collin County. It was boyish rite of summer, much of it spent shagging grasshoppers and crickets with a cane pole in one hand and a tin can in the other, air holes punched through the lid to help keep the wiggling baits lively.

The “tanks” I had access to as a kid were good ones, loaded with bluegills, channel cat and bass that were almost always willing to cooperate. There is no telling how many fish were caught from those special waters by friends and family. Time spent watching a bobber dance in the wind ranks among my fondest childhood memories.

The experiences obviously made an everlasting imprint on a young mind. I’ll turn 61 this year and still get just excited seeing a cork go under as I ever did.

Places to Go

The point to be made by all of this is that small water is a great place to make a big impression on a young angler.

One of the neat things about stock tanks is the convenience factor. Most can be easily accessed from shore. In many cases potential sweet spots like laydown logs, weedbeds, stump or stick-up are within easy casting distance of the bank.

Another is availability. Stock tanks are everywhere, and many of them see limited traffic over the course of the year.

If you own one, or know somebody who does, now would be a good time pay it a visit. Some golf courses may even allow fishing if you ask.

Many deer leases have stock tanks, too. If this March is like most, warming trends in the weather will have armies of fish finning around in the sun-baked shallows.

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