By BEN GARRETT TnHunting.Com Publisher July 1, 2006

"I reckon that pond would be right about here." Jon poked his finger at a roadmap as he pointed out the approximate location of a pond he had fished in the days of his long-ago childhood.

"Now, like I say, the pond was there then, but that don't mean that it is there now," he said. "But there was fish in it then. And they probably ain't been nobody fished in it for nigh on 30 years now. So . . ."

He stopped short but didn't need to complete his sentence for me to know what he was thinking. If nothing had happened to cause the fish in the pond to die out, the chances of there being some whoppers hiding in its murky depths would be pretty good.

Long-forgotten ponds can be fishing's gems in the rough. Click for larger image.

The pond Jon was referring to was once a farm pond. But after the federal government had bought the land, the pond had been abandoned and the land left to reclaim itself.

After Jon had left, I pulled out a topographical map and cross-referenced it with the location Jon had pointed out on the roadmap. Sure enough, there was a small pond shown on the topo, which had been printed in 1979. I figured that was long enough after the government had purchased the land to ensure that the pond had not been destroyed.

A few days later, my brother and myself set off in search of the pond. After parking our vehicle at the nearest road, we hiked down what had once been a road itself, weeds and trees no reclaiming it and almost eliminating any trace of its existence. A short hike later, we found the pond.

As likely fishing spots go, this pond would not have measured up. Covering a quarter of an acre at the most, undergrowth surrounded much of the pond, and water lilies covered its surface. Traditional spinner baits and crank baits clearly weren't going to work for this hole of water, even if it held fish.

Except for a few remnants of days past, one would have the impression that humans had never disturbed this pond. But just up the hill from the shallow hole of water were the remnants of an old fence. Near the water's edge were several sets of old steel leg traps, abandoned by trappers of yesteryear and now corroded with rust.

I was skeptical that the pond held fish, but after sneaking around the edge of the pond, we saw bluegill nesting in the shallows of the water. A good sign.

Jeremiah tied on the only weedless lure he had packed in: A rubber mouse. As he finished his knot, I noticed fish popping the surface of the pond to snap up bugs. Largemouth bass? Another good sign.

It only took a couple of casts before the telltale sound of a largemouth snapping the bait off the top of the water jerked my attention to the middle of the pond. The fish was a dandy, but put up a good fight and soon entangled itself in the lilies. The lure was jerked from its mouth.

Still, we had seen all we needed to see.

We planned to get back to the pond as soon as possible, but other waters beckoned, and soon summer turned to fall and fall to winter. By the next spring, we figured it was time to give the little pond another shot. We both were positive that a 10-pound bass lurked beneath the lilies that covered the surface.

Again using weedless top-water lures, we cast around a stand of cattails at the shallow end of the pond. Within just a few casts, the pop of a bass taking the bait, and the battle was on. This time, the bass did not succeed in diving deep beneath the lilies, and was landed after a brief struggle.

Measuring at around four pounds, the bass was a good-sized fish for the hole of water from which he was pulled. But other bass, we know, await. It's just a matter of hitting the water at the right time, and putting the right bait in the right spot.

Forgotten ponds often hold large fish simply because no one has fished them in years

This was an angling awakening for me; a realization that the best fishing waters aren't necessarily marked and known. Call them "diamonds in the rough." For sure, these ponds, in the most unlikely places, hold treasures.

Two days later we were fishing another pond, also on public land. Like the first pond, this water hole was small, covered in lilies and cattails, and most unlikely-looking. Unlike the other pond, this pond was located just off a roadway. Dozens of cars pass it every day. But, as was the case with the first pond, no one fished this pond. It isn't that you think "there are no fish in that pond" as you drive by. The water hole is so unassuming that you don't give any thought at all to whether there are or are not fish within it.

After wading through knee-high weeds that had been left rain-covered by a storm that had passed through moments before, we aimed for a stand of cattails that covered the shallow end of the pond. First cast: Bang! Bass on!

Using topographical maps, we have since identified more than a dozen other ponds around about that are either not fished at all or that are fished very little. Some of the ponds have all but been forgotten. They're on public property or on private property where we can obtain permission to fish. Some might hold fish, some may not. But we will eventually get to them all, and you can be sure that at least a few of them probably hold big fish that have been simply laying in the water's depths and growing over the years without human interference. Likewise, there are a few streams flowing deep in the backwoods that are overlooked by anglers searching for a quality fishing experience.

The moral of this tale? Don't overlook overlooked water holes. And don't judge a pond by its surface. The most unlikely places at all, and those hardest to access, might just prove to be a "diamond in the rough." And one never knows where the next bass — or catfish or shellcracker — worthy of putting in the photo album lurks just beneath the surface.

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